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sik_dik t1_j7967fe wrote

Reply to comment by evanc3 in Zion national park Utah is unreal [OC][3000X4000] by Mrrealitypants

bryce is gorgeous for a couple hours. the colors and shapes are very loud. so after a couple hours, to me, it just gets to be too much.

I've been twice. it's very otherworldly, and I'd highly recommend seeing it for yourself in person. but wait until you have access to the whole park(post-snow season). if you want to hike down into it, do a quick route with a lot of formations

or if you just want to drive through for a couple hours, doing it during the snow season can be especially scenic, because having the white to contrast the browns and reds makes it more palatable.

TLDR: it's like Mars. awesome, rare, unlike anything else on earth. but it's not a place I'd want to spend a lot of time

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evanc3 t1_j796sfr wrote

Thanks for the reply! I've actually been to Bryce and Zion (not grand canyon though), and I thought Bryce was prettier. I really just wanted to see your opinion as someone very familiar with the area. Your advice is great though! We did a moderate hike down and back up a different way and hit all of the major formations easily within half a day.

I agree with you. Though, I'm more eager to go back to Zion. I'm way too claustrophobic to do the narrows, and angels landing was already booked (it was a last minute trip for me), so i havent even seen a lot of the "good stuff". Really looking forward to getting back there.

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sik_dik t1_j79a53o wrote

yeah. unfortunately angel's landing has gotten to the point they have to do permits and reservations during the peak seasons. I've seen pics of the line of people waiting hundreds of feet behind even where it gets narrow enough for only one person to pass.

the alternate beauty spot is observation point. but unfortunately the hike up from the canyon is closed because of a huge rockslide a few years ago, which probably exacerbated the angel's landing demand. it's still accessible from the east perimeter of the park, but my close-second favorite part of the hike(echo canyon) is on the route up from the main canyon. it's still worth doing, though I've only ever done it up from the canyon myself

the view from up there is unmatched. it just doesn't have the adventure of angel's landing

and you might be surprised how far you can get into the narrows before claustrophobia would kick in. wall street is a ways up into it. you have to hike for a couple hours to get that far up. if you make another trip, I highly recommend it. although the timing on it is important, as well. I did it in mid August, and the water/air temp balance was perfect, and it was also at a relatively low level

the thing I would say between bryce and zion is that zion seems to me to be more grand, even though it's very intimate. bryce is gorgeous also from a distance, but when you're up close and personal with the hoodoos and such, it just gets old. I can't really explain it, but it's almost like a really amazing taste you get at first, but after you've been eating it for a couple hours, the taste is just too overbearing and no longer enjoyable. the panoramic of bryce is gorgeous, but zion is gorgeous both up close AND at a distance

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