Christmas in Bryce Canyon

 

We arrived at Bryce Canyon the day before Christmas Eve and didn't go into the park that day. We were tired from the long drive and our stop at Cathedral Gorge. It was getting dark early as well, so we opted for a good dinner in Ruby's restaurant. 

This is a photo heavy post, but thankfully less "talk" from me.

When we're in Bryce we always watch the sunrise at least once. Winter and cold doesn't discourage us. We bundled up and drove out to the parking lot of Inspiration Point. Bryce Canyon faces East, so it's perfect for a sunrise.

You will notice different colors in the photos. This is because a) the light constantly changes and b) I was working with two cameras, my phone and my DSLR which both display colors differently.

Of course I had to put a tree in the picture...

Look at these two trees - those roots are impressive, and I liked the way this tree is twisted.

There is one hike in Bryce Canyon that we love and have done a couple times. You go down Navajo Trail which passes through the hoodoos deep into the "canyon" (Bryce Canyon is actually NOT a canyon) and eventually hike up to the rim via Queens Garden. It's quite strenuous in parts. The Geek wanted to do it again, but I knew that with my highly annoying cough and the thin air (Bryce Canyon is at an altitude of 9100 ft/2773 m) I would never get up the last steep part of Queens Garden trail. So the Geek left on his own whereas I explored the park at bit more.

The start of Navajo Trail

It winds its way deep through these hoodoos

Queens Garden Trail almost at the rim

I drove to the very end of the road and stopped at the natural bridge. I have always loved this view and it didn't disappoint this time either.

The little bits of snow drew interesting patterns in the rock.

There were more trees that I could photograph.

And I was very happy to "chase" the ravens.

The next morning - Christmas Day - had a lovely surprise: snow!

The clouds were already looming and chasing along the sky, providing ever changing colors and patterns.

Don't you think this tree stump looks like a bear?

With snow the red rock really "pops".

Did I mention the trees? It always fascinates me where they are still able to grow. I can't imagine a world without trees.

Someone had built a tiny snowman.

We met friendly people who took our "Christmas photo". This is for Nicole's Friday Face Off.

You can see how bundled up we were. It was very very cold, but oh, so beautiful.

A few more photos... this is such a favorite place of ours. It doesn't matter how often we come here (I think this was our seventh or eighth visit), we never get tired of this wonderful, amazing place. Nature - our church.

These little guys were very entertaining. Ravens are fascinating birds.

But on the horizon we could already see that the following day wouldn't be as beautiful as this one.

The last sunrise in Bryce Canyon (that didn't happen) before we said goodbye.

Snowed In

 

"Snowed in" is the topic this week at Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date.

At the end of last week, the sky dumped an enourmous amount of snow on Bavaria, the most southern state in Germany. There was so much snow, that all the trains were cancelled. This was bad news for Kaefer, who was in Venice at that time and had booked the night train back to Germany which had to pass Munich which was completely closed down. So she stayed another night in Venice (not the worst place to get stuck) and then was finally able to get home on trains passing through Switzerland. It took her 18 hours to finally arrive at her appartment.

This reminded me of the snowy winters we used to have when I still lived in Germany. Our home was the area between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alb and that meant very cold in the winter and often tons of snow. I wasn't particularly fond of driving in the snow, but when you live in one of the last houses at the end of a street up a steep hill which wasn't on the priority list for snow clearing and you had to leave at 6 o'clock in the morning in order to go to work, then you don't really have a choice. Snow was still better than black ice and this way I became a rather experienced driver in snow. I also didn't like snow shoveling - but I did love the beauty of snow.

Therefore, today I want to show you some photos of our winters in Germany from more than 20 years ago. I apologize for an overload of pictures, but am hoping that you will like them.

Walking in the woods provided a lot of photo opportunities.

No one was going to sit on this bench...

Snow on grasses is just fascinating.

Today I don't have a dinner to share with you. Instead, I baked a German Nusszopf (hazelnut braid) a couple days ago. It's from my trusted Dr. Oetker baking recipe book that my students gifted to me several years ago.

It's an easy recipe - the only "challenge" is to braid the dough with the filling and then transfer it to the baking sheet. This is what is looks like before it goes into the oven...

... and this is what it looks like after being done baking (no, my silicone baking mat did not change color in such a dramatic way, only the light had changed).

As soon as it had cooled down, we cut a slice and tasted it - oh delicious!

Winter Morning

Whenever we are in Utah and visiting those wonderful National Parks like Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Zion we love to drive along Highway 12 that connects Capitol Reef (photo above) and Bryce Canyon. It is one of the most scenic highways I know, not very busy (at least not in winter when it is often covered with snow) and fittingly called a "scenic byway". It goes without saying that we drove along it when we were in Utah over winter break.

We had spent the day before in Capitol Reef, stayed in a hotel close by and left quite early in the morning. It was very cold (13 F), and there was almost no one else on the road. The winter morning we experienced here was fantastic.

The sun had just risen, but many clouds blocked its light down to planet Earth. The light, though, was interesting and gave the morning a certain magic.

We saw foot prints in the snow, left by the wildlife who crossed here during the night.

Where is the fence, you ask? Look no further.

Not a permanent fence, though. It's only here as long as the snow is.

But that might still be a few months.

I'm linking up to Theresa's "Good Fences" - it's always a pleasure to be in the company of other fence lovers.

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Valentine's Day is next week.

Send or give a Valentine's card to the special person in your life.

Check out my Etsy store for a variety of cards.

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