You know those stories your parents and grandparents told you when you were a kid, the ones where, with a twinkle in their eyes, they told you they had to walk to school barefoot in the snow uphill both ways? And do you remember how you didn't believe them? After this weekend, I now do.
I had my first experience hiking at Bryce Canyon National Park. I went with two friends who had not only been, but were in way better shape than me. In their defense, they did ask me to choose a hike, but I relinquished my right to do so because of my naivete about the park. In their defense, they were not aware of my bronchial limitations, nor the extent of my physical flabbiness. In their defense, they didn't even realize which hike we ended up going on and were surprised when I told them after we were done. I could make a lot of excuses as to why I am such a terrible (Utah) hiker, and while some of them may be valid, there is no skirting the fact that I was out-hiked in part because I was not physically fit enough. That being said, the hike was ranked as being difficult and had over 1500 feet in elevation change over the course of 5.5 miles, had a recommended time frame of 4-5 hours, but we did it in 3. So. You decide:
Now that I'm done both putting myself down AND making excuses for myself, I can talk about how beautiful it was! Most real hikers like to get an early start, but I think time and temperature change are not the only motivations for doing so like most would explain. The lighting in the morning is stunning in the way it plays with the existing colors and detentions. REALLY stunning. Bryce Canyon is a place that needs to be seen in the morning. The limestone hoodoos vary in color from reds to oranges to whites, but with the morning light, some of them looked like they were glowing from the inside, those natural color variations adding to the affect. By the time we finished at noon, the light was so strong on the rock that the effect looked rather harsh.
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| This is the starting point, the top of the hike at Sunset Point |
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| Julie and Ann descending down the switchbacks of the Navajo Trail to get to slot canyon known as Wall Street. |
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| Looking down into the mouth of the slot canyon. |
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| Entering Wall Street, which was probably my favorite part of the whole hike. |
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| A lot of these pictures look the same, but I struggled with the lighting of it. And the further in it we got, the more the lights and colors would change. It was not this dark, but I was limited in my understanding of settings on my camera. As soon as I would get it so the lighting was right in the foreground, the back was washed out. The distance perfectly lit? The foreground pitch black in the picture. I'm still trying to figure it out! |
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| Like I said, the rocks looked like they were glowing! |
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| The Douglas firs growing in Wall Street, Bryce Canyon's very own skyscrapers. |
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| The Navajo Loop is one of the most popular hikes in the park, especially because of Wall Street. Instead of finishing that loop, we picked up an adjoining one, the Peek-A-Boo Loop Trail. This is where the hiking starts to exit the moderate difficulty level and enters the strenuous zone. |
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| A Clark's Nutcracker (I think) |
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| Julie and the Indian Princess Hoodoo (to the right of what looks like a perched groundhog) |
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| Another switchback, which means eventually we have to go up again. |
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| Nature's gargoyles. Or goblins (as hoodoos are also called). Or are they more like aliens? |
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| The Wall of Windows |
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| If you look closely, I caught a passing plane in one of the windows! (I'll let you think it was carefully timed on my part) |
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| While I did stop to take some pictures, there may have been a little bit of exhaustion contributing to this break (if only you could see the hill leading up to this point, and if only I knew how much harder the end of the trail would be!) |
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| A Western Bluebird |
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| Inspiration Point |
This hike was really a struggle for me, but I guess there's always something to be said for completing something like this without having to be carried out. It really was such a beautiful place, and the perfect hiking weather too. Though I was stiff and sore for a few days after, I am so happy I finally made it here. I live within an hours drive of two national parks, and it has only taken me 12 years to finally make it to this one. I can't wait to go back and do some more hiking. Maybe I'll do a few of the easy hikes, now that a difficult one is out of they way. ;)
