This was sitting waaaaay back in the middle of nowhere.
I guess it's B.Y.O.A.
Bring Your Own Airplane :-)
At the suggestion of the campground hosts, I decided to take
the guided bus tour of Bryce Canyon.
The driver "Spike" was a retired Pepsi driver, and he was
a wealth of knowledge. If I could remember half of what
he told us, I'd consider myself fortunate.
This is a Bristlecone Pine, the most prolific tree in the park.
They have a process to age the trees without cutting them down,
and found that the oldest tree found in the park so far is 2500 years
old. This tree is a mere baby at 100 years.
The pine cone stays on the tree up to 2 & 1/2 years
before it drops. Bristlecones grow where nothing else
would grow. They like the worst soil so as not competing
with other plants.
This fellow was the only eligible bachelor on the bus,
but unbelievably didn't get approached once.
Just one of the two trees that got hit by lightening the day
before. The other was just a pile of limbs scattered around.
Bryce Canyon, named after a Mormon scout of Scottish
ancestry, Ebenezer Bryce, was reportedly standing with
other settlers looking down in to one of these amphitheaters,
and said, "Fella's, this would be one helluva place to lose a cow."
Bryce only stayed here 5 years, but because he settled in this area
other settlers referred to it as "Bryce's Canyon"
The formations in Bryce Canyon change dramatically.
The area can frost and thaw up to 200 times a year.
Many times it will frost and thaw more than once a day,
so it does not frost and thaw 200 days a year.
When the water is trapped between crevices and freezes
it pushes them apart. Then when it thaws, the water seeping
out takes any loose sediment with it, changing the
formations often.
This formation is called "the castle"
Looking down on the castle
Spike said "And this is proof the Bristlecone Pine will grow where
nothing else will grow."
This formation is called "Angle Wings"
That's all I'm going to post from the park, but here are a few
along the way to my next camping spot.
Look real close at the top portion near the right
Did you see it? The American Flag!
I wonder how they got it up there??
You can tell where the gulley's are.
Just look for the green where the water gathers.
That's it for now. On my way to Colorado National Monument.
No comments:
Post a Comment