It was Beautiful and VERY Cold
During our trip to Zion we had to take a day and go see Bryce Canyon. Bryce Canyon is only around a 2 hour drive from Zion. We arrived around 2:00 pm on March 8th, 2019 and it was cold and snowy! You don’t really realize it during the drive but you climb from an elevation of 4,000 feet in Zion to 7,600 feet in Bryce Canyon. The climate changed accordingly. I had been hiking in Zion the day previously, but here in Bryce just 2 hours away the entire canyon bowl was filled with snow as you see in the pictures. I knew this ahead of time and knew it sadly meant that we would not be able to hike down in the bowl. That was OK though because I was just happy to be standing up top looking across this amazing scene. I had never seen such a strange looking terrain in my life. It was bizarre. Like something out of a space movie showing some distant planet’s terrain.
We worked our way down from the visitor center on Bryce Canyon Road and proceeded to pull off at every observation point and venturing out to the edge to take in a new view. I am happy that I was able to visit and see Bryce with the snow present. It just means that I definitely need to come back when the snow is gone and the temperatures are warmer so I can hike down in the bowl and see these incredible hoodoos by looking up.
When we headed home for Zion, there were small snow flurries and the winds had picked up. Some portions of the road that were previously completely clear were starting to have a significant amount of snow blown back on the road by the winds. We were able to drive to the intersection of Rt 89 and Rt 20. At this point new snow was falling and it was becoming dark as the sunset. The weather forecast had said nothing about new snow yet here it was. We were kind of in no man’s land and we needed to make it west over to the interstate 15 where the roads would certainly be better. I did not come this way to Bryce so having never been on route 20 I had no idea what the mountainous areas you see in the picture below are like. I asked the gas station attendant about them and whatever he said gave me the confidence we could make it. As it turns out it is 20 miles to reach Interstate 15 from there. It would easily become the most terrifying 20 miles I have ever driven. Climbing up those mountains and down the other sides with twisting turns the whole way I was sure we were easily going to slide right off the edge. The snow continued and the roads become worse and worse the further we went. There were very few cars on the road at this point, it was now dark and I honestly was very afraid for our safety. All I kept thinking about were those shows I had seen where someone would wreck there car in a snow storm and be stranded in there car hoping for someone to find them. That was a very real possibility for us in this situation. I drove so carefully and so slow as the cars anti locking brakes kicked in more than I can count. I honestly do not know how we made it. As I made it down to the bottom of the last hill I watched as locals were pulled over and those without chains were not even going to try and make that drive. I cannot tell you how relived I was when we made it all the way back to Zion and found a place to have a meal. I was still shaken while we ate.
What an incredible and exhausting day!
