Bryce Canyon National Park
Sandy and Mary Beth descending the Queens Garden Trail
It was time to leave Grand Canyon National Park. It had been a good visit. I was able to hike down to the river and back to the south rim in a day, something that I had been wanting to do for several years. Sandy and Mary Beth did a good hike on the rim, going all the way to the end of the Rim Trail to Hermit's Rest. It was Mary Beth's first time visiting the Grand Canyon and she was duly impressed. And we all got some cool tshirts.
It was another beautiful, clear morning when we left and we stopped at several viewpoints along the rim road to get views of the canyon in the early morning light. Mary Beth took a bunch of pictures. I already had quite a few from the day before when I had spent the entire morning hiking down the Kaibab Trail.
Rather than driving straight home from the Grand Canyon, we planned to break up our return trip by stopping at Bryce Canyon. It's one of Sandy's favorite national parks and Mary Beth had never been there before so it made a good intermediate stop on the way back to Boise.
The intrepid hikers strike a pose
We skipped breakfast so we could get an early start and stopped for an early lunch in Mt. Carmel Junction at the Thunderbird Restaurant. It was a pretty nice place and my lunch was good. Their sign outside advertized that they featured "Ho-made Pies". I love cherry pie and since I had driven past on many previous trips I was anxious to try it. Turns out that it was good but not great. I wouldn't go out of my way just for their pie but it is a good place to stop if you happen to be passing through Mt. Carmel Junction when it's time to eat.
We reached Bryce Canyon in the early afternoon. We made a quick stop to check into out hotel which was just outside the park. After another quick stop at the Visitor Center to check on conditions (and to take a potty break) we drove to Sunset Point. There were some high clouds that had moved in but it was still a nice day and there was enough time to do a short hike.
Red rocks and blue sky
The hike that we picked was a loop that combined a descent of the Queen's Garden Trail with a connector to the Navaho Loop Trail and a return via the Rim Trail. It was about three miles long with a 600 foot descent, and therefore a 600 foot climb later to get back to the rim. It was pretty easy which was a good thing. I was a little tired after my long hike at the Grand Canyon the day before and a semi-rest day was welcome. Still, it would give us a good view of the heart of Bryce Canyon.
We started near Sunset Point, descending the Queens Garden Trail. According to the guidebook "100 Classic Hikes: Utah" it's a great place for looking at the rock formations and imagining what the various shapes could be: people, animals or things. Personally I think all of Bryce Canyon is pretty much that way. Maybe that's why I never went into marketing. The rock formations certainly were all kinds of amazing shapes and the bright red color contrasted with the deep blue of the sky. It's beautiful. I can't argue with Sandy when she says that this is one of her favorite places.
Hikers climbing out of the Wall Street section of the trail
After an easy descent on gradual switchbacks we reached the (mostly) level connector trail that runs below the rim of Bryce Canyon. We followed it south to a t-junction with the Navaho Loop Trail. With two options, we chose to climb back up via Wall Street. It's a narrow section of trail with lots of short switchbacks that climb between massive rock fins that tower high above you on both sides. It's steep but also quite short, easy but enough to make you fell like you did a hike and not just a casual stroll.
We reached the rim at Sunset Point and it certainly lived up to its name. The sun had come out from behind the clouds and the red and yellow colors of the canyon were highlighted in the golden light of late afternoon. From Sunset Point it was an easy, level walk back to our car. It was definitely a great hike. It was easy but the scenery was very impressive. It was a great sampler of the park.
Trail just below Sunset Point
That night we had a dinner at Ruby's Inn in the town of Bryce, just outside the park entrance. It was about the only place that was open. Several restaurants and hotels had closed for the season. It made out choice simple. As we used to say on my high school chess team, forced moves are easy.
The next day we would be heading home but we had time to do a hike in the morning before leaving. I picked out the Peekaboo Trail, which is about five miles long and runs below the rim. It looked like a great hike. Unfortunately there were problems with the details. To do it as a loop, returning via the rim trail, made it eleven miles. That would be an all day hike and we would get back to Boise later than we wanted. We needed to get home by a reasonable time to relieve our friend Sarah who was watching Abby for us. There is a park shuttle bus that runs along the rim that would allow us to do the hike one way only, which would be perfect. Or at least it would be perfect if the shuttle was running, but when I checked I found out that it had shut down for the season already too.
Bryce Canyon in late afternoon
Sandy and Mary Beth volunteered to be drop me off and pick me up so I could do it one way, while they just checked out various viewpoints and walked along the rim. That was generous but I could tell that they weren't really excited about doing that. I decided that the Peekaboo Trail could wait till my next trip to Bryce Canyon. The next morning we took a quick trip into the park to get pictures in the morning light. Then we made a final stop at the Visitor Center for souvenirs. Sandy got a cool performance top with a picture of a Bryce-like rock formation and the words "Hoodoo You Love" on it (with apologies to George Thorogood). And I got a hat and tshirt. Then we hit the road and had an uneventful drive back to Boise.
It had been a good trip. The fall was nice, with beautiful weather and almost no people, especially at Grand Canyon National Park. In the summer it's a total madhouse there, but it was quite nice on this trip. I felt really good about finally doing the canyon hike that I had been thinking about doing for so long time. And Abby was happy to see us when we got home.
