The Hindu Business Line : Nature's fantasyland

The scenic drive towards Bryce Canyon National Park in southwestern Utah passes through a fairyland of coloured spires that remind one of childhood days making sandcastles at the beach. When lighted by the morning sun the gorgeous chasm resembles an immense bowl of delicate ornamental tracery carved in stone, coloured with an iron-rich palette of brilliant reds, oranges, pinks and browns.

Bryce Canyon is not so much a canyon, but rather a giant natural amphitheatre created by erosion along the eastern edge of Paunsaugunt Plateau. The mystical shapes formed due to erosion by wind, water and ice comprise a spectacular array of spires, fins, and pinnacles known as "hoodoos", which are whimsically arranged and tinted with a variety of subtle colours. A legend of Paiute Indians, who inhabited the area for hundreds of years before the arrival of Europeans, claims that the colourful hoodoos are ancient "Legend People" who were cursed by the coyote, which turned them into stone as a punishment for bad deeds.

The Paiute gave the canyon several names including Anka-ka-was-a-wits, which translates as "red painted faces". In 1875, a Mormon pioneer named Ebenezer Bryce and his wife Mary were sent to help settle the area. Bryce's home was located just below the amphitheatre. His neighbours took to referring to the area as `Bryce's Canyon' and the reference stuck; in 1923 the area was designated a national monument and in 1928 it was declared as the Bryce Canyon National Park.

The Bryce Canyon area shows a record of deposition that spans from the last part of the Cretaceous period which began some 144 million years ago, and for 60 million years a great seaway extended, depositing sediments of varying thickness and composition and these remnants form the oldest, lowest, grey-brown rocks at Bryce Canyon. During the Tertiary period, highlands to the west eroded into shallow, broad basins. Iron-rich, limy sediments were deposited in the beds of a series of lakes and streams. These became the reddish rocks of the Claron formation out of which were carved the Pink Cliffs that were called hoodoos.

The Colorado Plateau began to uplift about 15 million years ago by segmenting the region into different plateaus, including the Paunsaugunt and Aquarius plateaus. The highest of these plateaus, the Aquarius, is visible to the east of Bryce Canyon. Prior to the uplifting and fracturing of the Colorado Plateau, a river known as Paria and its tributaries flowed slowly across the fertile land. As the area began to rise, the Paria and its tributaries became a powerful erosive force, cutting easily into the weaker layers of the Claron sediments and carving the bowl-shaped amphitheatres of Bryce Canyon National Park.

The formation of hoodoos is an ongoing process, where the patterns are shaped through the process of freezing and thawing. Today, due to low rainfall the Paria river is less forceful, but rain and snowmelt continue to flow down the plateau, retreating its rim by nearly one foot every 50 to 60 years.

The first view of Bryce Canyon is dramatic, as rows of pine trees mask the colour and grandeur of the canyon until you reach the very rim.

The hoodoos can be explored at close quarters through well-developed intertwining hiking trails below the rim. Rangers recommend hiking shoes with good traction and ankle support. Most visitors sightsee along the 29-km scenic drive, which provides access to 13 viewpoints over the amphitheatre.

The Bryce Amphitheatre viewpoint is the heart of Bryce and a place where you're likely to spend a major part of your visit. The Fairyland Loop Trail is a fantasyland of strange and wonderful geological formations where the stone spires and pinnacles are given imaginative names such as the "Chinese Wall" and "Sea Castle".

Sunrise point is the most colourful and photographically gratifying if taken just before the sunset. The Rim Trail between Sunrise and Sunset Points is an easy half-mile stroll along a paved walk, with many benches along the way. The Rim Trail from Sunset to Inspiration Point is also half-mile long and takes you past a spectacular section known as the "Silent City."

The visitor centre is open all-year round and provides general information on how one can visit the park with minimal impact to the fragile retreating desert environment. The rim of the Canyon stands at an altitude of 8,000 ft with freezing temperatures during winter, but summers are mild with moderate temperatures.