Hoodoos at Bryce Canyon

At Bryce Canyon, we watched a ranger talk about the canyon geology. There are giant "hoodoos" throughout the canyon. Early native Americans thought they were people who had been turned to stone by a tricky fox in the valley. Admittedly, many of the stone formations looked like groups of people standing together.



The hoodoos were formed by rainwater and meltwater rushing down cliff walls. Once the cliff walls are broken apart, wind erosion can continue to widen the gaps between the monoliths. New hoodoos are being formed (and broken down) during the seasons of each year. Interestingly, many fossils of sea creatures and snails have been found in the layers of rock (the ranger passed around a bunch of samples). Scientists believe that the whole colorado plateau was once covered by oceans (and vast lakes during a different time period). Shifting tectonic plates caused the entire plateau to be raised up, and the water washed away and resulted in the current arid climate.

We took a short 1-mile hike from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point and back and enjoyed the views of the canyon below.

:) Connie