Life’s funny. We tried to go to Bryce the Friday after Thanksgiving, but we ran into two huge problems: the road we had to take to get there (before it would get dark out) was covered with ice, and our POS Hertz rental overheated while ascending a 10,000 foot high mountain. The engine temperature got really bad at about 9,500 feet, even though it was about 24 degrees fahrenheit outside. Almost at the summit, but with a 40 mile / 2,000 foot descent after the summit, then a 250 mile return trip, I decided we should turn back.
I maneuvered the car through a white-knuckle, steep descent down the side of the frozen mountain, negotiating hairpin turns on precipices without guardrails… and we made it safely back to Cedar City. We stopped at a Sports Authority so I could return a North Face jacket I bought there (forgot mine in the hotel room!). In the shopping center parking lot, I turned and looked at the snow-capped mountain that taunted me. “You haven’t seen the last of me – I enjoy a challenge” I silently told it.
We got back on I-15 and saw signs for Zion National Park, and went there instead. The drive was mostly downhill from Cedar City, but there was a bit of a climb to the actual park. The car began to go toward the red-line for heat, but managed to keep its cool long enough for us to go the park and return to Vegas without breaking down.
Friday night we went to the Wynn – great casino, nice shops, hot, young cocktail waitresses, but weak drinks. Spent about 4 – 5 hours there, then went back to the Riviera, ordered room service and called it a night. It was funny when the room service guy came to our room to deliver the food, whe he came in to put it on the table for us… took a look around and said something like “Wow! You guys are really having a good time! All that’s missing is a hole in the wall!” Yeah, we can trash a hotel room in two nights flat.
My “Sea Moose” went back to LA on Sunday morning, I went out to defeat my Moby Dick (the 10,000 mountain that stood between me and Bryce Canyon). I rented a 4×4 and took off for Cedar City.
I headed back up the 10,000 foot high monster and the Toyota SUV did not overheat during the ascent. Good sign. However, the higher up I went, the further the vertical drop from the edge of the shoulder-less road. This was some serious white-knuckle driving, there was still snow and ice on the road and as I got higher, the twists and turns seemed to get worse.
Finally, I saw a huge shoulder on the road. I had been driving for about 3.5 hours, the last 1 hour spent driving up this mountain, and pulled over to take a break. When I was getting out of the car, I noticed it – a street sign that said something beautiful: “SUMMIT 9910 FT.” I did it – I got to the top! It was all downhill from there – easy stuff (not counting the ride back).
About 40 minutes later, I got to Bryce, and I met five people (2, then 3 others later) who changed my life forever.
After hiking for about 3 hours, it was getting dark, and colder, so decided to head out. The experience and the beauty of the park greatly exceeded my expectations. The air at 8,500 feet is surprisingly pleasant, and easy to inhale. Then, I actually enjoyed most of the ride back up, then down, the mountain. The sky at the summit was actually.. BLUE, and I saw the most beautful sunset of my life. (See the post below).
Well, the experience I had in the Canyon was amazing, and it cured me of something I am now ashamed to admit I ever held in my heart. I think it was divine intervention. So, thanks God, thanks Hertz, thanks Toyota, and thanks ice and snow.
I had taken the Sunset Trail because I was looking for Thor’s Hammer (the rock formation shown below in the photo I took that day), I found it – and something else just as astonishing and beautiful. 
