Bryce Canyon Utah 4/16 - 4/19/14

Check out the slide show on the right hand side of the page for beautiful pics of bryce canyon

BRYCE CANYON day 1

Wed 4/16/14

40° at 7am….we are difinetly back into cooler weather.  We’ll be heading up to Bryce Canyon about 80 miles from Cedar City through mountains with elevations up to 10,000 feet.  Pulled out of the (expensive) KOA campground at 8:50; then stopped at the local grocery for some food.  We arrived at the Bryce Canyon campground at 11:40, where it was 54°.  We lucked out because there were several campsites available so we had a good choice of which one would suit us best.  The other campground in the park is closed so it worked out real good that we got here before noon.  After lunch and a nap (for me!) we walked a short distance (~1/4 mile?) to the Visitor’s Center to check out the low-down on hiking trails.  It was packed with tourists.  Amazing still is how cold it feels.  The temps are in the upper 50’s, maybe low 60’s, but with the wind blowing it feels much colder.  I am becoming a total wimp in regards to the weather.  I need to get back to Alaska to harden up a bit.

Greg at Sunset Point

View from Sunrise Point

After the Visitor’s Center, we walked further up the road to the park store where they sell a few groceries, touristy stuff, snack items.  It is also where the showers and laundry are located.  The showers cost and it seems they are only open from 8am to 6pm.  We don’t need one tonight since I had that really good one last night!  From the store, we hike a short ½ mile to “Sunrise Point” and another ½ mile to “Sunset Point” where the panoramic views of the canyon are fantastic.  We could also see some of the hiking trails far below.  They seem to be hard packed with no rocks to scramble over.  After checking out the views, we walked back to the campground via part of the “Rim Trail”.  We may have walked a total of 2miles this afternoon, just enough to stretch our legs and try out our new hiking boots.

Dinner was stove top halibut enchiladas with a spinach salad made with grape tomatoes, white beans, cucumbers, and red onions with a dressing of olive oil, lime juice, and garlic.  It all turned out really good. 

Halibut enchiladas, spinach salad

Sunset through "window" above camp

It was about 7:30 when we finished with dinner and still light out so we decided to hike behind the campground to a small hill to see the sunset.  I was still cold so I wore my fleece running pants, wind pants, long-sleeved T-shirt, fleece top, down coat, fleece hat, gloves, and scarf….and I felt really warm!  I checked the temp and it was only in the 50’s but the wind made it feel so cold.  I am a wimp.  The sunset was not that spectacular because there weren’t many clouds to disperse the sun’s rays.  It set about 8:15 and we were  back at camp by 8:30.  Nothing much to do after that.  We don’t have any power hook ups at the camp so I was in bed by 9:30 reading my kindle.

Bryce Canyon Day 2

Thurs 4/17/14

Trail to Fairyland Point

28° at 7am….. I am freezing my butt off!  I didn’t get much sleep last night because of the cold.  Today we are planning to do an 8 mile hike.  We left the camp at 9 with the temp getting near 50.  I wore my hiking pants, long-sleeve technical shirt, heavy polar fleece top, fleece vest, and fleece hat.  I was comfortable for about 45 minutes then I had to start shedding some clothes.  The trail (Rim to Fairyland Point) was really nice for the first couple of miles.  I was actually thinking it would make a pretty good running trail, if I liked to run on trails, and if I liked to run up and down hills on a trail.  It would have been an easy run for Greg.  After the first mile or so, we started descending into the canyon.  The trail was still not bad only some spots where the gravel was loose.  Along this stretch of trail there are lots of rock formations which the ancient Indians call “Hoo-doo’s”.  They are tall spires where the wind and water have eroded them. 

Hoo-Doo's

There are no official names marked on the trail but we can see “sinking ship” in the distance, maybe “thor’s hammer” and “gossiping women”, although, maybe not, because they all start looking the same after awhile.  We did see “tower bridge” but didn’t get close enough to climb on it.  By mile 6, my knee was really starting to hurt and the next mile and half were straight up hill.  That last part Kicked My Butt (ok, not my butt, just my knee!).  We did the 8 miles with an elevation gain of 1710 feet.  Got back to the RV at 12:45 (65°); ate lunch, propped my legs up, took a nap (that was a given, right?). 

"windows" in hoo-doo

Trail toward the end of Fairyland

Slot Canyon

Around 3:30, we decided to hike the trail labeled the “World’s Best 3 Mile Hike”.  It is Queen’s Trail to Navajo Trail.  This is where we could see “thor’s hammer” and “two bridges”.  We were supposed to be able to see “Queen Victoria” but it wasn’t labeled so we don’t know if we saw it or not (no picture of it in any of our literature so we don’t know what it looked like).  We hiked though some slot canyons, then up a really steep trail (Navajo Trail) to get back to Sunrise Point.  We finished in time to get to the store and take a shower then back to the RV.  We wound up doing an additional 4 miles this afternoon making the total hiking for the day around 12 miles (in new hiking boots!!!). 

"Two Bridges"

Macaroni with caribou pepperoni

Dinner was gluten free macaroni with caribou pepperoni, spinach, peas, & mushrooms in a cream sauce with parmesan cheese.  I heated up frozen jalapeno cornbread (from a previous meal) and Greg grilled cream cheese stuffed poblano peppers.  I LOVE campground food!  Need I say I was ready for bed not soon after dinner was finished.

Bryce Canyon Day 3

Fri 4/18/14

46° at 7:30; definitely not as cold as the previous night.  We left the campsite in the RV and drove about 5 miles down the road to “Bryce Canyon Lookout”.  We hiked down the Bryce Canyon Trail to a section called the “Hat Shop”.  It was a steep downhill for 2 miles.  The trail took us through some pine forests with Ponderosa and Bristlecone Pines (the latter is the world’s oldest species of pines; some in the park are over 1700 years old).  The “hat shop” is a series of balanced rocks which are flattened and shaped to look like hats resting on stands (like in a store window).  It was really windy at this spot so we only hung around for pictures for about 25 minutes before starting our climb out. 

Hat Shop

"Natural Bridge"

Got back to the RV about 1; ate lunch then drove another 9 miles to the end of the park to check out Rainbow and Yovimpa Points which are at an elevation of 9115 feet.  It was 58° and very windy at these points so not a lot of walking around for me.  Some of the short trails still had snow on them.  Back down the road a few miles we stopped at a look out for “natural bridge”.  It was right beside the road so no hiking there at all.  The description of the “bridge” states that it isn’t really a bridge but an arch.  The difference is the way they are formed.  It didn’t say why the name wasn’t “natural arch” though. 

Caribou backstrap, mashed potatoes, with
stir-fry broccoli slaw

On the way back to the campsite, we saw some antelope grazing in a meadow.  It was still too windy to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine, so I worked on the blog and did some reading.  We had grilled caribou backstrap, mashed potatoes with cream cheese, and stir-fry broccoli slaw.

Bryce Canyon Day 4

Sat 4/19/14

39° at 7:15

Peek a boo Trail

Peek a Boo

We are leaving Bryce Canyon today but will do one last hike as we drive out.  We pulled out of camp at 9:30 and drove a short distance to “sunset point”.  We are hiking down Navajo trail then to Peek-a-boo Loop.  Navajo trail is the steep section we hiked up on our 8 mile hike on Thursday.  It is a .7 mile very steep switch-back trail thru a slot canyon then hooks up with peek-a-boo loop.  The loop is 3 miles with steep ups and downs.  We came to the conclusion that the name of the trail must have been because of all the “windows” in the rock formations.  It was a really great hike; I thought it was better than the “world’s best 3 mile hike” we did on Thursday.  It took us 2 and 1/2 hours to go just over 4.5 miles.  It was slow going for me because of all the steep ups and downs

More Peek a Boo

Got back to the RV, changed clothes, grabbed a snack and hit the road for Torrey UT.  We’re staying at an RV park in town, then going into Capitol Reef National Park tomorrow.  Once again the campground there is 1^st come/1^st serve.

Arrived in Torrey at 4:15 after driving over some mountains with elevation as high as 9680 feet and temps as low as 40°.  Torrey does not offer much here; not even a red light.  We stopped at the General Store for some groceries; not much of a selection and the prices were high.  We got gas (4.19/gallon for diesel…Outrageous!)  Checked into the RV park at 4:40 and I made a bee-line for the shower.   For dinner we had smoked salmon-cream cheese scrambled eggs, spinach salad, and garlic toast.

Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon
and spinach salad

The RV park is located at the junction of the main road that leads into the park and the road through the mountains.  Across the main road from where we are camped is a Days Inn/gas station/convenience store.  All night we could hear traffic (not a lot but enough to be annoying) and howling winds.  I slept with ear plugs in to drown out the noise.