| Getting There |
After
hiking the Grand Canyon, we headed to Utah, stopping overnight near
Lake Powell in Page. There are some slot canyons worth seeing there
-- Antelope
Canyon is a must-see. Boating season had not yet hit, but
the area was all ready for sightseeing. We left early though (no time,
no Starbuck's) and drove to Bryce.
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| Where to Stay | We had planned to stay at Bryce Country Cabins, but cancelled and got a room with its own jacuzzi at Ruby's Inn. Winter rates for the room was just $80! The jacuzzi helped me get rid of most of my limp and we were able to hike about 4 miles in Bryce. |
| Navajo Loop, which starts at Sunset Point, takes you under and around "hoodoos" and trippy formations -- all kinds of magical. Navajo Loop connects to the Queen's Garden trail. The Queen's garden is a group of hoodoos with more yellows and pinks than in other parts of the canyon. You can take the Queen's Garden Trail out to Sunrise Point, and take the super-easy, viewpoint-ridden rim trail back to Sunset Point. The melting snow turned the find sand at the bottom of the hoodoos to a clay-like muddy goop that squelches and was really hard to get off our boots, and made them a few pounds heavier! Packed snow scrapes off the stuff better than anything. Even with my limp, the trails were very easy and we got a real feel for the canyon that you can't get from the viewpoints -- its scale and mythic qualities are lost from a distance. | |
| The Viewpoints | You can pretty much see Bryce in a day -- a light, one- to two-hour hike and some driving to the park's many, breathtaking viewpoints and you've taken it all in. Have your camera ready -- the viewpoints along the park's 18-mile road range in elevation up to 9000+ feet, and some of the vistas go into infinity. |
| Is it Worth the Drive? | I think Bryce is a must-see if you are within 300 miles, but lots of areas of Utah probably have similar hoodoos and colors ... just not as plentiful. If you've seen a lot of the southwest, such as Sonoma, you may feel like it is "more of the same." |
| Links
for More Information
Go Utah.com's great guide to Utah: http://www.go-utah.com/a/national-parks/Bryce.htm Grand Canyon Explorer.com's awesome guide to Bryce: http://kaibab.org/other/gc_oa_bc.htm A lovely site all about "color country." http://www.brycecanyoncountry.com |
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