Looking vertically up from the base of a hoodoo in Bryce Canyon to a near clear blue sky. High 20s during the day then below freezing at night. These bright orange spires are so fascinating the way they cast shadow and reflect the light among themselves.
Paiute Indians occupied the area we now call Bryce Canyon circa. 1200 CE. Indian Dick, a Paiute elder explained the First Nations belief about Bryce in 1936 -
"Before there were humans, the Legend People, To-when-an-ung-wa, lived in that place. There were many of them. They were of many kinds - birds, animals, lizards and such things, but they looked like people. They were not people. They had power to make themselves look that way. For some reason the Legend People in that place were bad; they did something that was not good, perhaps a fight, perhaps some stole something.... the tale is not clear at this point. Because they were bad, Coyote turned them all into rocks. You can see them in that place now all turned into rocks; some standing in rows, some sitting down, some holding onto others. You can see their faces, with paint on them just as they were before they became rocks. The name of that place is Angka-ku-wass-a-wits (red painted faces). This is the story the people tell."