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Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Weekend Trip Part I: Bryce Canyon National Park

After a crazy whirlwind of a weekend, I can happily say that I am back in Springville still alive.  Yes, still alive.  Because there were a few moments on that trip that I actually feared for my life and my two friends who I went with.  Let me explain.

Nicole and Mollie are avid hikers who love exploring nature.  For Mollie's birthday they decided to head down to Utah to see me and to explore some of the state's awesome parks.  Since I hadn't been to either Bryce or Zion, I was totally pumped to go with them.  What I didn't know was that 1) I would be hiking over ten miles every day 2) I could potentially fall to my death on SEVERAL of these trails 3) They are crazy.

Our trip started with us heading to Bryce on Friday.  We got into town early enough that we were able to head into the park, go to the visitors center, get in a walk along the Rim Trail and drive along and stop at all the scenic view points.


The views from the top of Bryce were spectacular.  The Rim Trail takes you along several viewpoints around the amphitheater.  Every one takes your breath away.






If you couldn't tell, the day we got there it was SO COLD!  We had about four layers on each.

After we hiked the rim, we took a drive along the rest of the 18 miles of scenic viewpoints, ending at Rainbow Point, elevation 9115 feet.


On the way back we stopped at a few other points, my favorite being the Natural Bridge.


 The next day started off early and we got a beautiful view of the sun coming up over the canyon.



We decided to combine three of the main hikes, the Navajo, Queens Garden and Peek-A-Boo Loops, to go on what is called the Figure Eight.


The trails were very nice and easy to follow.  


Views were spectacular.  Around every bend it was a new treat.


With lots of horse poop...







Since it was Duck game day, we had to get a few more O shots in.



A treat we happened to notice along the way was that there was a prize if you took your picture or got rubbings from three benchmarks along the trails.  In total, there are nine throughout the park.  We just so happened to pass three on our journey to get that prize!





The end of the trail was marked by two giant pines.  On our way out we got to see the sun peeking through.


Then we came to this nutty uphill of switchbacks.  Notice most people are heading down.  Whoops.


And our final view of Bryce after making it back to the top.


We managed to be on the road by mid afternoon and head down south to Zion.  You may have noticed there were no scary tidbits in all of that hiking.  That's because there weren't.  Get excited for Zion.

All in all, we got very lucky with our weather...little chilly, but beautiful blue skies.  Would definitely recommend a stop in Bryce if you are ever on the road in the area!

5 comments:

  1. I was just thinking about planning our next trip down to see you....and the parks! At this point, I think I need to wait till spring?? Bummer. Love the photos! Looks like you ladies had a good weekend.

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  2. Laura: DT and I did that same hike just before we visited you in May (http://www.rvgoddess.com/BLOG/2013/MAY/051413.aspx). It's a tough hike... and I'm 30-ish years older than you! Still, one of our favorite hikes and one will do again and again.

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    1. I totally agree! Would do it again in a heartbeat! So beautiful!

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  3. Beautiful photos, Laura. Woody and I did that same hike in reverse when we were there a year ago. We spent a couple of weeks following Lisa and Lenny's wedding visiting Bryce, Zion and Capitol Reef.

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