White Mountain Trading Post in Mount Carmel, Utah May 14 – 21, 2024 (Part Three)

You can read Part One here and Part Two here.

Friday was a day of errands. I drove 17 miles to Kanab and did laundry, bought a few groceries and ran Voyager through a much-needed car wash while Cindy cleaned Nomad.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Saturday morning, May 18th, we were up and out the door at 6 am to drive an hour and a half to Bryce Canyon National Park. On the way we drove through the Red Canyon Tunnel.

We passed through the Bryce Canyon National Park gate at 7:18 am. Our plan was to drive the 20-mile length all the way to the end where Rainbow Point is located and then work our way backwards stopping at viewpoints and pulloffs. This trip was a driving only photo excursion; no hiking. And we did not make use of the shuttle system since:

  1. We arrived so early and
  2. You CAN drive the length in your private vehicle if you wish. And we did.

First though, we had an encounter that thrilled Cindy and even made this old curmudgeon smile. A herd of deer began running alongside Voyager as we drove and then cut across the road in front of us to continue on their way. You can see them in the video for this post.

Facts About Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park, the smallest of Utah’s “Mighty Five” national parks, is in an area settled by Mormons in 1850 and named after Ebenezer Bryce who homesteaded in the area in 1874. President Warren G. Harding designated the area as a National Monument in 1923 and in 1928 Congress directed that it become a National Park. The park is composed of 35,835 acres and is home to more hoodoos (those multi-colored striped rock spires of varying shapes) than anywhere else in the world. Elevation in the park averages more than 8,000 feet but reaches almost 10,000 feet at its highest point. And, despite its name, Bryce is NOT strictly a canyon but rather a plateau, which is a canyon formed by flowing water. You say tomato, I say tomahto.

Although only a little more than a hour’s drive from Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park sees far fewer visitors annually. In 2023 it received a little less than 2.5 million visitors, compared to Zion’s more than 4 million. Still, by the time we left the park that morning around 11 am, it was pretty busy. As stated in an earlier post, we like getting to the parks early if possible to avoid the crowds.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as we stopped along the way taking photos. I apologize in advance that there are so many in this post’s album, but you’re only seeing a small fraction of the literally hundreds of photos and videos we took that morning on the way to and in Bryce Canyon National Park. If you haven’t ever visited, I strongly urge you to make this a place you’ll see one day. The photos and videos do not do justice to the feeling of seeing it in person.

Next up, we hike through the Belly of the Dragon and stop at a restaurant that serves ho-made pies. They said it, I didn’t.

Thanks for following The Wandering Wetheringtons.

1 thought on “White Mountain Trading Post in Mount Carmel, Utah May 14 – 21, 2024 (Part Three)”

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