Day 113, a very active day!

Day 113, October 27th, Escalante Petrified Forest to Bryce Canyon National Park

Well today has been very active! This morning we jumped out of bed and headed straight up into the Petrified forest walk even before breakfast! It was freezing but fascinating! The Petrified trees are numerous and many look like they were cut by a chainsaw before they became Petrified.  Of course they didn't have chainsaws 50 million years ago so apparently it is the earth moving under the trees that has caused many of them to break up into what looks like tree stumps ideal for use as a chopping block! The colours through the rock are also diverse. I don't think the camera does justice to the purple crystal like colour found in some.

After we finished the hike, we warmed up with breakfast and a hot shower before continuing on Highway 12 to Bryce Canyon National Park.  Our first stop was the mossy cave which would have been very cool in mid winter as apparently it is full of icicles. Not much to see in that respect today although with a high of 2 degrees in the park and a bitterly cold wind, I think we were feeling like icicles for much of the day!

Once we got into the park proper, we spent the afternoon exploring the various viewpoints as well as hiking down into the hoodoos. A hoodoo is the name given to the cliff formations and they are just stunning. The photos never do justice to these unique vistas. We ended up walking well over 10km today!