Salt Lake City, New Granddaughter, and Bryce Canyon

I have 7 layers on and am still cold here at Bryce Canyon National Park, but it is worth it. This morning we got up at 3:45 and saw the Milky Way at Sunrise Point. 22°. We were the only people there. Just as we got out of the car, I saw a meteorite. We walked out to the overlook and sat for a while on the bench. Then, throughly frozen, we drove to Farpoint to see the sunrise. Thank goodness for the heated seats and steering wheel in the Jeep Compass we rented. And thank goodness I made Grant buy a park sweatshirt since then he could give me his red windbreaker. Even with tights under my pants and 2 pairs of socks, my legs and feet are cold.

Yes, we could have packed bulky warm clothes but we are only here overnight to see the dark skies. We started our trip flying into Salt Lake City 4 days ago to see new granddaughter Hazel Maeve and to attend the Great Salt Lake Bird Festival. 2 birds…

Hazel is absolutely darling. I know, I know, a doting grandmother would say that, but she is. And seems an easy baby to boot. Brother Teddy is still a little shy around us, but a delight. We birded each morning, then spent the afternoon and evening holding the baby and watching Teddy’s antics. So much energy.

Bird trips were to Katyville, Bountiful Pond, and Spiral Jetty. Leaders were as expected: crazy knowledgeable, birds disappointingly far and few between. We did see black headed grosbeaks at Bountiful Pond, and I may have learned their song. At Katyville, the 1 white pelican was close enough to see the horn they grow during mating season, a first for me.

The whole reason I’d signed us up for the GSLBF was Spiral Jetty, which was amazing. Even riding 2 hours each way in a school bus did not dampen my happiness. 

After 1 1/2 hours we stopped at the Golden Spike National Historical Park, for a look at great horned owls nestlings in a tree at the visitor center entrance.

They peered down from their nest about 15’ above us, while an adult stood sentinel on an adjoining branch. Says phoebes, sage thrushes, and everything else where not to be seen, probably because it was cold, overcast, and windy.

Back on the bus for the rocky, bumpy ride to Spiral Jetty. While we stood in the cold and wind, Jami explained about the building of the art piece and the biology of the Great Salt Lake. She had lots and lots and lots of marvelous information, (I bought her book for Teddy,) but the cold and wind got to me. I eventually huddled in the lee of the bus. Our bird guide Max looked vainly for birds. 

We drove a short distance to an easier place to walk out on the lake to see the tar seeps. The rocky path was a slog. Grant stayed on the bus. Some hearty souls walked another 1/2 mile or so out to the water's edge. I tried walking on the crusty lakebed, but knew that going with them, then all the way back would be just too much. I did see 2 black throated sparrows, briefly a snowy plover fly by, and a rock wren. Not 1 white pelican appeared even though huge numbers bred on Gunnison Island and usually fly over where our bus was parked on their way to find food in lakes 30 miles away. Such is birding.

One more visit with Teddy and Hazel. Oh, to have a large family compound so we could live near by. Monday morning, we drove to Bryce, surprised by the snow on the trees and ground. My Chat GPT generated trip guide has worked, however I need to add daily weather updates. 

After a short time at the visitor center, we opted to drive to Rainbow Point, then work our way back, both to see the famous hoodoos and to reconnoiter where we wanted to park to see the sunrise. All of our national parks are packed. Disney World lines with nature backdrop. I long for the parks of my youth when you could drive up and be assured of a tent site.  Bah, humbug. 

The vistas are still amazing. Our shared diner of roast chicken with chunky roasted vegetables and baked potato at the Cowboy Corral was surprisingly good. The Bryce Canyon Resort was just a tired motel a mile down the road, certainly not a resort. I am always hesitant to give bad reviews but when the beds visibly sag, it can’t be rated 5 stars. 

After seeing the sunrise, which was a sliver of gold under a line of clouds, we drove to the lodge to warm up and wait for the 7:30 opening of our complimentary breakfast back at the “resort”. I had opted for only motels with breakfast for this trip to make our mornings easier. That meant some sort of scrambled eggs (little 2-egg omelettes folded over a slice of American cheese in Bountiful which were fairly good), sausage, sugary cereal, low to no-fat yogurt, assorted breads, including a plain bagel, small muffins and usually bananas, occasionally oranges. Meh to me, but done. 

We ate and drove on to Zion.