After a good but VERY chilly sleep (we were not expecting temperatures to drop below zero, so that was a bit of a shock), we woke up around 6:00am, packed up the car, and began our short 30-minute drive over to Bryce Canyon National Park. Just as we were leaving our campsite however, Jordan accidentally drove into a tree stump, rupturing our windshield wiper fluid container and giving me a mini heart attack (when you hear “there’s liquid everywhere” while your husband is inspecting the front of the car, your heart is bound to skip a few beats). Once he investigated the damage and realized nothing had been seriously damaged (PHEW), we continued our journey.
Getting to the park early definitely has its perks, as we had the first trail pretty much to ourselves. On the other hand, it can also have its flaws, as it was freezing and super windy when we started.
Our first hike was Peek-a-boo Loop, which was about 5.5 miles and left us with a gain of about 1,610 feet. This stunning hike started at Bryce Point, and took us much longer than we anticipated since it was nearly impossible to not stop every 50 feet or so to admire the scenery and take about a bajillion pictures. Peek-a-boo Loop provides many amazing views of the park’s largest and densest collections of hoodoos, both near and far, and crosses forested terrain where the more isolated formations contrast beautifully with the green and shady surroundings. In addition, this trail is furthest from the trailheads, therefore receiving the fewest visitors, so hiking it is usually very peaceful.
We arrived back at the car around 10:30am and were lucky enough to snag a spot at the next parking area for our remaining hikes (most lots had been filling up by 10:00am at the latest, with everyone else being turned away to try again another day). Here we enjoyed a parking lot picnic behind our car, trying to eat up some of the food that should have been in a fridge for the past 24 hours…
After lunch (and prayers that we wouldn’t get sick from the near-spoiled food), we spent the afternoon doing a variety of short hikes in an area of the park known as The Bryce Amphitheater (AKA the crazy busy touristy area). We hiked to Queen Victoria via Queen’s Garden Loop, Inspiration Point, Sunset Point to Sunrise Point, and the Navajo Loop – totaling about 3.5 miles with 750 feet of elevation gain.
With a lot of daylight left still, we decided to drive the remaining 15 miles of the park’s main road, stopping at various viewpoints along the way – Natural Bridge, Ponderosa Canyon, Rainbow Point, and Yovimpa Point. After stopping by the visitor center to collect our park patch (during this time of COVID-19 reopening, they were one of the only open national park visitor centers), we were on our way to our next destination – Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
It took us about an hour to get to the town of Escalante, where we took the turnoff for the BLM road, Hole-in-the-Rock. This was the road where our hikes would start from the following day, and since the entire area was National Forest, we began to hunt for the perfect spot to set up camp for another night.
With plenty of options to choose from, we finally settled on a nice little spot down a side road that happened to be quite close to one of the hikes we planned on doing the next day. It was much warmer than the night before (thank you elevation), so a shiver-free sleep seemed promising. We set up, then spent the evening doing our Bible study while relaxing by the fire (we were going through Crazy Love by Francis Chan), enjoying a dinner of boxed vegan macaroni and cheese with tuna, and recounting some of our favorite parts of the last couple days.
Must-sees:
If I could recommend one hike in Bryce Canyon it would have to be Peek-a-boo. Wandering around the hoodoos was an experience like no other. Make sure to check out Bryce Point before hitting up the loop.
On Reflection:
One hike that we didn’t end up having time for was Fairyland Loop Trail. About 7.8 miles in length, this trail begins at the northern portion of the park, Fairyland Point, and takes you through hoodoos and scenery along the rim and into the canyon. It includes a spur trail to Tower Bridge, another hike that we would have checked out if we had more time.
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