Spring Break 2021: Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon National Park.  If Zion starts at the bottom and goes up, then Bryce Canyon is the opposite, you start at the top and go down. The drive to Bryce Canyon is easy. Once you drive through the mile long Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel and drive through the east side of Zion you depart the east entrance Zion and take state roads for about two hours to Bryce Canyon. Rolling hills and mountains in the distance make for a pleasant drive. In fact, driving over hills and around curves through canyons and tunnels was a great fun. As we drove into Dixie National Forest we drove through a tunnel that was clearly an inspiration for the animated movie Cars. 

We got to Bryce before sunset with enough time to stop and take pictures before heading to the rental house in Tropic, UT. We parked at Sunset Point and walked down a Briscoe Pine lined sidewalk until opened out onto a theater like experience with all of Bryce Canyon immediately below us. The visual effect was stunning. I heard TJ exclaim his wonder as he looked down. 

Bryce Canyon is full of hoodoos, tall spires of stone and rock that have been carved by wind and erosion over millions of years. The erosion left “windows” and “walls” among the many spires that looked like enormous sand castles.  The layers of rock reveal shades of reds, rusts, oranges, yellows, tans, and grays that are made to glow in the setting sun. 

Bryce sits about 3,000’ higher than Zion; the highest point being 8,300’ above sea level. The temperatures were an average of 20* cooler than Zion and there was snow still in the canyon to contrast the colors of the rock. Most of the next two days was red rocks, blue skies, white snow, and green pine trees. I am not sure how long it would take to get tired of looking at one amazing scene after another in Bryce but it never happened on our trip. 

Tropic, UT, is a one traffic light town that has the bare essentials for hikers and travelers who are passing through; a grocery store, a couple of restaurants, a gas station, and small hotels. We spread out in our rental home and made a good dinner and washed the dust from one National Park out of our clothes so we could add new dust into them. The clothes dryer was broken so we went old school and hung things up outside on the line with clothes pins. The wind and the dry air had everything ready to take down in less than an hour.  

Bryce can better handle traffic so we went back the second day to hike from Sunrise Point down the Queen’s Garden Trail and over to the Navajo Loop Trail.  It was a day for long pants and several layers on top. We started off chilly but it warmed up into the low sixties by midday.  The trails are moderately tough because at 8,300’ you have less oxygen than you are used to.  Plus, although Bryce Canyon starts at the top, what goes down must go back up. Nevertheless, it was a spectacular morning.  Lisa played with her camera and boys marched ahead at their own pace.  Snacks of oranges and homemade GORP kept the blood sugar up until we made it back the lodge. 

After a full lunch we launched into the second hike of the day down the Tower Bridge Trail, named so for the massive hoodoo window that looks like the Tower Bridge in London. We heard and saw a Blue jay like bird and was befriended by a chipmunk who like our snacks.  The kids played in (and ate) the snow and Lisa and I hiked around to the back of Tower Bridge for a better look and angle. The hike back was overshadowed by a cranky Grant who had hiked enough, was tired of his brother and dad, and just wanted to be around mom – to the exclusion of everyone else.  

We still stopped at Mossy Cave on the way back to see thick icicles that remain in the “cave” year round because it never gets direct sunlight. We played and looked around for a little but the family was done for the day and needed to rest and reset.  Our hopes for a raved about BBQ joint were dashed by a 90 minute wait, no ribs, and average pulled pork <sigh>.  Grant invented a board game out of parts of another board game and we played that until TJ got sick. TJ started feeling ill no long after he ate the snow and spent the night heaving into a basket. Not the best end to a great day. 

The next morning we started out back to Las Vegas, stopping for one last hike to see some arches just outside to Red Canyon and Dixie National Forest.  Lisa got some photos and the kids explored ahead of us discussing Pokemon and who knows what. We kicked the dust off our shoes and headed back to Nevada.