With the promise of otherwordly “hoo-doos”, Bryce Canyon National Park was the highest ranked of the Mighty Five that I wanted to visit. It’s nestled between the Dixie National Forest and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Needless to say, the area surrounding the park is stunning. Despite the name, the area is not a canyon, but rather a series of horseshoe shaped amphitheaters. You drive into the park under the cover of towering pines. What kind? Good question. I’m not a tree gal, but I remember reading about Ponderosas, Pinyons, Spruces, and Firs. Then you step beyond the trees and are stunned into silence. The vastness of the geological features spread out before you is hard to put into words. It honestly felt like stepping through a portal and onto another planet.

When I visited the Grand Canyon just south of here, the vertigo that hit me was instant. It’s so vast that my brain just short-circuited. It was a similar experience here, but without the vertigo. The verdant forest gives way to beautiful rocks in varying shades of red, orange, and white. The amphitheater gradually winds down into the valley below – it truly is a magical spot.

When we arrived it was still early enough to be cold, which was perfect…because by the time we were hiking back out of the canyon it was getting toasty and honestly would’ve been miserable to hike the whole way down and back in that heat. Once you’ve descended below the rim, until you’re down towards the bottom, there’s little in the way of true shade. But once you are towards the bottom, the towering hoodoos do a splendid job of keeping you cool.

Bryce Canyon houses the worlds highest concentration of Hoodoos, which are formed from water and wind processes. Kristin and I went down into the Queens Garden before driving along the park and visiting the overlooks. I’m definitely looking forward to exploring more of the park some day!

It wasn’t the birdiest of places, but I did get a lifer! While walking amongst the pines, I stopped when I heard a familiar, yet foreign call. At home the cadence would lead me to believe a White-breasted Nuthatch was amongst the conifers…but what would be here? The answer was a Pygmy Nuthatch! True to it’s name, they are small lil fellas with an adorable lil brown cap. I didn’t get the greatest views, but I was excited just the same.