Hiking in Bryce Canyon National Park…

We spent Saturday in Panguitch Utah as a day of rest after a tiring 8.3 mile hike on the Fairyland Loop Trail in Bryce Canyon National Park. We enjoyed watching some college football, even though our Texas Aggies lost. Later that evening we had happy hour with our neighbors who have been full timing some 10 years. Part of what makes our lifestyle so fun is the opportunity to make new friends along our path. It was a pleasure getting to know Lee and Jacque.

The next morning we were off to hike in Bryce Canyon National Park once again. After all I felt we must get on the horse that bucked us off in order to succeed. Today’s hike was a much milder 3 mile hike starting on the Navaho Trail and encompassing the Queen’s Garden Loop Trail. The Navajo trail begins at the Sunset parking lot and that is where we headed after entering using our annual National Parks Pass to enter the park. Without the pass entry to this park is $25.00 per car.

The Navajo Loop Trail  is billed as the most popular trail in Bryce Canyon National Park and we can see why. The trail drops off from the rim as a rapid descent from Sunset Point. Numerous short switchbacks had us dropping at a fast pace and what is cool is entering the pretty narrow rock corridors of what is called Wall Street.

After reaching near the bottom  of the canyon the trail descended at a much slower rate and we encountered a lot of spires and hoodoos they refer to as the Silent City. Never having been to Bryce Canyon we could not imagine the vibrant shades of pinks, reds, oranges, and browns. Not far from the Silent City we came to an intersection for the Queen’s Garden Loop Trail and and the top part of the Peekaboo Loop Trail. We veered off on the Queens Garden Loop and continued to hike.

The Queens Garden Loop Trail is a short1.8 mile trail that took us from the bottom of Bryce Canyon up to Sunrise Point. Lots of spires and hoodoos were here as the formations called the Queen’s Castle rise out of the Queen’s Garden like a mountain. We spent a lot of time simply looking at each hoodoo and spire as each has their own identity and character. It was also fun to sit and imagine what each one represented or looked like…

After the Queen’s Garden the trail became steep as we once again tackled the more than 800 feet in elevation that we had to gain in order to get back out of the canyon. We found that by stopping for lunch and ensuring we drank plenty of water we found the hike out this day much easier than our last attempt. Yep, lesson learned…

What another fantastic hike in Bryce Canyon… we plan at least one more excursion to the bottom of the canyon but also want to explore some of the other features in this area. We are scheduled to leave here on the ninth but if the weather holds we may extend a day or two more…