What to see in southern Utah:

After lunch, we head to Bryce Canyon National Park for a hike among the hoodoos – those bizarre, pointy rocks formed by erosion that spike up into the cloudless blue Utah sky. Trails twist through the hoodoos, descending into the canyon and back up a steep side known as Wall Street. Every turn in the trail brings new formations into view, striped with white, gold, and shades of orange.

The previous day, our band ascended the snaking Walter’s Wiggles up to Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park. A four-hour, five-mile round-trip trek up nearly 1,500 feet, with the last half-mile assisted by chains in the rocks, is not for anyone afraid of heights. It seemed then that nothing could compare to the beauty of Zion National Park.

But the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon surpass it. Awesome.

Rest comes easy that night, with the thought that we’ll do one more pre-dawn hike into Bryce Canyon via the back road from the inn. With stars still twinkling in the sky, lights strapped to our heads, we take off at a brisk pace in the chilly air. The trail is flat at first, but it begins to steepen as the sun’s rays begin to shine on the hoodoos. With nary a soul in sight, we own the entire magical sandstone city of spires. The hoodoos’ spectrum of ocher to umber to brilliant orange mesmerizes.

I’m planning to squeeze Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon North Rim into a week in mid-September. I know, too much to see in so short a time, but I need to soak up a whole swath of the Southwest to decide where I’d like to devote more energy on future trips.