Short shrifting Bryce

Maybe it's because we've recently been to umpteen state and national parks.  Maybe it's because we're on the homestretch.  Or maybe it's because, I'm embarrassed to say, at this point every park story sounds like the following:  Shallow sea, dinosaurs, the color of the rocks is caused by [insert local mineral here], uplift, erosion, primitive peoples, Native Americans, conquistadors [or Spanish priests, fur traders, Mormons or John Wesley Powell], permanent settlers, and there-is-no-where-else-on-earth-like [insert park name here]. I've missed a few but you get the idea.

So.  Today we took a short tour of Bryce Canyon National park. It really is a beautiful place and has what appeared to be some great hiking.  But our Bryce tour consisted of the visitors' center, three scenery overlooks and driving half of the 18-mile park road.

To get to Bryce, we drove through nearby Red Canyon, 
which is called a mini Bryce and has views like the 
one above.   These photos were all taken with Jim's iPhone, 
because while I had my camera, I left the battery in the rig. 
Another sign of sightseeing overload, perhaps?  

Bryce Canyon's Natural Bridge, which the park says is
technically an arch. Either way it's beautiful.

Jim and the view.  Bryce Canyon is named after early
settler Ebenezer Bryce who described his canyon as
"a hell of a place to lose a cow."

Bryce Canyon is not really a canyon.  Instead
it's a ponderosa pine forest on a bluff with views
of cliffs.