Return to Beautiful Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon is a place I can got back to over and over again and enjoy it just as much as the first time.  Our last trip there was just this summer.  We’d spent several days riding the RZR on the Paiute Trail and finished the trip with a few days at Bryce.  If  you like trail riding, the Paiute Trail is a must.  http://mandmhittheroad.com/2017/08/23/paiute-trail

 

 

The drive from Marysvale, UT to Bryce Canyon is a short one, about 1.25 hours.  We were a group of four coaches and stopped for groceries in Panguitch. The parking lot was small but thank goodness there was ample street parking.  From there it was onto Beautiful Bryce.  Two in our group had never been and I was excited for them to experience the beauty.  Mark had to remind me a few times to temper my enthusiasm so I didn’t over-hype it.  As we turned left from US 89 onto State Route 12, I texted our two newcomers to have their cameras out and ready as this was going to be a pretty drive.  And I didn’t over-hype the drive, they were glad I gave them the heads up on the camera.  Ha!

 

 

 

We quickly set up our rigs and headed to the shuttle since we all had RZR’s and they are not allowed in the park. It was a beautiful day with storm clouds forming. I remembered the awestruck feeling I had the first time I walked along the rim trail and was excited to see their reaction as well.  I’m happy it was just as I expected.  We walked along the rim for a while taking pictures and taking it all in.  We showed them the big hike we had planned for the next day and took more pictures.  I was bummed we couldn’t go all the way to the southern most point in the park; I sure wish the shuttles went there.  Maybe by the next trip.

 

Time for a beverage and off to the pizza place we went.  None of us were hungry, just a little break with a beer.  There is a rule in Utah that you can’t buy liquor without food, which we already knew from Mark’s business travels.  The rest of our group didn’t know this and were a little surprised when our beer and wine came with a banana and orange.  We renamed the beer to Banana Beer.  We laughed and talked enjoying our banana beer. The clouds were getting darker and a storm was rolling in.  We hightailed it back to the shuttle to beat the storm and made it back to camp just in the nick of time.  After dinner we gathered around a campfire, shared pictures we’d taken and gazed up at the stars.  My kind of night.

 

 

Wake up!  It’s time to hike!  Mark’s mom and stepdad decided to forgo the hiking adventure so we were a group of six; Mark’s cousin Keith, his wife Linda and their friends Brian and Michelle rounded out our group.  Mark mapped out our hike combining the Navajo Loop Trail with the Queen’s Garden Trail.  We started down Wall Street, which is super cool with the narrow walls like a slot canyon.  We were surprised to see giant Douglas Fir trees growing from the barren terrain along the way. Down we went a total of 550 feet before we started back to the top then back down again.  We stopped for lunch in a canyon cave of sorts complete with a bench.

 

 

 

 

After lunch we headed over to see Queen Victoria’s garden.  Looking at the rocks and hoodoos, I often see animals and faces.  Michelle and I were naming what we saw yet all we got from Mark and Keith was how crazy we were.  Yeah, yeah.  Wait until we get to the garden.  We saw monkey heads, wolves and various people in the rocks.  The trail to the garden has arches cut out which make me feel like a kid again walking through. This trail was much busier than the Navajo Loop.  One thing I love about hiking, even when it’s super busy and have to wait your turn in some spots is that by and large, everyone is very nice.

We reached Queen Victoria’s Garden. It took some doing and lots of over explaining the visual, but eventually everyone was able to see the queen. It was getting warm, almost hot and there was little shade.  The walk back up was not going to be at a blistering pace.  Thank goodness we always bring too much water.  It was high-fives all the way around when we all reached the top.  We headed over to the Lodge to check out the gift shop and of course stopped at the pizza place for a much deserved Banana Beer.

 

 

Queen Victoria is straight up from Brian in the Lakers jersey.

 

Since we had the RZR’s our last full day was spent trail riding in nearby Johnson Hollow.  We use the Polaris Ride Command app and found a bunch of fun trails on both sides of the valley.  I wanted to find the UTV Only area we’d come across on our previous trip in our Jeep.  We did find more amazing views and beautiful terrain.  Once again, animals were plentiful.  We saw lots of deer and wild turkeys; even a prairie dog colony.  I must say, that was pretty cool.  It resembled the “whack a mole” game with their heads popping up and down across the landscape of their colony.

The trails took us in and out canyons, by a logging operation and across many streams.  We climbed to the top of several vistas and found a nice shady spot for lunch.  It’s a wild sight to be at the top of still-forming hoodoos.  Like Arizona, there are lots of neat little spots to camp right off the trails.

 

We followed the trail to the top of Pink Cliff and got out to explore.  What a beautiful sight it was.  Pink hoodoos to the right and the long valley to the left.  A few in our group aren’t too fond of heights and my scampering around unnerved them.  We did get Keith closer to the edge than I think he wanted to be.  He was king of the world right then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We climbed and explored for the entire day, only coming back to camp when the storm rolled in.  Keith, Linda, Brian and Michelle headed out after dinner to start their long drive back to California and another fun trip was coming to an end.  Our alarm clock rang rather rudely at 5am.  A quick pot of coffee, electric disconnected and the rear slides pulled in and off we went.

As we pulled out I told Mark our next trip to Bryce will be when there is snow on the hoodoos.  That is a sight I want to see.