Days 12 and 13: The East Rim, Bryce Canyon and Hiking with the Hoo-doos, and Sedona!

Right now it's day 14, the last day of the roadtrip and I am sitting on the balcony of the Matterhorn Inn in Sedona, Az, looking out to the red rocks the city is so famous for. We arrived here yesterday late afternoon after a 310 mile jaunt from Bryce Canyon in Utah. Bryce Canyon is a truly incredible place, and some of the most spectacular scenery I have yet to witness. It's really like you are on another planet when at the canyon. We arrived at Bryce Canyon on Monday afternoon, after leaving the Grand Canyon via the East Rim (worth seeing--some great views, and a few cool landmarks, like the watchtower below) and headed toward Utah. We were on Route 89 seemingly FOREVER, and it's no accident that parts of that road, through Arizona into Utah, were some of the last places to be mapped in the entire United States. Desolate is the only descriptive I can think of, and even that does not do it justice. Utah is weird; I've no other way to describe it, just plain weird, and Steve and I are still trying to get over our encounters with the local residents of Kanab. A few more marks of civilization begin to emerge as you approach Bryce Canyon, but upon entering the park you just forget about all the desolation of the previous miles. We set up camp at our North Campground site--the basics: a tent, picnic table, fire grate and nearby bathrooms (no shower) and decided to see a few viewpoints before an excellent dinner at the Bryce Canyon Lodge.

The park is known for the tall skinny rock formations known as hoodoos (see below) and the vistas are really amazing and very different in different lights. I honestly thought Bryce was way more interesting than the Grand Canyon, but maybe it's because the whole experience was less crowded and not as commercialized. After dinner we went to Sunset point to, yes, you guessed it, watch the sunset, and then headed back to camp after exploring our options for hiking the next day. The night sky at Bryce is stunning. Whereas because of light concentrations in more developed areas you can only see about 2500 stars, at Bryce you can see 7500. We hiked up to the rim of the canyon near our campsite and stargazed for a bit.
The next morning we woke up early (the timezones keep changing on us), packed up camp, and went on our hike. Steve, the old boyscout, was very gung-ho about this, so I went along with it. We walked the Queen's Garden Trail and the Pueblo loop before heading back to Sunrise Point. It was a 3-mile hike and I was extremely glad we went in the early morning before it got scorching hot. The way down was fine, but the way back up was incredibly challenging. Worth it for both the stunning views and the workout. We were both stunned as to the poor footwear choices of people clambering down (ie the lady in the gold sandals) as well as the lack of people carrying water, and figured they just didn't read the guidebook or realize what they were in for on the way back up. It was a very cool experience, and one I'd repeat despite the knowledge of the awful ascent! If you've not been to Bryce add it to your list!

We headed out after the hike and made our way to Sedona, another very strange and beautiful place. It's very artsy and new-agey here with LOTS of rich people. We went to some galleries yesterday where the minimum pricetags were in the 1000s. Nevertheless, we had a great dinner at a Mexican Cantina, and, since just about everything in Sedona closes at 6, we decided to go to the movies. We saw "Superbad," which was incredibly funny and well worth the price of admission. Go see it!!
Today, after a little more sightseeing in Sedona (surrounded by a plethora of national and state parks and forests) we head to Santa Fe. Steve flies back to Boston tomorrow morning--I can't believe two weeks have passed so quickly! Here's a list of the states we've driven through/visited:

Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah....16 in 13 days--pretty good!

Pic 1: My favorite of Grand Canyon signs
Pic 2: The Watchtower on the East Rim
Pic 3: Bryce Point at Bryce Canyon, Utah
Pic 4: Looking up from the Bottom of Bryce Canyon during our hike
Pic 5: Moon over the red rocks of Sedona