Winter Wonderland

Well, I asked for it, didn't I? I wanted to see Bryce Canyon covered in snow, and Holy Fellini, snow was what I got!

This morning my car was covered in a thick layer of ice and snow, so my first action of the day was to buy an ice scraper. The lovely teen at the gas station then scraped most of the ice off for me. The highway was covered in snow but with the trusty Rav4 I felt quite safe. I did a couple of brake tests early on, and the car handled just fine. Still, I was quite happy to be very much alone on the road. There were very few dicey moments, the worst one being when a woman pulled out onto the highway right in front of me and promptly did a 360 right into the other lane. It was a good thing there was no other traffic around.

The storm that was forecast for today didn't show up, however, and is now expected tomorrow. I didn't know what kind of weather to expect when I came to Bryce Canyon but what I got was the perfect winter wonderland. Red and white hoodoos covered in a soft layer of snow. Not more than a handful of people around - two of which I had met yesterday at Zion Canyon as well.

I decided to brave the arctic cold (15F, or -10C) and hike the Navajo Loop Trail down into the canyon. It was wonderful, even though it was snowy and slippery in places. The trail is nothing more than a dirt track switchbacking down into the canyon through an area called Wall Street (a small slot canyon) and on to Queen's Garden. It was wonderful to see the bizarre surroundings from the bottom as well as from the top. The hike back up, however, was hard and when I made it back up again I felt like I had achieved something. Well, something apart from being winded and sweaty. That's the trouble with wearing three layers to stay warm: as soon as you're hiking you're soaked in two minutes flat. An elderly couple was just enjoying the view when I came panting up the trail and they gaped at me and said "You actually did that?" I just grinned - I was too winded to say anything much.

We'll see what the road has to offer tomorrow. My plan is to drive over the mountains towards Moab but if the storm front really does come in, I might just stay here in my wonderfully equipped Best Western motel room.