Early Morning Adventures

Jim and I fancy ourselves to be ‘Adventurers’ and today’s adventure was viewing Bryce Canyon at sunrise. The early morning always seems to have a reverence, a promise of things to come, a beauty that is lost in the full light of day. This is what we were anticipating when we left our camper at 5:30 and headed for Bryce Canyon National Park, specifically a trail known as Sunrise Point.

The 8000-foot elevation, combined with the 37-degree temperature, makes it hard to breathe deeply and even the relatively minor exertion of walking the quarter-mile uphill grade leaves one out of breath. So we were pleased to find a bench made of half a huge log where we sat sipping coffee and watching the show in front of us.

From our vantage point we could see the beautiful canyon in the early dawn light. The canyon floor was covered in a blanket of blue, waiting for the first rays of the sun to bring the colors to life. The sky above the mountains was painted in shades of delicate pink and purple. As we watched, the light began to appear above the mountains and then the sun made its appearance, shining in all its brilliance and highlighting trees and the tops of the hoodoos (the rock formations for which Bryce is famous). In mere minutes, the canyon was transformed from its sleepy blue hues to a magnificent display of reds, pinks, and tans.

Whenever I witness a sight like this, I am reminded of one of my favorite hymns, “Oh, Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made…Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee…How great thou art!”.