Bryce and Moab

[mseawell]

Just a quick question. Looking at making the drive from Salt Lake to Bryce at the end of January. We've never been to Bryce but have been to the Moab/Zion. We will arrive on Thursday, the 28th but I'm wondering if I need more than one sunrise/sunset and whether we should push on to Moab (4 hour drive). Or is Bryce one of those locations you can easily fill with 2-3 days of shooting.

Cheers!

Mark

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Yes.

[mseawell]

Yes it can fill 2-3 days? 

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Sorry, I was responding from my phone, hard to type a long one.

Yes, to both questions, i.e., you'd make use of more than one sunrise/sunset and you can easily fill 2-3 days of shooting. Especially since you've been to Moab already.

It is a relatively small park, but still has several worthy overlook points. Then it depends on the weather as well, some sunrises/sunsets might be better than others. While most photographers shoot from the outskirts above, you can also go into the canyon and explore the unusual formations from within. Then again, even if you are just passing through and have only 5 minutes to shoot, Bryce is such place that you'd end up with a decent photograph if you know where and how to look for it (as I am sure you do).

The reason for staying longer, apart from a generally good idea to immerse yourself and study the subject, is that Bryce's hoodoos in particular seems to absorb and reflect light quite differently throughout the day, depending on the nature and angle of light.

[mseawell]

Slob that is a stunner! I think we'll just hang out at Bryce. Wife likes to get her hike on though I suspect we'll need some type of adapter on our shoes if snow is on the ground. I don't know why I've been so resistant to going to Bryce, kinda a "meh" factor but this image sparked my interest!

Mark

[degrub]

The simplist place to stay overnight is at the lodge inside the park. Food is decent but expensive. It is an easy walk to the main overview areas. From there you can go down into the large ampitheatre or drive to one of the other overlooks further in the park. The park is high enough (8000 ft. iirc) that you may get snow or ice while other areas around do not. If you are staying outside the park and plan to go in-out multiple times, get an eagle annual pass which will let you in all NPS sites.

Hope you get a full moon while there. The ampitheatre is magical.
Frank

[Mjollnir]

Just a quick question. Looking at making the drive from Salt Lake to Bryce at the end of January. We've never been to Bryce but have been to the Moab/Zion. We will arrive on Thursday, the 28th but I'm wondering if I need more than one sunrise/sunset and whether we should push on to Moab (4 hour drive). Or is Bryce one of those locations you can easily fill with 2-3 days of shooting.

Cheers!

Mark

Two things:  yes, you can shoot Bryce rather quickly

Secondly, there is SO MUCH to shoot between Bryce and Moab, no matter which route you might choose, that you may never even get to Moab is the conditions are good.

[sierraman]

One more thing. Don't just shoot from the overlooks. Even if there is snow on the trails, make the effort to hike down into the canyon as some of the best views are from inside the canyon surrounded by the hoodoos. Stop by your local sporting goods store and pick up some "Yak-Trax". Easy to slip onto any hiking shoe and will give you plenty of traction in the the ice/snow. Also, in the winter being at a high elevation temps can easily get well below freezing. Last time I was there it was 6 degrees at sunrise with a wind chill around 0 degrees. 

[aduke]

One more thing. Don't just shoot from the overlooks. Even if there is snow on the trails, make the effort to hike down into the canyon as some of the best views are from inside the canyon surrounded by the hoodoos. Stop by your local sporting goods store and pick up some "Yak-Trax". Easy to slip onto any hiking shoe and will give you plenty of traction in the the ice/snow. Also, in the winter being at a high elevation temps can easily get well below freezing. Last time I was there it was 6 degrees at sunrise with a wind chill around 0 degrees. 

Good call on the Yak-traks. The trails will be icy and slippery.

Alan

[Jeremy Roussak]

Slob that is a stunner! I think we'll just hang out at Bryce. Wife likes to get her hike on though I suspect we'll need some type of adapter on our shoes if snow is on the ground. I don't know why I've been so resistant to going to Bryce, kinda a "meh" factor but this image sparked my interest!

I think you'll have a fantastic time. Bryce is one of the most magical places I've visited. The lodge is a decent place to stay but IMHO rather overrated and expensive. Last time I went, I stayed at Ruby's Inn: it's better value and only a five-minute drive from the park.

I'd expect it to be very, very cold indeed!

Jeremy

[framah]

Don't forget that the elevation at Bruce is much higher than Salt Lake City.  8-9 thousand feet versus 4 thousand feet.

Hiking down in is easy. It's the climb back out that really gets the heart pumping!!!

When i did it, I was living at sea level in NJ. BIG difference.

[LesPalenik]

It is a relatively small park, but still has several worthy overlook points.

A relatively small park indeed, but according to Ebenezer Bryce, the original settler - "a helluva place to lose a cow".

[PeterAit]

I am coming in late here, but I agree that Bryce needs a good two days. I strongly recommend hiking down, at least part of the way, because looking up at the walls and hoodoos gives an entirely different perspective. And it's worth driving to the far end of the park - while the really spectacular views are near the main entrance, you'll find interesting subjects all the way along.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I am coming in late here, but I agree that Bryce needs a good two days. I strongly recommend hiking down, at least part of the way, because looking up at the walls and hoodoos gives an entirely different perspective. And it's worth driving to the far end of the park - while the really spectacular views are near the main entrance, you'll find interesting subjects all the way along.

That is exactly my take also.

[bretedge]

I've been to Bryce several times and after my last visit I wrote a short guide to photographing the park.

Photographer's Guide to Bryce Canyon National Park

Hope this is helpful. Enjoy your trip!

[mseawell]

Thanks for all the input on Bryce! We really enjoyed the visit this weekend and will definitely return. It will probably be next winter since I have little interest in being in southern Utah during the summer and heat! BTW, I was talking to the park staff about the summer season and they are expecting RECORD numbers of visitors with 60% coming from overseas, especially China. So if you are set on going during summer expect to be wall to wall with other visitors. In contrast we were very comfortable during our winter visit from the perspective of not being overly crowded. We bought YAKS for the icy trails and my wife and our friend used the sticks from our snow shoes. We dressed accordingly and actually I had to walk back to the car with coats because we were too warm. That was the good news. Here is the bad.

BYOF (Bring your own food). Food options in the area are limited, especially in winter.  We stayed at the best western and that was nice. They serve a decent breakfast and the rooms were good. But, if you want to eat lunch/dinner local you have to go across the street to Ruby's. My wife and our best friend Alison visiting from overseas went there our first night. It was simply atrocious. Wine, horrible (don't bring bad wine to European women), food....wouldn't give it to our lab. And to add insult to injury we paid a lot of money! They have a general store attached to the restaurant and the prices are a HUGE ripoff. Sorry, I'm not normally a ranter but this was really bad. I should have done my research. Again, in summer more places to eat are open.

My wife and I will return to Bryce in winter again but we are going to cook a couple days worth of pasta (spaghetti or lasagna) and save ourselves a ton on money. Maybe other people had a totally different experience but our experience was not good. Forewarned is forearmed.

Mark