Leaving Zion for Bryce Canyon

The views on the ride out were amazing. We stopped in Mt. Carmel, thinking we could get the water and supplies we needed, but we ended up just getting drinks and a couple of booklets on petroglyphs. We decided to wait until we got into Panguitch, a bigger city on the other side of Bryce for the rest of the stuff.

It was 5pm before we pulled into the Fosters hotel, just 2 miles outside the entrance to Bryce Canyon. The hotel looks like a huge storage/modular home, but it was clean enough and I was just happy to have a bathroom that wasn’t down the road and around the corner.

Dumping our stuff, we headed into Bryce and the visitor center. The kids signed up for the Jr. Ranger program at 11:00 the next day, and checked out the programs happening that night. Deciding to take in the Stargazing program, we headed back out for dinner at the hotel and to put on warm clothing. We made it back into the park by 8:45 and caught the amazing after effects of a sunset in one of the meadows. Stopping at an overlook, the kids got their first glimpse of a hoodoo in the dusk light.

Finally finding the stargazing show in at the North Campground amphitheater, we had a seat for the show which had already started. The talk was about the increase in light pollution, to the point of some cities not even being able to spot the big dipper. Bryce Canyon is one of the only darkest places left in the US. It was a very interesting talk. Then we headed to the Visitor Center parking lot to peep through the telescopes. We go to see the Jupiter, including the “rings” and 4 moons – that was my favorite! One was on the moon, another on a star that had exploded, and yet another on a globular cluster located on the edge of the Milky Way.

Heading back to the hotel, we dropped into bed by midnight. Another day packed in.