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Show JEA1VZVA J1ANTEVIL,LE Times Staff Writer Bryce Canyon really isn't a canyon, but an amphitheater shaped by the forces of erosion. When the Colorado Plateau began to rise 16 million years ago, it created cre-ated three distinct plateaus. The Markagunt (that formed Cedar Breaks), the Aquarius (that created creat-ed the Table Cliffs) and the Paunsaugunt that gave birth to Bryce. Over time the Paria River gnawed its way through the Paunsaugunt exposing the fissures, fis-sures, or joints, in the sandstone. As the seasons changed, the freeze and melt cycle cut its maze of patterns pat-terns in the sandstone, creating the pillars, or hoodoos, that symbolize sym-bolize Bryce Canyon. Even today, the landscape is in transition. Local Utah County man, Jim Rider and his family have been venturing to Bryce Canyon for five years. Rider, a native to the Bryce Canyon area, grew up in Richmond and wanted to show his family the area where he grew up. Bryce Canyon and its surrounding surround-ing areas offers its vistors hoarse-back hoarse-back riding, helecopter tours, ATV riding, camping, fishing, mountain biking, canoeing, tons of hiking, - i i " V Hi' ' . 1 '- Queens Garden in Bryce Canyon National Park. Page 14 Outdoor & Travel Section , Thursday, May 29, 2003 and during the winter, cross country coun-try skiing and snow mobiling-. The Rider family really enjoy the hiking hik-ing in the area and have since ventured ven-tured into hiking slot canyons. A slot canyon is a natural regression of land etched by a running stream many years ago. According to Rider, vistors can begin at a dried up river bed and as they follow the bed, the walls of the river bed gradually grad-ually increase ranging to 200-300 feet tall while the sides are only about 5-15 feet wide. While in the slot canyons, one can see many different dif-ferent colors of sediment as well as different places where lighting tries to sneak in. Rider said that new adventures await at Bryce Canyon every time his family travels there. The best time to go to Bryce Canyon, said Rider, is September, October or November. The many different colors col-ors of a changing season, and the quitness of few visitors during this time is the Rider family's favorite time of the year at Bryce. For more information about Bryce Canyon and the activities surrounding and within the park, call the Bryce Canyon National Park at 435-834-5322 or go to www. bryce. canyon. national-park. national-park. com. Bryce Canyon facts Bryce Canyon was established as a national park on September 15, 1928 and covers 36,000 acres. 129 species of birds, 60 species of animals, 8 of amphibians and reptiles-including Clark's nutcracker, mule deer, prairie dog inhabit Bryce Canyon. The canyon is named after a Scottish immigrant, Ebenezer Bryce, who settled in the area in 1875. The area was called "Bryce's Canyon" and the name stuck. A legend of the Paiute Indians, who inhabited the area for hundreds hun-dreds of years before the arrival of European Americans, claims the colorful hoodoos are ancient "Legend People" who were turned to stone as punishment for bad deeds. Bryce Canyon Pines Resort is less than 5 minutes from Bryce Canyon National Park. Bryce Canyon Pines Resort offers ' full service RV park, rustic cottages, and modern motel rooms. Bryce Canyon Pines Resort can be your home away from home, while you enjoy the scenic sights surrounding Bryce I Canyon. In addition to viewing beautiful beauti-ful Bryce Canyon National Park you can relax in the heated pool and spa, enjoy a home cooked meal in our restaurant, or even spend a day with real cowboys on a horseback ride to Butch Cassidy's secret hide out. Join a true Western cowboy on a horseback ride to the secret hideout of infamous outlaw Butch Cassidy. Your cowboy guide will share some extraordinary extraor-dinary history during your adventure as well as a few stories of his own. Horseback rides are available to the beginner as well as the more experienced experi-enced rider from ages 6 and up. Choose between a half hour and one hour rides which lead through a red rock Ponderosa Forest. Also available are half and full day horseback adventures adven-tures through the twisted formations of red canyon on the trails Butch Cassidy once roamed. Bryce Canyon is located on scenic highway 12 situated amid a Ponderosa forest with an incredible view of the surrounding mountains, Bryce Canyon Pines offers everything you need to make your vacation complete. |
