Day 28: Touring Bryce Canyon National Park

May 26, 2010

43F in the tent overnight. I got up at 7:45 when the sun hit my tent. Today I'm staying close to the campground in the main Bryce amphitheater area.

My first stop was Sunrise Point which is the trailhead for the Queens Garden trail. The park newspaper modestly calls the Queen's Garden - Navajo Loop trails the world's best 3-mile hike. It's the only loop trail in the amphitheater area.

The Queen's Garden trail winds down into the hoodoos, descending 500 feet. Then the Navajo Loop trail climbs back up to the rim at Sunset Point. To complete the loop I walked 1/2 mile on the rim trail back to Sunrise Point.

Sunrise Point, top of the Queen's Garden trail.

The Queen's Garden trail has several doorways through rock fins.

View from Sunset Point, the Navajo Loop trailhead.

After the morning hike I had an early lunch at the Bryce Canyon lodge. The dining room isn't as charming as the one at the North Rim. After lunch I went back to camp to do laundry, charge batteries, read the John Wesley Powell book, do bike maintenance, etc.

At 4 PM I went to see Paria View and Bryce Point. The sun angle was good. Bryce Point is where visitors are the most surrounded by hoodoos.

Paria View overlook, elevation 8100 feet.

All the tourists at Bryce go to the same small number of overlooks. So it can be really crowded at the overlooks. And the park road can be crowded with tour buses and motor homes. As usual, I hear many different languages at the overlooks.

Telephoto view of the Aquarius plateau and the town of Tropic.

Afterwards I went to the shower and bought groceries (both in the same building). I was back at the campsite at 6:30 and it was still fairly warm and not too windy. Definitely warmer than yesterday. Today's high was 65F. It was cloudy around mid-day but sunny for most of the day.

I didn't bike to the end of the park road. It just seemed too much trouble, and I did it in 1992. It's 14 miles and 1000+ feet of climbing to where the road dead-ends at Rainbow Point.

Tonight I have very young crybaby children on two sides of me. And a zipper slider went bad on my inner tent. Overall it was a nice restful tour day at Bryce. I saw Matt's loaded bike locked to a railing at Sunrise Point, but I never saw him.

Distance: 12 mi. (19 km)

Climbing: 1042 ft. (316 m)

Average Speed: 10.3 mph (16.5 km/h)

Maximum Speed: 33 mph (53 km/h)

Hiked 5 miles (8 km)

Today's ride: 12 miles (19 km)
Total: 1,266 miles (2,037 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	2
Comment on this entry	Comment	0