Snow at Bryce Canyon, or any National Park has always been a dream come true to see, but it’s usually impractical. Motorhomes, even though ours weighs over 40,000 pounds, don’t do well in the snow without dumping the tag axle or putting on chains. The Jeep however does great. We’ve never worried since we could just stay a few extra days until the snow melts or buy motorhome chains.
Snow and Blue Skies
Fresh snow usually means cloudy gray skies. We were lucky in that after it snowed, the clouds broke up a little, making for some colorful images.
The drive from Kanab, Utah to Bryce Canyon National Park took over an hour one way, but the scenery was picturesque. A herd of pronghorn were crossing the road managing to stop traffic.
Given the fresh snow, we were hardly worried about fires. A nice break after a summer and fall of smokey air and poor visibility in the west.
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce is not really a canyon since the erosion that caused it was not from a central stream.
It’s an amphitheater similar to Cedar Breaks National Monument.
It’s located in the Colorado Plateau at an elevation ranging from 8,000 to 9,000 feet.
We saw elk and deer in the National Park. Even though they might migrate south for the winter, some are seen year round at Bryce.
The brown, pink and red colors are from hematite. Yellows from limonite. The purples are from pyrolusite.
We were at Bryce near the end of the day. Between the low sun and occasional light hitting the formations, we enjoyed the experience.
In the late 1800’s, Mormon settlers, including Ebenezer Bryce, moved into the area. Bryce was a carpenter and oversaw the building of a chapel in Pine Valley. Later he moved to Arizona. Both Bryce Canyon National Park and Bryce, Arizona are named after him.
In 1923, President Harding made the area a National Monument. In 1928, it became a National Park.
We’ve been to Bryce Canyon National Park a number of times and are always amazed by its hoodoos and colors.
