Bryce Canyon Days 1 and 2

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Up with the first light and out of Logan Canyon and headed for Bryce Canyon National park. By 10:30 was in the parks open campground and had my tent set up only 100 yards from the edge of the canyon. The picture above is from the canyon rim closest to my tent. After yesterdays clouds and light rain the blue sky peeking through was nice. Still a bit cold though as my camp site was at 7,900 feet. Still a good base camp for the hiking about to take place.



Looking at all the trails I wanted to cover I started out from my camp on the Fairyland Loop with a side trip to Tower Bridge. Still early enough in the year that the trail was not crowded at all. Saw only about 1 person per mile. No way to describe all the weird formations throughout the park. Every bend in the trail was another formation that was better than the last. In the evening I walked down to Sunrise Point. Had been told it was a great spot for sunsets and would be less crowded than Sunset point. I saw this tree clinging tenaciously on a narrowing piece of ground. Thought it was pretty cool.

Started Day 2 with the sun, a bit cold but not too bad. My sleeping bag made for a warm night. Went to both Sunset and Sunrise points then headed for the Queens Garden. Like all the trails I hiked, it was mostly smooth, wide and well maintained.

Drove to the end of the main park road to hike the Bristlecone Trail and to get to the Hat Shop Trail. Even fewer people in this part, but the scenery was better up at the main canyon. The Hat Shop trail provided some steep up and downs so the hiking was fun. Found showers ($2 for 8 mins of water) by the camp store and figured it would be good to clean up. In the evening I hiked the rim trail again to get some pictures. The views were better because the sunlight was lighting up the hoodoos.