"Wall Street" path down trail to floor of Bryce Canyon
We still had one piece of unfinished business to complete at Bryce. We wanted to go down one of the trails to the bottom of the canyon. The "easiest" of these trails involved a 500 foot descent (equivalent to a 50 story building) in a little more than half a mile. We weren't too concerned about the going down; it was the coming back up that seemed like it might be a challenge. ("What goes down must come up," or something like that. ) In any event off we went. The walk down had all sorts of wonderful views of narrow passages between high cliffs ("Wall Street") and being up close to Hoodoos of all sorts of strange and interesting shapes.
At the bottom of the canyon we had a short walk on flat trail and then rested for a few minutes to just enjoy the view.
Going back up there were so many more great sites to see, including two natural arches of rock, that we were stopping very frequently to take pictures. As a result the climb back up was actually easier than we expected, and almost before we knew it, we were back at the top. Mission accomplished!
Then we were off to our main activity of the day. A few days earlier, when we had been in Panguitch, Elise had picked up a flyer about an Indian Pow Wow to be held today and we had decided to go.
We expected that when we reached Panguitch we would see some signs or at least flyers in local stores promoting the Pow Wow and directing us as to exactly where it was being held. This was not the case. We had to stop at a minimart and ask the cashier there about it. She did some checking and then directed us to a large arena at the edge of town. Even at the arena there were no signs, but sure enough, this was the place.
Inside the arena in the lobby,there were a few women (not Indian) sitting at a table collecting $5.00 a head and passing out a program of the day's events.
Inside the arena itself, there was a large central dance area. Around the dance area, there were several rows of folding chairs, a small area where the drummers and chanters sat, and a stage from which a master of ceremonies directed the various dance competitions. Around the dance floor were booths which sold either food or Indian crafts.
There were no more than 200 people in attendance, almost all of them Indians from various tribes in the general area. This was the 6th annual Pow Wow in Panguitch, but there are also other Pow Wows at other locations during the year. The main purpose of the Pow Wows is to encourage native traditions, particularly in dance, and just provide an opportunity for members of the various tribes to get together and have a good time. "Outsiders" like Elise and myself are welcome, but the event is not intended as a performance for the general public - which I suppose is why the event was so poorly publicized.
The Pow Wow had been going on since yesterday.
From my previous limited experience, I was under the impression that all Indian dancing was a simple touch and step to the rhythm of the music, but in fact although this was generally the basic step, there were many variations, lots of body movement, and lots of individual variations on a given theme. The dancers all moved individually, not in circles or lines.
The last dance of the afternoon was presented by a hoop dancer, who was not on the schedule but had asked to be included in the program. This was quite an amazing performance not like anything I had ever seen before. Working with at least ten hoops, he danced in and out of them and combined them in different shapes, all in time to the music.
The final event of the afternoon involved an honoring of Vietnam veterans who were present and a Grand March exit with a color guard bearing American and Indian flags and including all of the dancers.
Today was certainly one of our most interesting days on the "trail".
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