Bryce Point, Bryce Canyon National Park, UT, 11/9/2006
Immediately upon arriving at Bryce Canyon National Park late one autumn afternoon, a friend and I headed to Bryce Point where we were greeted by this wonderful pastel-shaded view! The sunlight was slightly filtered by clouds, and brought out every color of the rainbow in muted gentle hues. A short while later we were treated to a beautiful sunset. Admiring the rich palette of colors that is Bryce Canyon, it is easy to understand why this place is loved by photographers, painters, and artists of all kinds. Here we are looking into the natural amphitheater surrounding Bryce Canyon. The colorful sandstone pinnacles lining the walls are called hoodoos, formed by wind, water and ice erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The colorful Claron Formation, from which the park's delicate hoodoos are carved, was laid down as sediments in a system of cool streams and lakes that existed from 63 to about 40 million years ago. The hoodoos are up to 200 feet tall. Bryce Amphitheater - the largest amphitheater in the park - is twelve miles long, three miles wide, and 800 feet deep. This scene is dominated by Boat Mesa at an elevation of 8,076 feet above sea level, forming the highest back wall of the amphitheater. In the distance to the northeast are the Pine Hills in Dixie National Forest, and we see a glimpse of Emery Valley at far left. By necessity, the early European-American settlers in this area were pragmatic, and less concerned than we are with the pretty colors to be seen here - pastel, or otherwise. The canyon's namesake, Ebenezer Bryce, settled in the valley just below the canyon in 1870. He lived here only five years, but the place became known as Bryce's canyon to people who knew him. He constructed lumber roads and surveyed the route for a long irrigation ditch that would facilitate further settlements. Regarding the beautiful but labyrinthine landscape here, all he is known to have said is: "It's a hell of a place to lose a cow".
