|
From
Bryce Point, one of the most scenic vistas of the full amphitheater and
all its wonders amaze the visitor. Bryce Point is famous for its
extraordinary sunrises. From here you can watch the tops of hoodoos set
alight as if by fire from the first rays of the rising sun. Like fire the
orange light quickly spreads driving shadows from all but the deepest
recesses of the amphitheater. We are also
reminded of the canyon's namesake, Ebenezer Bryce, who settled in the
valley just below the canyon in 1870. Bryce was a shipbuilder who
journeyed west with Brigham Young and the Mormon Pioneers to assist in the
construction of buildings essential to community life throughout the new
land. Bryce only lived here five years, but in that time, the canyon
became known as Bryce's canyon to the people who knew him. Ebenezer Bryce
was a pragmatic man, constructing roads to facilitate lumber transport and
surveying the route for a 10-mile irrigation ditch from the top of the
Plateau to the valley that would later facilitate larger more permanent
settlements. If he had romantic ideas concerning the land on which he
struggled to survive, they are lost in history. All he is known to have
said concerning this striking scene behind his home is, "It's a helluva
place to lose a cow."
Geology
Geologic features visible from Bryce Point illustrate pieces of the
natural history of the area. Visitors stand on the Conglomerate at Boat
Mesa that caps the Claron Formation along the rim from Bryce Point to
Inspiration Point, a remainder from a time when nearby areas were being
uplifted by volcanic activity and eroded by streams. These streams flowed
through the area we now know as Bryce Canyon and deposited this gray to
brown conglomerate. The
grottos,
also visible from Bryce Point, are the result of erosion of softer pockets
of the upper White Member of the Claron Formation.
Nature
Bryce Point is a popular hang out for
Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, and
Uinta
Chipmunks. Here as at many overlooks in the park these rodents have
become dangerously bold. People with good intentions have abused these
animals by feeding them. Feeding wildlife is not only a violation of park
law, it is a crime against nature. Rodents who are fed by humans soon lose
the ability survive on their own. Their health soon degrades to the point
that they easily succumb to diseases, which they may pass on to other
rodents and even people. Such diseases include, the infamous bubonic
plague or "Black Death," and the mysterious and incurable Hanta Virus.
Please don't put yourself or other people at risk. Please don't feed the
wildlife.
Trails
The Peek-a-boo Loop
Trail descends from Bryce Point, a steep but spectacular hike past the
Wall of Windows and the Three Wisemen. Along this trail you might spy
Maguire Catchfly, Platy Penstemon and the Bryce Canyon Paintbrush which
grows only in Bryce Canyon. The 23-mile Under-the-Rim trail also descends
from Bryce Point and heads south toward Rainbow Point through the less
traveled backcountry of Bryce Canyon. Overnight travel in Bryce Canyon's
Backcountry requires a permit which can only be obtained at the Visitor
Center.
Services
None
|