When I think of fairies and fairyland, I think of petite sprites with wings, wands in hand, long ears, imps clad in white chiffon buzzing around emerald bushes, bright colored flowers, and odd rock formations or trees with doors in them. I think of the castle at Disneyworld and flying glow-in-the-dark pulses like summer lightning bugs. But this fantasy world of my imagination is built from books and movies. The one I visited this week is a real fairyland - one nature built in the southwest desert of Utah...one built of swirling winds, water and ice, sculpted over millions of years from rising limestone that changes color depending on the time of day, year and, yes the angle of the sun. Thankfully, it’s one of the many places in the US, visionaries sought to preserve because of its unique beauty, its unique place in history, and its value to our very souls. This fairyland lies at the northern edge of Bryce Canyon in Utah, and is a marvel to walk through. We made our trek through fairyland and around the pinnacles, spires and famous hoodoos at sunrise, a glorious time to walk among the cliffs and statuesque rock formations reaching for the sky. This ever changing landscape is shaped by a climate that changes as much as 40°F from dawn to late afternoon about 180 days a year. For us, the mercury moved from 28°F to 68°F. As we arrived, the sun was just waking up and the first photos were taken with a setting used for night photography. Within fifteen minutes, the light was hitting some of the hoodoos closest to the rim while others further in the canyon were still in shadow. The temptation to shoot hundreds of pictures was overwhelming as the light danced across the canyon and we descended from 7748’ onto the loop that would take us into the canyon, east and south towards the rim and Sunrise Point. We would ascend near the point and walk the rim the last of the nearly nine-mile hike. |
When we began, there were a few cars in the parking lot - some folks were hiking the trail, others just here for a few minutes to watch the sunrise. But one young lady, a member of the military from San Diego on a trip by herself would leap frog with us as we both covered the same loop, marveling at the bulbous columns of limestone. Fifty-five to forty million years ago, this landscape was all water. Twenty million years ago, the lakes dried up and the Colorado Plateau began to rise, rising the region nearly two miles. The sediment of muddy limestone made the dynamic columns that the forces of nature that never rest have sculpted. It is magical seeing the way the light changes on the white and pink sand, and the golden and red hoodoos, making this hike a wonderful experience. Ordinarily I’d be looking for signs of wildlife, but this day I was enjoying watching the work of geology. Snow and ice melt here and water seeps into the fractures. When it re-freezes, it expands and cracks the rock around it. This along with wind erosion plus the combination of gravity and meltwater causes ‘soil creep’ which is moving the stone fragments downhill. In Summer, thunderstorms bring rain that dissolves the limestone into a clay ooze, generating just enough flowing water to help remove debris. So the hoodoos really are in constant change. For us, there were only a handful of hikers headed the same direction as we were (it’s recommended you hike this trail clockwise for optimal effect of the rising sun). But once you’re about five miles along the trail and begin to ascend towards the popular Sunrise Point along the rim, traffic picks up. We pulled out our masks and put them on as hikers passed. This happened frequently, and of course we were hiking up while others were hiking down. Breathing heavily in a mask while hiking isn’t my idea of fun, but the trail was worth it. Soon we had passed the increasing numbers of hikers with just a couple of miles left of rim walking. The loop trail is perfect in this respect because you get to see the hoodoos from all sides as the light changes. The trouble was on this day, smoke moved in. The sky became a hazy muted blue - a grayish tint. There was a faint smell in the air, and the beautiful orange hoodoos were now a dull bronze. We finished the hike in less than four hours, headed back to the RV to rescue Rocket, and decided to move on from Bryce Canyon. We had spent three delightful days hiking, biking and sightseeing. And while the Fairyland hike stands out as something quite different than riding Space Mountain at Disneyworld, it was an exhilarating, natural experience - one we highly recommend, especially at sunrise.
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AuthorFormer documentary film producer, wife and mother of one...I'm taking time off to see the US with my husband Terry. Here's where I'll write about our adventures RVing until the money runs out! Archives
August 2021
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