Vacation Day 7 – Hiking and Sightseeing in Bryce National Park

Stephen, Kamar & Linda on the trail

Today is our last opportunity for any real hiking on this vacation, and the weather was perfect for it.  The sky was a deep and cloudless blue, the wind was light, and the temperature was cool.  We had several hikes to choose from so we consulted the trail guide and decided to do a combination of 4 different trails.

The first trail was the “Peekaboo Loop” the description is: “Steep but spectacular hike through the heart of Bryce Amphitheater.  See the Wall of Windows.”  Sounds pretty good doesn’t it!  The second was the “Navajo Loop” whose description is “See Wall Street, Two Bridges, and Thor’s Hammer on this short but steep trail.”  Sounds like another winner – they named several of the ‘Hoodoos’ on this trail.  The third was the “Rim Trail” whose description is “Outstanding views of hoodoos from above.”  We get to see the canyon from above and below!  The fourth was the Queens Garden Trail.  We were able to weave them into a large loop with only a mile or two of repeats.

Kamar seems to be taking to hiking.  She ordered a set of boots online.  Maybe they will be at her house when she gets home!  We are starting to talk about doing a day hike up Whitney next summer.

Profile of our hike

Lieza found an alternative to the morning hike, an all morning guided tour of the park, covering it from end to end with transportation on one of the park shuttle buses.  She said it was a great tour, and got a lot of great pictures.  She took us to one of the sights in the south end of the park called “Natural Bridge”, which is a combination arch and hoodoo.  It was spectacular.  On the way back we saw some deer grazing right by the side of the road.  They seemed pretty unconcerned that we were there.

Who peed on the grass?

We finished the afternoon with swimming in a large indoor pool and spent a little time in the hot tub to make sure that we don’t get any stiff muscles.

Tomorrow we drive back to Las Vegas and stay on the strip.

Here is a link to the Picasa Album for Bryce.  Or this link.