Hoodoos and Booboos!

Ruby’s Inn just outside Bryce Canyon is a tourist village built Mr. Ruby and his family. It has everything from motel, cabins, campground, restaurants, shops and gas to a Mormon church service on Sunday afternoons at 3 pm. It was Sunday on our day of touring but we had church instead at Inspiration Point along the canyon rim. Wow – Rip said, “can you imagine anything more spiritual than this?” No, I couldn’t. At Inspiration Point you could see in the distance 9,000 foot high tablelands of forest and in the foreground the huge canyon basin with warm yellows and oranges, people-like spires of rock (called hoodoos) and fluted walls and sculptured pinnacles.

There is a deeply spiritual sense of place here that goes beyond rocks. Some local Paiute Indians explain it with a legend. Once there lived animal-like creatures that changed themselves into people. They behaved badly so the Coyote turned them into rocks of various configurations. The spell-bound creatures still huddle together here with faces painted just as they were before being turned into stone. Enchanting hoodoos.

It is easy to imagine and “see” these people at Inspiration Point. The wind there even sounded like the mountains around the canyon were singing to us. Maybe they were.

The largest and most striking canyon bowl at Bryce is the natural Amphitheatre – it encompasses 6 square miles! Try to imagine that one.

Ruby’s was a very hospitable campground with upscale showers and laundry facilities. We were glad we had gotten a reservation – there is no where else to go! This is where I found out that toothpaste is not a good substitute for soap. I rushed into the shower to hasten an early start to the day – couldn’t find the toiletry bag in a hurry so grabbed my toothbrush and paste and also shampoo and towel (I thought). In the shower I realized I didn’t have the shampoo or my towel, so I used toothpaste as soap. I wouldn’t recommend it but I expect my skin to be gleaming white any day now! I used my clothes as a towel and walked out half wet to the van. I bet I won’t forget my towel again – or the shampoo and soap! It was a day of hoodoos and booboos!