Bryce Point

We made a spur of the moment decision this morning to stop by Bryce Point before heading to our next destination, Willis Creek Slot Canyon.

No wonder the parking lot was full yesterday. This overlook provides an amazing view of the Bryce Canyon Amphitheater!

We got there a little late. The sun was already up. And to make matters even more annoying, a group of folks who must have been on a photography tour had set up their tripods all around the overlook. Despite that, I got one or two photos that pleased me.

After Bryce Point, we stopped at Upper and Lower Inspiration points to take a few more photos.

Willis Creek Slot Canyon

Okay. I recognize that no other slot canyon can compare to Antelope Canyon in Arizona, but since I haven’t been there yet, forgive me for saying that Willis Creek Slot Canyon is awesome.

To get there, though, was no easy feat. It involved a seven-mile drive down a teeth-jarring BLM dirt road with a washboard surface, sharp turns, and steep inclines. Greg handled it like a champ. (There may have been moments when I shrieked.)

We also encountered a cow in the middle of the road at one point.

I had hoped that since we got there early, and since it was not an easy place to get to, we would be the only ones there. No such luck. Despite that, there were many times as we were walking that we were completely alone.

Another couple who were hiking the slot canyon showed us how to take vertical panorama shots, which give a much better sense of how tall things are. Some of these photos were taken using that method, and some were not, which explains why some of the walls look taller than others. Plus, there were about four slot canyons in all on the hike, each a little different than the one before.

This was a tiny little waterfall in one of the crevices of the canyon wall.

At one point a hummingbird flew in front of Greg. It paused about a foot in front of his face and looked him over before flying away. I was standing right behind him and got a really good view of the hummingbird. It was so cute!

Scenic Byway 12

Next, we decided to drive down Scenic Byway 12 to Devil’s Garden. Along the way, we encountered beautiful views and hail.

Devil’s Garden

Devil’s Garden is a small area of hoodoos out in the middle of nowhere.

To get to Devil’s Garden, we had to drive 12 miles down another BLM dirt road. When Greg realized that, he almost turned around to head back to Bryce Canyon, but it had taken us an hour and a half to get there, and I didn’t want to leave without seeing what we had come to see.

By the time we finished driving that 12 miles, Greg’s good mood was gone.

On top of that, thunderstorms were looming. After 10 minutes of wandering through the hoodoos, Greg decided it was time to head back. He didn’t want to be stuck on that dirt road during a downpour. I didn’t blame him.

I would have loved to have spent a little more time wandering through the hoodoos, though. It was fun!

And just to prove that there were indeed thunderstorms…

On the way back, we got to see a different angle of the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon National Park.

This morning we hauled ourselves out of bed at dawn (I’m not a fan of these early mornings) so that we could get to Sunset Point before the parking lot filled up.

From there, we hiked the Navajo Loop trail down into the Bryce Canyon Amphitheater.

Then we hooked up with the Queen’s Garden Trail.

And ended up at Sunrise Point.

Sometime before we leave, I would like to do the Navajo Loop Trail to the Wall Street Trail. I really want to wander through the maze of hoodoos.

Rainbow Point

After lunch, Greg decided it was time to terrify me again.

We drove the 18 miles to Rainbow Point, the highest point in Bryce Canyon National Park, at over 9000 feet above sea level. I had to keep my eyes closed for the last eight miles.

To our annoyance, the parking lot was packed. Greg ended up parking illegally in a “government vehicles only” slot. (He claims he didn’t see the sign. Ha!)

This was one of the rare times I didn’t mind breaking the rules. After that hair-raising trip up to Rainbow Point, I was damned if we were going to leave before seeing it!

It was interesting, but nothing I would have been devastated to miss.

After snapping a few photos as quickly as we could, we headed back down the mountain, stopping at various overlooks along the way.

My favorite by far was Natural Bridge.

We wanted to stop at Bryce Point as well, but there was a ranger blocking the road and a sign that said “lot full.” Argh!

Ugh. Crowds.

We have discovered that if we want to find parking at any of the lots in the national parks, we need to arrive by 9:00 a.m.

That’s no problem for our first stop of the day, because we’re usually arriving between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. But anything we want to do after that becomes a challenge.

It’s really annoying.

On the other hand, the weather has been absolutely beautiful, and if we were doing this in the summer, we would be fighting both heat and crowds.

Foreign tourists

For those of you who might be wondering what it is like to tour the national parks while Trump is gleefully antagonizing non-Americans, let me say that it seems to have had little effect on tourism.

I would guess that between 15 to 20% of the tourists in the parks right now are foreigners. People are speaking French, German, Asian languages, and lots of languages that I can’t identify.

Today we met someone from Belgium, and we camped next to an Israeli family when we were in Zion. (They were absolutely delightful!) After they left, several young Germans took their place. On our other side were some middle easterners.

I have loved hearing all the different languages and chatting with people from all over the world.

Oh, and I haven’t noticed a decrease in service within the parks. I can’t say that the rangers in the visitor centers have been all that helpful, but there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of workers.

Tag: Bryce Point