Bryce’s sedimentary rocks make it the highest level of the Grand Staircase (followed by Zion and the Grand Canyon). Uplifting and erosion cause variations in the current altitudes of the regions. Bryce’s collection of hoodoos (the Paiute word meaning “ancient people turned to stone”) were formed by erosion of the rock layers, first into fins, and then into pillars. As the spires further erode, piles of stone form into dunes.

We hiked amid the hoodoos into the canyon (the Park Ranger advised us that this is not a “real” canyon, since it was not formed by a river) from Sunset Point, along the Navajo Loop trail, the Peak-A-Boo Loop Trail and the Queens Garden Trail, to Sunrise Point (total: 7.4 miles; 2135 feet, descent and ascent). We encountered a group of KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) students from Brooklyn preparing to hike.

Accommodations: first night in Panguitch, a crossroads surrounded by farmland; second night at the Bryce Canyon National Park Lodge