Bryce Canyon

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK, UT

Just when I thought Angels Landing had ruined all other hiking, Bryce Canyon stepped up and said "not so fast!"

Remember when we all learned about "hoodoos" back in Tucson when I hiked Chiricahua National Monument? Well, I just learned that Bryce Canyon is home to the largest concentration of hoodoos anywhere on earth.

I'm going to apologize in advance for the dozens of pictures. I tried to be judicious in choosing the best ones, but there are just too many and none really capture just how enormous and unique the landscape is!

The trails generally start from a rim and hike down into an amphitheater. Here's the view from the first rim:

Once you get down into the amphitheater, you are surrounded by unique rock formations in every direction, around every turn. It's crazy.

See the switchbacks in the photo below? No problem going down, but then you just gotta go right back up! :)

This photo reminds me of London Bridge:

I like the next two picture because, in a park full of red hoodoos, these white hoodoos stand out in stark contrast. Even the sand eroded below them looks cool as a mix of red and white.

This formation is called the Wall of Windows.

And here's a closer view of those windows when the trail carried me around to the other side.

There were several unique balancing rocks as well.

More hoodoos:

After I finished the first loop, I did a second loop called The Fairyland Loop Trail. The one big difference between this hike and the first is that this one has hills mixed in with the hoodoos, almost like the hoodoos that once stood there had disintegrated to dust on the spot, leaving behind a hill of red and white sand.

You can see those hills in the background of this picture as well. Plus, proof that I was actually there. :) Note the red coat is back and much needed -- it was 28 degrees when I started in the morning, warming up to just 49 by the time I finished up. Brrr!

In the picture below: more of that red and white sand. Plus, you can see how the trail curves into the frame on the right, then circles back behind those trees, then off to the left, exactly through the center of the photo, framed with red eroded sand on side of a white sand-capped hill. If you look very closely, you can just make out two hikers - when looking at the white sand-capped hill, they are on the trail, on the left side.

Some other pics I liked:

I didn't realize it until afterwards, but the elevation of Bryce Canyon is quite high! My hikes ranged from 7,154' above sea level to 8,152'. Explains why I'm still huffing and puffing on those hills after hiking for six weeks straight!

I like the picture below because if you look closely, there are rows of rock walls that extend from the left to the right. In person, they look fragile, almost look paper thin, because they are so tall and narrow compared to their length.

Probably didn't need to include this, but there's something about its simplicity I like. Plus, I like the tiny little window that lets a circle of blue sky show through the rock.

The first trail I hiked includes a figure 8 of two loops. I started at Sunset Point, hiked down the Navajo Loop Trail past Two Bridges (because the Wall Street section was still closed due to snow!), cut over to do the Peekaboo Loop Trail, finished the first loop with Queen's Garden Trail.

I then drove to the Fairyland Loop Trailhead, starting at the North Campground Amphitheater. This trail was similar but had more of those eroded sand hills than the first hike, plus there were very few people on it, so I loved it even more.

Total mileage for the day = 14.47

Total elevation gain for the day = 3,319'