27. Bryce Canyon National Park

 Bryce Canyon National Park Photo Album


We left early from our campsite hoping to get to Bryce Canyon early because campsites are first come first served. On the way in we passed through Red Canyon and once again started to get excited about what we were about to see. We arrived at Bryce Canyon, found a campsite and had breakfast. Then it was off to the visitors center to watch the introduction movie, (this has become our routine as it explains what you're about to see from a geological and historical perspective.) We took the shuttle out to Bryce point and were blown away by the beauty of the amphitheater. Each shuttle stop had a different perspective and something new to see, it's amazing that the destructive forces of erosion and rust can create such beauty. When we got to Sunset Point we participated in a ranger walk as he explained about the geology and the native legends that are associated with the rock formations

The day before we met Jenna and Austin at the river walk,  sweet young couple from Atlanta Georgia, and they had warned us that Bryce canyon was going to be beautiful. I thought to myself how can anything be more beautiful than the Grand Canyon? And we had already seen the beauty of Zion so what could Bryce possibly offer. But as predicted when we got off the bus and  went towards the  lookout point at 8100 feet we were completely blown away at jaw-dropping.....out of this world..... straight out of JR Tolkien's fantasy world..... beauty!!!!

amphitheater at sunset

 we were standing in front of the "amphitheater" and were at a loss for words....it was sooooo different from the other parks....so we immediately took tons of photos...stood there in silence for a while and i began to cry .....AGAIN!!! I am such a sap for this natural beauty!! As Peter mentioned above...we went to all the lookout points on day 1. We camped inside the park...so we decided that the next day we woudl hike with the hoodoos...a 5km round trip hike down in the canyon...so we had a delicious supper...hung out in the hammock for a while then called it a night!!!

amphitheater during the day

I called this one Bart Simpson

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hikin the hoodoos

The next morning we got an early start because we didn't want to hike in the heat....we were on the trail by  9:30 and began our decent on a switch back trail called the"Queen's Garden" ...we took our camelbak filled with water and off we went...the trail was well maintained and not sooo steep to begin with....along the way we saw gorgeous hoodoos, spirals and canyon walls. After visiting the Queen's court ( rock formations resembling the queen!! ( between me and you, the queen's head eroded because it didn't resemble the queen anymore!!!) we decided to continue our hike by hopping onto the Navajo Trail...the end of the hike was difficult as we had to switch back and forth , a la Lombard street in san fran , to get back to the top....all in all it was an amazing hike ...not tooo difficult to walk and enjoyed the sensory overload the canyon had to offer us....a must for ya'll...



This park experience ranks up there with grand canyon, sequoia and yosemite......we are sooo lukcy and blessed!!!

tomorrow Moab!!

love always
Mary and Peter

view from below

splendor everywhere..