Christmas Road Trip Day 5

Published on by Yinglan

Last day of the trip!

When I originally planned this trip, I was expected to take the nearly 9-hour drive from Flagstaff, Arizona to home but knowing my ability, I opted to break the drive into 2 days. Instead, I would spend the last day of the trip driving 5 hours from Flagstaff to Bryce Canyon National Park and then finish the remaining 4 hours the following day.

To be honest, I’ve always wanted to see Bryce Canyon at Christmas. I heard the snow-covered landscapes is magical and despite I’ve probably seen enough snow to last me a lifetime thanks to the brutal winter season of 2022-2023, seeing the snowy landscapes at Bryce Canyon remained to be magical.

Making more pit stops along the way than I had in mind, I didn’t arrive at the park until early afternoon. Even though this would be my 4th visit to the park, I still decided to stop at the gift shop to get a magnet for the fridge. When I returned to the car, I saw this landscape composition that I just couldn’t let it go. What can I say? I’m sucker for trees and snow.

I didn’t originally planned on making the 18-mile trip to Rainbow point but, what the hey, I’m already here, so why not? The drive was as I remember it from 2 years ago when I drove it for the first time. I feel like I’m more experienced this time. Perhaps it’s the car.

At over 9,000 feet in elevation, Rainbow Point is the viewpoint. As much as I wanted to stay longer, I found myself running back to the car after a few pictures. The bitterly cold wind was howling like a ghost and whipping against my face.

As I mentioned, this was my 4th visit and for the last 3 visits, I’ve photographed with 2 different lens and cameras. I am using yet another lens for this visit. I also feel my editing and composition has changed over the last few years but I am finding more enjoyable to shoot with a longer lens.

Anyway, after having to run back to the car at Rainbow Point, I decided to head back down and stop along the way. I found even on my 4th visit, there were still plenty to see, like I’ve always focused on seeing one side of the park but never paid much attention to the other side of the road. The forest is just as magical looking as the red rocks of the hoodoos.

I arrived at Sunset Point at around 2:30 PM and after driving in a circle twice with no luck of finding a parking space, I decided to head over to Sunrise Point and try it there. After about 30 minutes of hiking from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point, the sun had already started its descent toward the western horizon, casting an orange glow on the rocks.

I have never seen the park at this hour and the way the rocks were glowing made the whole thing look even more magical. Just like the Grand Canyon, though, I don’t think any camera would’ve done justice.

To view all the post in this series, click here.

33 thoughts on “Christmas Road Trip Day 5”

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