Our last full day in Bryce Canyon National Park, UT, and it was a beautiful one! We thought it might be good to take in the Ranger talk on the park's geology again. While we waited for it to begin, a rather large group of Chinese tourists spotted Joani, Katie and Sam. One of them asked if she could have her picture taken with them. After that, there was another and then another. There were probably a half dozen before it was all over.
Katie, Sam, and I must have looked very "American."
These very friendly Chinese tourists from Beijing spoke very little English, but said "thank you" and told us where they were from.
As it turned out, Sean (our favorite Ranger) was giving the geology talk today and it was quite different (there was less about dinosaurs and more about rocks.) We learned what makes Bryce unique - the sedimentary rock vertically fractured over the years through tectonic uplifting coupled with the climate that includes more than 200 freeze/thaw cycles per year. Water collects in the cracks, then freezes opening the crack just a bit wider. When it melts it continues deeper into the crack and then refreezes and opens it a bit more. It goes a bit deeper with each freeze/thaw cycle until rock breaks away leaving columns behind.
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