Saturday, July 9, 2022
I drove Karen up the mountain to the entrance of Bryce Canyon National Park for a half-marathon, which goes down the mountain ending near our campground, Bryce Canyon RV Resort. The race would start at 6:00. I went back to camp and did some work. I was surprised to see the winning male runner flying down the road about an hour and a half later. Unexpectedly, this is a popular race for several reasons. It is very well organized from the sign-up, the dinner, water and toilets all along the route and police helping everywhere. The kids joined Karen as she came by the campsite. We walked down to the finish line where food and drinks were being served. The second reason it is popular is the scenery is beautiful. Karen said it took her mind off running. Third, it is all down hill – mostly.
Two hours later, she had showered and we were hiking The Hoodoos. Bryce Canyon National Park has the largest collection of hoodoos (Pillars of Stone) anywhere in the world. We went to the Visitor’s Center, looked around, and asked if Josh’s AirPods had been found. Karen filled out a form in case they were turned in.
We retraced our stops on the Scenic Drive to see if we could find them. Josh was tracking their location with his phone, and I was surprised how closely it could be tracked. It put us at one overlook, which we scoured. A big raven sat on a pillar and let me come right up to him. I once had a crow, and I know how intelligent these birds are. I talked to him face-to-face, and he looked a little guilty. Tracking put them across the street from the overlook. I looked for a nest, but didn’t see one. We might have walked around in the woods, but it was a steep drop-off.
Since the AirPods weren’t turned on, they could only track the last known position. If someone had taken them, they would have turned them on. My guess is the guilty-looking raven took them. They love collecting things, mostly shiny things. Well, we did what we could.
We hiked up a beautiful stream to Mossy Cave. People were stopping to walk in the cool waters, but it was a comfortable day at approximately 8,000’.
Back at the rim, we hiked down into the hoodoos to find trees and shrubs growing amongst the hoodoos. It was very cool….until we had to hike back up. These hoodoos are like amphitheater’s.
At sunset, we returned, casually walking around the rim to a pretty overlook. People were sitting with their dinners or drinks enjoying the peaceful beauty.
