Gwilliam Gazette : Bryce Canyon (Part 2)

Of course, the main draw of the trip was Bryce Canyon itself.

We had Donny and Shauna (Shelley's sister & Husband) with us for this part visiting from Idaho. It was so fun to have them come with us!

There were just too many photos.....between Hannah, myself and Donny, we took over 600 photos just at Bryce Canyon.

It is true, it's all rock...red rock....spires and hoodoos, and it can seem like it all looks the same. But when you're there, every corner offers something different, yet the same.

Hannah, who with Jacob last time we were here, said at each viewpoint, "It all looks the same. Just a lot of red rocks", this time she said, "It's kinda the same everywhere you look, but it's different. Each corner you get a different view". I was so proud of her....almost brought tears to my eyes.

These photos do not do justice to Bryce Canyon at all. And it's one of the National Parks everyone can enjoy.....even if all you do is drive the road and stop at the 12 stops. Each stop is right off the road..no hiking required. If you do want to hike, there are only around 11 hikes in the park, with a majority of those longer, 6-12 miles, so you can pretty much see everything from your car.

Being Labor Day Weekend, it was definitely crowded. We went into the park around 8am, hitting the most popular hike (and one of the Top 5 hikes in the world) first. The parking lot was full with cars parked about a mile away, but of course, we found a close spot!

Hard to see with the sun, but this is Sunrise Point....where you go to watch the sun rise......probably why it was so crowded in the morning. The Queen's Garden + Navajo Loop trail is the one. About 3 miles round trip - on this hike you get to experience everything Bryce has to offer. Views, views and more views, red rock, huge red towering rock, narrow passage ways, stairs, pine trees, dry stream beds, tunnels, and of course, everyone's favorite, the famous switchbacks.

Super short walk from the parking lot to the trail

The view's don't waste any time appearing. There is no shortage of things to look at

The trail often is on an edge..sometimes on both sides. It slowly wanders down the canyon walls to the valley far below

You will want to take so many photos

Hannah had to go to the edge for a pic...saying, "This is where Jacob would have taken a photo"

At the bottom of the valley, suddenly pine trees become common and the trail winds around them, mixed with the red rock still off to the side. Most people don't hike this part...they stick to the shorter trail and don't even venture to this part of the park.

This tree was falling down and we caught it just at the right time! Hannah and I held it up so it wouldn't fall on others, and Shelley ran to get the ranger!

Donnie was trying to hold up the big rock.........

Story here....we were resting and Hannah saw this branch sticking out over a dry stream bed. She said "I'll show you what Jacob would be doing if he was here (not that she/we miss him at all)....so she swung on the branch while mom kept thinking it was going to break or she was going to slip and fall down the dropoff.

She didn't fall of course

Now the trail starts going up....fast.....and gets up close and personal with extremely high, narrow and amazing rocks

Love this part with the three pine trees somehow growing here

What comes down, must go up, right? Or the other way around? Either way, we went down a long ways......time to head up, quickly

First come a bunch of stairs getting you through the cracks in the rocks

Seeing how small the people look show you how tall these rock walls are...they block out the sunlight and it was about 15 degrees cooler

After the steps come the switchbacks.....a lot of them.....you think you can see them all, but then you turn a corner and there are more.....and more....and more......In all, the elevation change from the valley floor to the top is about 700 feet with most of that from the switchbacks! They are amazing though.......

VIDEO of one of the switchback sections:

Huffing and puffing we finally made it to the top!

Shelley's sister, Shauna, was the only smart one of us to bring a hiking stick!

View from the top........

At the top, looking down at the top half of the switchbacks

Interestingly, the hike starts at Sunrise Point, and ends at Sunset Point. A quick less than 1/2 mile paved hike took us back to the car at Sunrise Point

We went back to the hotel for a rest because it was getting hot.......this sign was in the room..I thought it was funny because it specifically has to mention no smoking weed

Late afternoon, we went back to stop at the driving view areas. There are about 5 or 6 all close together in the "main" part of the park. These areas were definitely crowded, but not too bad. Once we ventured past these closer view points however, we were pretty much the only ones there, with 2-3 other cars only at each stop.

The natural bridge is a popular stop.....get out of the car, walk 20 feet and you see this. You can't see if from the road

We had to watch Hannah

Rainbow Point is the highest point of the park, and the end of the park. The road dead ends here.

We hiked the 1 mile loop trail through Bristlecone Pine trees, which are the oldest pine trees on the planet - and they are here.

Most of the trail wanders through the pine trees, with a nice cool breeze

Then suddenly, you are at a cliff of red rocks again

Hannah of course, climbed on the railing, with the cliff right behind her. Mom told her to get down because it was scary....I said to wait, while I took a pic!

Donny wanted to get in on the photo bombing and he had a few poses of his own

Heading back, we stopped at a few we didn't hit coming up the drive the first time

Do not skip Bryce Point! It's the most popular stop....you can see the entire Bryce "Amphitheater" . It's a very short walk from the parking lot out onto a walkway over the edge with views you will not believe