Got up early today, as we wanted to do a couple of trails in Bryce Canyon in the morning. It was -18 in the morning, so instead of tackling the porridge on the camp stove we decided to head to Bryce Canyon Village for breaky. Stopped at a place called Ruby’s Inn (a general store, post office, gas station, hotel and restaurant all in one), it was massive and obviously the hub of the village...it also appeared to be the only place open over the winter, in the area. After a big hearty breaky and lots of coffee refills, we headed over to the Canyon. There was even more snow at Bryce Canyon, our snowboarding gear would have come in very handy (I felt a little dismayed when I saw a couple coming off a trail with snow shoes and skis on!) still we managed to make do with what we had!
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| Where's your snowboard when you need it? |
We headed to Sunset Point to get a good view of the Canyon from the top. It looked pretty amazing at that time in the morning and the lashings of snow made it quite a dramatic sight. You really had to go on the trails to take in the sheer enormity of the Canyon (and also to see some of the massive caves). We went on a 2.5 hour trail. You end up stopping every so often to take pictures – there is just so much to take in.
There are a couple of signs at the beginning of some of the trails that say something along the lines of “enjoy the trail, but remember the walk back up!”...oh how right they were. It was a bit of hike back up the canyon and the thin air (8300ft) made it a bit more of a challenge. Didn’t help that our water canister had frozen, so you only really had a slush puppy to sip on every now and again!
There are a couple of signs at the beginning of some of the trails that say something along the lines of “enjoy the trail, but remember the walk back up!”...oh how right they were. It was a bit of hike back up the canyon and the thin air (8300ft) made it a bit more of a challenge. Didn’t help that our water canister had frozen, so you only really had a slush puppy to sip on every now and again!
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| View from 8000 feet! |
Bryce Canyon was also the first place we have seen any signs with warnings of bears, one said “watch out for bears when you’re enjoying your picnic”...as much as Arran wanted to see a bear, I managed to persuade him that it would be best to have lunch back in the car park in the safety of our camper.
After spending the day in the Canyon, we headed down the road to set up camp. Camped 60 miles South of the Canyon.
After spending the day in the Canyon, we headed down the road to set up camp. Camped 60 miles South of the Canyon.
