Zion and Bryce Canyon (N.P.)

From Vegas we took off eastwards, and since the touchdown with Lenôtre, we would somehow find ourselves swimming in a sea of French tourists, if not amongst Swiss and Germans. The weather had gotten rainy, and at the entrance to Zion National Park it started to pour. We parked our little (nameless) Cavalier and took the free (hah! After entrance fees) shuttle into the canyons, where crimson buttes tower. The driver told us of the worst forest fires of his career, this year, and gestured to the black river, just opaque with ashes. As we came around the final bend, he pulled over and exclaimed “I’ve never seen this before! A black waterfall!” and the Japanese started chattering about the waterfall called Black. In the park, where natural springs spout water four thousand years old, the additional rain had washed out a lot of narrow canyons, closing off hiking trails and starting flash floods and freak falls. The black one had carried the remains of the forest fire up top over the side of a red cliff, in front of our eyes. It was incredible. What our picture can’t convey is the smell – the thick, damp odour of burning that accompanied the wet cinders splattered everywhere. It was a shame to not be able to walk, but boy was it cool!

The sun came out gradually, and we continued on the blood-red paved road to Bryce Canyon, which was a totally different experience – the colours changed to lighter beiges, salmons and peaches, and the spires were just phenomenal. At Sunset Point, we looked into the gigantic, spiked Amphitheatre, and orangey trails leading down into it. We resolved to come back the next day and hike, and continued out to Tropic, where the Bryce Mormons had settled. Settling for us was a bit of a task too; we had to reject a bed & breakfast only to drag owners out of bed to rent us a slight discount on a cabin next to a pizza parlour and highway. The next day we continued east to the Grand Staircase, past petrified forests and more magnificent landscapes, to Escalante for lunch, and back to Bryce for the promised hike (also gorgeous). How could the canyons get any more Grand?