So let’s try again: I am sitting in Cedar City and want to get across the mountain range to the east to reach Bryce Canyon. Yesterday I had to drive this terrible detour that led me to a place where I will be staying in five days, and it made me wonder if I really want to go there. Luckily I have a prepaid non-refundable rate so there’s not much choice. The detour was not really announced and on the webpages it said a dirt bypass would be open nights and weekends. So it wasn’t and the last 10 miles became 50 or so.
As the lady at the hotel desk thought the road should really be open at least one-way from this side and it wouldn’t cost more than 5 wasted miles if that proved untrue, I tried again. Five miles up the mountain, road closed, gate open, drive on until the next gate is really closed. Turn around and head north on I-15 again to do a wide loop.
Finally I reach Bryce around noon, and I decide to drive into it and check the sights out before using the shuttle service to the sightseeing / eclipse viewing areas closed for private traffic. All the way to Rainbow point and back is not too inspiring in plain daylight, and I almost felt a little disappointed as I was really looking forward to seeing Bryce. Getting out of the car and avoiding most of the crowds by hiking the (short) loop trail improved my feelings a little – this was not too bad after all.
It was getting late and I hadn’t eaten much other than these Wheat & Cheese biscuits and stuff, so I checked into my hopelessly overpriced and style-free motel room (demand dictates prices!), got a little rest and got ready to carry all my gear (three cameras, lenses, filters and two tripods) to the shuttle station. Only there did I realize this was not the first stop of the bus route, so buses arrived already full and hardly loaded more than 5 people at a time. This was starting to be a socializing event, and finally I made it to the visitors center where I got out of the bus to had a drink – bad choice, as I then had to get onto another bus, but this time squeezing in was surprisingly easy. Got off – like most people – at Bryce Point and headed a bit up to get a fair view of the Western horizon for the Annular Solar Eclipse. As it was still hot and sunny, everyone was cramming into the shade, and of course I found myself crouching next to two swiss people on a long-term leave: Looping all around the US. With the other travelers, e.g. from the UK and Western California, this really became a socializing event, spending four hours together observing the event and enjoying just as much all the stories told in the meantime.
Only bigger accident (I expected about half the people to become blind by staring unfiltered into the sun, but the Rangers did a great job handing out solar glasses and pamphlets explaining the situation) was that the top end of the golden plug for my remote control of the camera actually fell off (it did not break) and remained stuck in the corresponding connection inside the camera so it thought it should release all the time.
