Even though we were only about 45 minutes away from Zion, once we got to Bryce Canyon there was snow and the temps were about 15 degrees cooler. I think it's at least a thousand feet higher in elevation than Zion. It was far from the "really cold" of Wisconsin that I'm used to but still was quite nippy. We had to purchase hats, gloves, and coats so that we could hike more comfortably. If you go to Bryce, you're likely going to stay at Ruby's Inn - it's almost a city unto itself. It's even labeled in the US Atlas! Anyway, they have a General Store that had everything (and more) that we needed so the colder weather wasn't a problem.
We did the popular hike down through the canyon and along the ridge, going up to Inspiration Point and back down to Sunrise Point for a hike that was probably 6-7 miles once all was said and done. I still think that Bryce is the strangest landscape I've ever experienced.. it feels like you're on Mars or something. I hadn't realized that at one time, that entire area had been underwater. I could just picture sharks and fishes swimming in and through the hoodoos that were hiking amongst.
