Bryce Canyon - At the Top of the Staircase

This is the ninth in a series of posts about my visit through parts of Arizona and Utah.
​(Click words that are bolded for more information.)

We spent over a week exploring parts of the Colorado Plateau, visiting many National Parks and Monuments, and seeing a variety of geological wonders that comprise "steps" on The Grand Staircase, a gigantic topographical "stairway" that ascends from the Grand Canyon North Rim to Bryce Canyon. The cliff edge of each colored layer forms a step. The exposed rock layers of the five steps up the staircase are Chocolate/Kaibab limestone, Vermilion near the Glen Canyon Dam, White/Navajo sandstone of Zion National Park, Gray/Cretaceous shale and sandstone, and Pink/Claron Formation. At the top of this vast arrangement of colorful sedimentary rock layers that form The Grand Staircase are the red and pink cliffs of Bryce Canyon National Park.

Bryce Canyon

The showpiece of Bryce Canyon is its natural amphitheater populated with fantastic rock spires called hoodoos. These towering formations are the result of erosion by snow and rain. The  canyon is lined with thin walls of rock called fins. This pink Claron Formation rock is composed mostly of soft limestone, which is slowly dissolved through chemical weathering by rain and snow. Through this process of freezing and thawing, cracks form in the fins and enlarge, creating holes or windows in the rock. Slowly the windows grow until their tops collapse, leaving a pillar of rock. With an elevation of 8000-9000 feet, there are over 200 freeze/thaw cycles a year in Bryce Canyon. The average snowfall is 95 inches per year!

Windows forming in the fins

Pink Claron Formation

Hoodoo stone pillars

The eerie towering spires of rock are called hoodoos, fairy chimneys, or goblins. Bryce Canyon has the largest concentration of hoodoos in the world. Each hoodoo is unique. These rocks are sculpted by water into fantastic shapes, some of which seem to defy gravity, at least for a time. 

See the boulder perched atop a spire, bottom left

In the 1870s, Ebenezer Bryce, a Mormon pioneer, settled in the valley east of the park. One day he lost some of his cattle and wandered into the canyons to find them. Although he eventually moved to Arizona, the canyon continued to be known as Bryce Canyon. In 1928 Bryce Canyon became a National Park and is now visited by over 2.5 million people annually who come to hike the numerous trails and enjoy the stunning scenery.

One of 15 hiking trails in Bryce Canyon

Well, hello there, little fellow

At the Top of The Grand Staircase

After reaching the top of The Grand Staircase, we would be heading back down, stopping at several more splendid sites. Please join me as we continue on our tour.

~Debbie

First stop - Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden here.
Second stop - Montezuma's Castle here.
Third stop - Sedona here.
Fourth stop - The Grand Canyon here.
Fifth stop - The Desert Watch Tower here.
Sixth stop - Glen Canyon and Lake Powell here.
Seventh stop - Zion National Park here.
Eighth stop - Between canyons here. 
​Ninth stop - Bryce Canyon here.
Tenth stop - Utah's Scenic Byway 12 here.