Bryce Canyon National Park
Personal Notes:
Winter Holiday
This page presents our personal notes on hiking and camping in Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.
Saturday, December 27, 2003
On our return trip from Tucson, for our Christmas holiday, we decided to spend the night at Ruby's Inn near Bryce Canyon National Park.
From Kanab north the road was occasionally icy and snow packed, but plowed. Lots of snow on the sides of the roads. We drove on to Bryce Canyon and stayed in Ruby’s Inn for the night. Lots of foreign tourists. The room cost $46.99. The air was very cold. The low the night before was -9 degrees. Nasty wind chill. Lots of snow. The clerk behind the counter told us this was more snow than they’d had in about five years. We ate dinner at Ruby’s Inn, maybe the only place open in the area.
On Saturday night we dug out our winter coats and walked over to Ruby’s Inn for dinner. I had a barbeque beef sandwich and a bowl of chili, and Anne had a salad and a bowl of chili. We both had a piece of five fruit pie. It was all good. To me, the chili tasted a bit odd, but Anne thought it was fine. Everything else was excellent. There were lots of people waiting in line.
On the way back to the room we strolled through the gift shop, then walked back to the room and turned in.
Sunday, December 28, 2003
On Sunday morning we ate breakfast at Ruby’s Inn. The temp was 1 degree, with a similar wind chill. We got back from breakfast at 8:22 a.m., then drove up to Sunset and Sunrise points in the Park to look at the snow on the hoodoos. There were quite a few tourists about, but the parking lots were mostly empty. The walks to the overlooks were not shoveled, so we had to be careful in some places where there was no railing nor fence to keep us from sliding off of the edge, into the hoodoos below. The scene was a winter wonderland. There was still lots of snow still on the trees, and lots of foreign tourists. Probably taking advantage of the low Winter rates.
Other than having to watch the road because of the ice the scenery was marvelous. Many of those Christmas card scenes with old rustic barns sitting in a field of frosty snow. The trees all covered with the white frosting. All against a background of snow covered ranges, either white on dark trees, or on the red and gold formations of the local outcrops.
After we toured the sights we packed and checked out, then drove back toward Red Canyon where I took lots of photos of the snow covered red outcrops and formations. We spotted another male bald eagle north of Panguitch There were also a cluster of wild turkeys near one of the overlook points in Bryce.
