Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon

The morning of the 14^th I got up early and started my short drive to Bryce Canyon.  Along the way I saw the most exquisite lake I have ever seen.  The crystal clear blue waters with the early morning sun bathing everything in its light was nearly breathtaking.  It was a wonderful way to start my day and a nice little treasure that I hadn’t expected to see.  I made it to Bryce Canyon pretty quickly after that and was excited to start my day of hiking.  It was a great day for hiking, with clear blue skies and lots of sunshine.  I parked at Sunrise Point and started on my way on the Queens Garden Trail.  About a minute into my hike it felt like I was transported into a different world.  There are hoodoos, which are pillars of rock left by erosion, everywhere you look, ranging in color from white, to coral to orange.  The winding path took you farther down into the canyon and through stone archways and all you could do was look up in amazement of what nature can do on its own.  The Queen’s Trail ran into the Navajo loop trail so I decided to hop on that and see what I could discover on that leg of my hike.  It turned out to be a wise decision on my part.   Near the end of the Navajo loop you came to a place where there was a warning that told you the area you were about to enter had the most incidents of falling rock in the whole park, but I figured I would just take my chances along with everyone else and check it out…..so glad I did.  You walked up some stairs and through kind of an archway/cave and once you were through, it felt once again like you were transported into another world.   You had to zigzag your way up to the top, and even though it was pretty hard and wore me out, it was my favorite part of my hiking I did all day.  The amazing views all around and the ambiance of it felt like you were taking a trek into and up to some ancient civilization or lost city that no one knew about.  It was an interesting feeling taking that hike up to the top.  I came out at Sunset Point and then took the Rim Trail back to Sunrise Point to rest for a little bit and eat some lunch.   From there I decided to take the rim trail all the way to Bryce Point and back which was a bit of a hike and took a lot out of me since it ended up being pretty warm that day.  My legs were begging me to stop and my camera battery was running low so I decided to get in my car and charge my battery while I drove for awhile.  I went to the farthest point you could drive to, which was Rainbow Point, and then stopped at every point on the way back and took pictures from each Point and elevation change.  My last stop there was at Bryce Point, which was probably my favorite stop.  It looks like there are cities and castles carved into the side of the canyons in white and coral marble.  You can almost imagine a small kingdom laid out in front of you.  You have this panoramic view of hoodoos and mountains and forest that seems like it goes on forever, and that flows together so naturally.  Bryce Canyon definitely ranks up very high on my list of places that I loved on my trip.  Can’t wait to go back and do some more hiking!