Utah Vacation-Bryce Canyon

Today’s plan was to visit Bryce Canyon National Park. We packed the car and got going around 10:00 AM, and headed North. Along the way we entered a construction zone where a crew was paving the highway. We slowed as we approached, then we saw the BUMP sign. The transition from old to new pavement was quite dramatic. I could almost swear that the popup camper in front of us went airborne after hitting it. And then, out of the blue, a short garden hose came quickly into view. When they say BUMP in Utah, they mean it.

We arrived at Bryce Canyon around noon. We captured the obligatory park entrance picture, then continued to the Visitor Center. From there, we looked at the trail maps and chose the hike that had the following description, “If you can only do one hike, this might be the best choice”. This was the Queens/Navajo Combination Loop; clockwise direction recommended.

David standing near the Bryce Canyon National Park entrance sign

The trailhead was in the ‘Amphitheater’, which is near the Lodge. We stopped at the lodge first. Like other lodges we’ve visited, this one too was surrounded by small cabins. We left the lodge and walked to the trailhead.

When we arrived at the Amphitheater, we were blown away. Not by the wind (like at Cedar Breaks), but by the view. The hoodoos went on and on.

Bryce Canyon Amphitheater, looking Northeast

Bryce Canyon Amphitheater, looking Southeast

The trailhead was at Sunrise Point. The trail loop started with the Queens Garden Trail. This trail was mostly downhill and passed by many hoodoos. The payoff for this trail is a hoodoo that resembles Queen Victoria.

The Queen Victoria hoodoo on the Queens Garden Trail

Next, we followed the Navajo Loop trail through the forest below the hoodoos. At this point, we were thinking, “For every step we take downhill, that’s another step uphill later”. Along this section of trail, I noticed a distinct log lying on the ground that looked peculiarly like an alligator. Eventually, we reached a fork in the trail. We could take either the Wall Street Trail or the Two Bridges Trail up to Sunset Point, or we could take the Peek-A-Boo Loop Trail, which would add several miles to our hike. We chose to take the Wall Street Trail.

The Wall Street Trail is amazing and quite challenging. It was described to us as the closest thing Bryce Canyon has to a slot canyon. It is very narrow with hoodoos towering on both sides.

The "slot canyon" on the Wall Street Trail

As the trail winds closer to completion, it gets much steeper. Eventually, the trail becomes so steep that the switchbacks are held up by brick walls that are nearly vertical. I felt bad for one woman coming down who was clearly very anxious about the steepness of the trail. This is probably the reason they suggest to do the trail in the clockwise direction.

Looking up at the switchbacks on the Wall Street Trail

After many stops to catch our breath, we eventually made it to Sunset Point, which is at the opposite side of the Amphitheater from Sunrise Point.

We then returned to the car and headed south, past many viewpoints, to Rainbow Point. Here we had lunch, then hiked to Yovimpa Point. After that, we returned to the car and headed north. We stopped at each viewpoint along the route. The most interesting to me was the Natural Bridge viewpoint. The funny thing is, the information sign at the stop said that the formation was misnamed and is actually an arch.

The Natural Bridge, which is actually an arch

By now, it was getting late, so we started heading for home. Outside the park, we entered Bryce Canyon City. On the way in, we noticed some interesting shops, so we decided to stop on the way out. Andrew and I found an ice cream shop and had a bowl of Wild Huckleberry. Meanwhile, Susan went in search of souvenir shirts.

Back on the road, we passed through Red Canyon. Again, we thought this would be an interesting place to stop while driving in, but wanted to get to Bryce Canyon. Since it was now ‘magic light’ time, the rocks in Red Canyon were beautifully lit and demanded our attention. We stopped several times to grab some pictures.

Panoramic view inside Red Canyon

By now, the sun had set and we focused on getting home. The drive back was basically downhill from lush green meadows along the river, back to the desert landscape of Kanab. Along the way, we saw many deer in the fields. In many cases, the deer were sharing the green meadow grass with herds of cows.

Bryce Canyon National Park lived up to all of our expectations. The colors and shapes were out of this world.

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