One of the points that the tour bus driver was adamant about was the fact that the terrain in Bryce Canyon is not rock, but dirt. In some areas the soil feels like chalk.
Having said that, I should mention the stupidity that we witnessed yesterday at the canyon rim. There was a family of Koreans taking photographs. They thought it would be a good idea if Mom (who, by our best estimation, was about 70 years old), went to the very edge of the rim and did some posing for the camera! The other couple that was there, besides us, did the exact same thing as us-gasped and quickly walked away because we were so sure she was going over the edge. A short time later at another location, we ran into her again, perched on the edge on 1 foot and both hands in the air! If she slipped, or the dirt gave way, it was an 800 foot tumble down the rocks to the canyon floor. I should have taken a photo of her, but she gave me the willies just thinking about it!
Based on the recommendation of Spike, our bus driver from yesterday's tour, we decided to do the Fairyland Loop hike today. It's an 8.2 mile hike of switchbacks and hairpin turns leading to the canyon bottom. It's a geologically younger area than the Bryce amphitheater. Hoodoos go through more than 200 freeze-thaw cycles per year in Bryce Canyon. The ice created chips away at the rock. Rainwater is slightly acidic and wears away the rock grain by grain. Monsoon-like rainstorms accompanied by heavy winds also erode the hoodoos. The average erosion rate is 2-4 feet every 100 years. Bryce Canyon's hoodoos erode 10-40% faster than the hoodoos in Zion National Park. According to ancient legend, hoodoos are descendants of people who the god Coyote turned to stone for misbehaving. Some of them really do look like people.
We stopped close to halfway through the hike to have lunch in the shade with a big log as our table, in front of a colourful formation. It was an incredible hike that took us 6 1/2 hours. When we were finished, we decided that we would prefer hikes up to 6 miles, especially when 2 miles of that hike were continually ascending.
Steps on the fitness tracker-20,000
Another great day!