Monday, September 10, 2012

bryce canyon national park

As we were wandering through Zion......we had a crazy idea.

"Let's drive to Bryce", he said.
"ok."

done.

We had never been to Bryce Canyon National Park, and since it was less than 100 miles from right where we were standing, we decided to go for it.

And we were sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo (I cannot stress this enough, does the unnecessary amount of O's get that across?) happy that we did. 

We'd seen pictures of the park, but no picture can do it justice. It's incredible--nothing like you've ever seen, and we felt like we were on another planet. We grabbed a park map and tried to decide which hike (we only had time for one) would allow us to see as much as we could. 

We discovered that the Peekaboo Trail started on one side of the valley and crossed down through it and up the other side. 

We'd found our adventure.
 bryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce canyonbryce5 cbryce canyonopybryce canyonbryce canyon
the end.


trail notes:
Peekaboo Loop Trail
you shuttle up to the trailhead and then hike back to your car. (perfect!)
we had a 100 year old park ranger try to talk us out of this hike (twice), 
because it's marked as one of the "strenuous" hikes on the map. 
It's not. At all. 
It was amazing.
A nice gradual hike down, across the flat valley floor, giant hoodoos rising up out of the orange earth.
At the very end of the hike, you DO have to climb up up up some steep switchbacks to get back up to the top. It IS steep--but it's over pretty quickly.
The total hike is only about 3.5 miles.
do it. soon.

11 comments:

Kayli said...

Your pictures are so beautiful. I really wish there was an option to click on them and make them larger... pretty please?
You definitely do inspire me to want to take that trail--if I was in Utah, it would be on the calendar. However, I'll have to make do with Swiss Alps. Shoot. :)

Hannah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hannah said...

Hi Sheena, your photos of Bryce are stunning - I can't believe this was your first visit there! I love seeing all of the adventures you take your children on.
I visited Bryce on my roadtrip to the States in August (the same trip that I visited Rhyolite ghost town that I mentioned previously) and Bryce was one of my absolute favourites. We did the Fairyland Loop Trail - 8 miles in total but a very easy 8 miles and we only saw 5 people in 5 hours!
I would so love to go back to Bryce - I just wish I didn't have to cross the ocean to get there!

{http://hannahruthking.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/monday-bryce-canyon.html}

gfs said...

what a gorgeous spontaneous trip! we headed to bryce on a big 10week international trip when I was eleven, I remember we did a horse back tour in Bryce and I, the only one with horse riding experience was the only one without a sore bum the next day - ha! It is a gorgeous spot in the world, your photos are stunning, they capture the exact mood that I remember. One day, I will return.

Anonymous said...

great photos! it seriuosly did look like you were flying in that one pic! i am always so jealous of all of your excursions. and how come when i see your husband in pics i always try to look at his hands to see if i find the one with four fingers? heh :P

Anonymous said...

Wow, so beautiful and I'm betting it was 10 times better to the naked eye! Our family are hikers too and I love seeing other little ones out there on the trail.

julie said...

AMAZING!! this place has been on my to-do list for awhile!! we missed out a few spring breaks ago while we were expoloring the southern utah parks beccause it was too snowy still. :(

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canyonrides said...

Fantastic pictures and thrilled you are getting out there and living your dream. This is a perfect place for all whole family vacations.

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canyonairport said...

It's amazing pictures, for sure you really enjoy here. Thanks for sharing!

Aerial Photos of Bryce Canyon