We spent a little over 2 days at Bryce Canyon National Park and did quite a bit of hiking (almost 20 miles). Bryce is know for it Hoodoos, which are geological formations. They are created after the the earth's surface has been uplifted and fractures and cracks are created. Water seeps into the cracks, causing the rock to split. Water then washes away the soil and exposes fins or ridges of rock. The water continues to work on the exposed rock and creates windows in the rock. Eventually the windows collapse leaving spires called hoodos.
Our first day we did a combination of the Navajo, Peekaboo, and Queens Garden trails for about 6.5 miles with quite a bit of up and down. But the trails take right into the Bryce amphitheater and gives you a totally different perspective. Getting an early start in the National Parks avoids the traffic on the trails. We were on the trail by 7:30 both days.
After the hike we had lunch at Sunset point and watched bus loads of tourist hope off their buses and then run back to their buses and on to the next stop. Interestingly enough their were also quite a few French motorcycle tours. Bryce Canyon has an 18 mile drive with a number of different viewpoints along the way. You start at about 7500 feet elevation and finish at Rainbow Points 9115 foot mark. Along the way we passed a natural arch.
On our second day we hiked the Fairyland Trail, which is an 8 mile loop. This is a picture of me in front of Boat Mesa.
From there we had lunch at a secluded road side rest area further up the scenic drive not wanting to recreate the turmoil of the previous day luncheon. We did another 4 mile hike into Swamp Canyon, which was interesting as it had been burned over several years ago.
After dinner we returned to Sunset Point. Well you can't really see the sunset from Sunset Point. But it was nice to see the effect that the sunset had on the canyon.
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