Bryce Canyon
    Bryce also supports 400 species of plants, and is visited by 160 species of birds every year, including eagles, hawks, falcons, and owls. The park is indeed an extremely diverse ecosystem, and one is grateful that President Warren G. Harding had the foresight to protect the area back in 1928.
      Viewing this rich landscape is easiest along the Rim Trail at the top of the canyon, but to fully appreciate the hoodoos you need to walk down into the formations themselves. Trails into the amphitheater range from relatively easy 1.5 mile round-trip walks to more strenuous hikes of up to eight miles, which may involve ascents and descents of 900 feet. (Given that the park lies at about 8,000 feet above sea level, even short hikes can be tiring if you're not accustomed to the altitude.) Backpacking is also possible along the Under the Rim Trail, which runs for 22 miles between Bryce Point and Rainbow Point.
      Two of the best hikes are also the shortest, the Queen's Garden Trail and the Navajo Loop Trail. Each leads in and among the formations, and sometimes through them via tunnels cut through the rock. Individually, these trails are about 1.5 miles round-trip, and there are descents of 320 feet (for Queen's Garden) and 520 feet (for the Navajo Loop) into the canyon. These trails can be combined or taken individually. I chose to hike the Navajo Loop in the early morning and the Queen's Garden in the afternoon, since those times of day provide the best lighting conditions for photography.
     Descending into the canyon was like entering another world. At times I felt like I was in a fairyland, staring up at palaces, castles and miniature cities with windowed walls and cathedral spires. Other times, it seemed like I was walking among the pieces of a giant chess game, the figures staring back at me from heights of up to 200 feet. The palette of color around me was intense and pure, unaffected by smog or haze. Iron and manganese in the rock has oxidized into incredible hues of red, pink, orange, yellow, and purple. The Douglas fir trees added life to the landscape, standing in stark contrast to the crumbling monoliths. Junipers and gnarled pinyon pines struggled to hold on to the eroding soil. Rock crevasses, glowing red from reflecting light, arced toward pinnacles capped with dazzling white limestone, all set against a cobalt blue sky. It was a surrealistic, other-worldly landscape.