Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
Bryce Canyon is an interesting place for sure. It was all at the bottom of a body of water and water carved out the spires and pinnacles. Did you know that if you took a piece of rock from the canyon and placed it in a bucket of water, it would become nothing but a pile of sediment after just one month. After a pretty cold night with temps in around 30 degrees, we rolled out of bed and got ready for a morning hike from North Campground to Sunrise point. The plan was to start at Sunrise point, hike down through Queens Loop, Queens Garden, Navajo Loop, Wall St., and back up to Sunset point. The total would be just over 5 miles.
Everyone usually views Bryce Canyon from the rim, but it is a completely different perspective when you are at the foot of the spires and pinnacles. I highly recommend spending some time and go down into the canyon.
We did arrive at a spot not marked on the where people had created a garden of cairns. B and I decided to add to the collection of cairns, ourselves.
We did get out to Wall St. which had tall narrow walls, but unfortunately, we had to turn around as the trail was closed due to rock slides. We found that going back to Navajo Loop would take us up to Sunset point and pass by Thor's Hammer. There was a section of switchbacks that looked pretty impressive once you got to the top and looked down.
We finally made it back up to the rim and hopped a free shuttle back to the Visitor's center where we signed up with last minute reservations, for a the Rainbow Point Tour Bus. This was a nice luxury bus with A/C and a very nice tour guide and bus driver named, Spike.
Spike use to be an 18 wheeler driver for Pepsi Co. often driving his route on some treacherous roads in the canyons and valleys of Souther Utah. Finally, he retired and was doing job on the side. He lives nearby in Henriville, UT. Spike is proud to tell everyone that at every stop on the tour you can see his house, about 17 miles away. Spike is full of local area knowledge and he is also a great comedian. We loved every minute of the tour, and we love Spike. He told us that he ended up buying his house for $38,000 which included a 3 bd, 3 bath house on 4.5 acres. Not a bad deal! He was quite proud of his son, who was a blackhawk chopper pilot serving three tours as part of Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield. His son had twins and he showed us a picture of the twins just after they were born in side the pockets of his son's military issue cargo pants.
This is the part I love best about our trip, hearing about other people's lives and their stories and experiences. I'm sure we'll see meet many more people this way.
Spike took us all the way out to Rainbow Point, the farthest point on the scenic drive in the park and then to several spots on the way back to the visitor's center.
Spike had also told us the best places in the park to get sunrise and sunset pictures. Despite there already being a Sunrise and Sunset point, which you think would be the best spots for sunrise and sunset respectively, the best points are Bryce Point for sunrise and Inspiration Point for sunset.
After the tour, we headed back to the campsite and Moby and had dinner. Then we drove out to Inspiration Point and hiked up the steep path to the top tier and best viewpoint of sunset at the park.
While watching the sunset, we meet a fabulous couple originally from Michigan, Cathy and Dean. They decided to sell their house and travel the world. They just came back from 6 months of travel from The Orient and had been traveling the US for the last year. They just got here to Bryce because they had decided to apply for a job at the lodge and got it. Dean will be doing maintenance and Cathy will work the front desk of the lodge. These two were very inspirational to us. Imagine a life of having no debt and being able to support yourself through small jobs and visit from place to place. They had bought an Airstream trailer and the lodge allowed them to stay in their trailer for free on the park property. They will work the summer season for 4 months and then off to their next adventure.
I really want to live a life like theirs. Their kids are all grown up and now, they are living the life they always dreamed about. Maybe some day...
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