Hiking the Hoodoos - Bryce Canyon (Day 4)

Springdale, Utah

Having never been to this region, we weren't sure what to expect.  Springdale is a great "base-camp" location for the Bryce and Zion region.  Even though it is a little further from Bryce, it is literally adjacent to Zion - check out the view of the mountains from our hotel (below).  It is a quaint little town - lots of restaurants, art galleries, and amenities.  There are free town shuttles to the park entrance and from there you purchase your entrance ticket and hop on more free shuttles to travel throughout the park.  We would definitely stay here again.  We stayed at the Hampton Inn - our room was nice, the view was great, and it was convenient to the town shuttle stop - one right in front of the hotel.  Our only regret about this portion of the trip was that we didn't have more time; we had one day in Bryce, and one day in Zion - we would have liked more time in Zion and Springdale.  

We drove to Bryce on Tuesday morning (Day 4) - about 1 1/2 hours from Springdale.  You get to drive the Zion Park Scenic Mountain Route on the way - you will have to purchase a $25.00 vehicle pass - keep that pass with you when you go back to Zion - you can use it to get into the park and you won't have to pay the $12.00/person entrance fee.  

The Zion Scenic Drive offers views that are completely different from inside the park, don't miss this amazing drive. 

On the drive, the mountains of rock rise above the road as if a giant master sculpture took clay and layered the malleable rocks building up the landscape as he/she went - The swirls, "chisel" marks, and rough "clay-like" edges are surreal. It is absolutely amazing.  Broad strokes of swirled colors paint the surface of the mountain.  (You get to experience two tunnels as well - one is 1.1 miles long.) 

Once you leave Zion, the rest of the drive to Bryce Canyon is pretty simple - not a ton to see. 

You will need to purchase another $25.00 vehicle entrance pass to enter Bryce - we wish we had purchased an annual pass to all the National Parks at this point - it would have been a net savings, but oh well, the money goes to GREAT National Treasures.  Once inside the park, a ranger advised us how best to experience Bryce - this is what we did...

(We only spent about 6 hours in Bryce, and we felt like that was an adequate enough time for completing a great hike and seeing what we wanted to see.  Bryce has a lot of drivable access points, plus the good hiking is fairly clustered around the amphitheater.  This was a nice way to experience the park on a little over a half-day.)  

We drove to the far end of the park along the scenic drive - We stopped at various pull-off points to view the hoodoos from above.  We took a great long hike from Sunrise Point.  There was still snow on the ground here, but we only had to wear sweatshirts to hike - take a look at the forecasted temperatures and plan to dress in layers.

The Native Americans believe each hoodoo represents an ancient ancestor.  It is easy to see how they believe this...each pillar is unique and does seem to represent a phantasmagoric life-force.  It is quite mesmerizing.

Hiking the Hoodoos -

We wanted to really experience the Hoodoos and get a feel for the scale of the area.  Believe it or not, it is hard to do that from the rim, looking down in.  (The same is true for the Grand Canyon and Zion).  We decided to take a realistic hike (a little over 4.5 miles) with about 800 ft. of vertical elevation change - if your knees bother you at all, you may want to consider walking poles/sticks.  I blew my knee out several years ago, and had to have a total ACL reconstruction along with some meniscal repairs - I broke down and purchased walking sticks for this hiking expedition to help me with the descending portion of the hikes - it was helpful :) .

It is hard to get a sense of scale here, but we started higher than the small pines (that aren't so small) that you see in the upper left portion of this picture - you can also see a full grown adult on the right side of the picture juxtaposed to my 11 year old daughter in the foreground.

We began our hike at Sunrise Point.  We descended to Queen's Garden where we continued on to the Navajo Loop.  We experienced the base of the amphitheater.  We also passed landmarks - Thor's Hammer, and parts of Wall Street.  Even though there are bears and mountain lions in the region, we only saw deer and prairie dogs on this trip. 

... The Navajo Loop was where we began our ascent - remember, it can seem twice as hard going up as going down.

The vertical switchbacks on the way up -

The views were spectacular - we emerged at Sunset Point and had an easy (relatively flat) 3/4 mile hike back to our starting point. 

Bryce is unique and worth the trip!

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Let the Road Trip Begin - First Stop: Grand Canyon (Day 2 & 3)

Must Do Road Trip!

Family of 4 (kids ages 12 and 8)  

Las Vegas - Grand Canyon - Bryce Canyon - Zion National Park - Park City

Spring 2015

Vegas is a great place to start - easy place to fly in, great hotels, and convenient amenities to grab any last minute necessities and to rest up to prepare for your hiking and sight-seeing adventure.  Our trip began with a flight out on Friday evening from our hometown, we landed late, and we were able to sleep in the next morning.  We spent Saturday in Vegas relaxing and getting acclimated to the new time zone.  Sunday morning came quickly - we got a little later start than we had hoped for, but we were able to make it work.  We left Las Vegas around 10:10 AM - it is a relatively easy drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas - it took us about 5 hours (we had some traffic which I hear is pretty typical this time of year and even heavier in the summer months), but it was not a difficult drive.  

**(While driving to the Grand Canyon, you will pass the exit for the Hoover Dam.  We visited the Hoover Dam a year earlier - I would highly recommend the detour if your schedule will allow for it.  Arrange a tour and you can enjoy the Dam in 2-3 hours.  There is a great deal of history and it is an engineering marvel worth seeing.  Our kids still giggle when thinking back to all the Dam signs and puns heard on our tour - there is a Dam Dog, a Dam T-shirt, a Dam bathroom, etc.)

Arrived!  South Rim Grand Canyon Visitor's Center - 3:30 PM 

We familiarized ourselves with the area, spoke with a Ranger, got a map, and watched an introductory film in the Visitor Center.  Our first official glimpse of the Canyon came at Mather Point - it is just a short, easy walk along a sidewalk behind the Visitor Center (handicap/wheelchair accessible for those that cannot transcend into the Canyon or walk along rocky paths).

Mather Point

Due to our late arrival, we wanted to make the most of the forthcoming sunset.  We asked a Ranger for a recommendation on a sunset location.  We were told to pick any "Point" - on the map of the Canyon, you will see several spots labeled with the word "Point" - pick one!  At any given "Point" you can see to the right and left - it is quite literally an area that jets out at a point in the Canyon.

We elected to leave our car at the Visitor Center (I would highly recommend for ease of transportation plus private vehicles are not permitted most of the year).  We hopped on to the Blue Shuttle Line (free park transportation - parking can be a challenge - we recommend leaving your car at the Visitor's Center and utilizing the shuttle system) From there, we hopped off the bus at Hermits Trail to transfer to the Red Shuttle Line - The Red Shuttle took us to Powell Point.  We wanted to see several different areas and Points before the sun began to set.  A short gravel 0.3 of a mile path connects Powell Point to Hopi Point - This is a great sunset viewing spot.  Hopi Point can be a bit crowded - arrive a little early if you are able to get a spot by the railing at the tip of the point.  A little secret, if you want to avoid some of the crowds, is to walk along that gravel path between Hopi and Powell Points.  The view is breathtaking, but be careful if you have young children, there are no railings here.  I would recommend doing both - start at Hopi Point for the beginning of the sunset and then begin to walk along the trail towards Powell Point - you won't regret it!  We stayed at the Best Western in Tusayan, Arizona - about 10 minutes from the South Rim entrance.

Path between

Hopi Point and Powell Point 

(less people and no obstructions)

Day 2
8:30am Start Time

Kaibab Trail

(Ohh Ahh portion with kids) 

Moderate hike; worth the effort.  Save your energy for the climb back up and out - they aren't kidding when they say it is twice as hard to ascend.  The Canyon staff reminds you of this with a fun sense of humor -  signs everywhere say "Going down is optional, coming up is mandatory!"  The hike is roughly 2 miles - took us about an 1 1/2 hour with time to enjoy the view.   

We completed our hike around 10:00 AM.  It was just enough time to catch the shuttle to take us to a Fossil Ranger Hike at 11:00 AM.  It took us a full 45 minutes to make the shuttle transfers and get from Kaibab Trail to Bright Angel Trailhead, so if you want to do this, make sure that you allow enough time.

The Ranger led fossil tour was very informative and worthwhile.  It shocked us to learn that the top of the canyon was once under the Kaibab Sea - the tectonic plates located under the canyon have been pushing the plateau up over millions of years as the Colorado River continues to carve out the Canyon.  The base of the Canyon itself is older than dinosaurs.  We found sea-bed fossils embedded in the rocks along the rim near Bright Angel Trail Head (see below). 

After our fossil hunt, we headed to El Tovar for a leisurely sit down lunch - the food was good - the view was great - and we enjoyed the chance to sit!  By the time we finished lunch, it was time to head out ... Bryce Canyon / Zion awaited.  

Take the Road Less Traveled

Desert View Road

 25 miles +/-   

If you have the time - we would highly recommend this route.  

"Pull-offs" provide additional views of the Canyon

The Watch Tower

(towards the end of the Desert View Road)

Great views of a large plateau.  Convenient snack shop and restrooms.

  

On to Utah ...

It is like you are entering another world - as you leave the labeled Desert View / Canyon area, the landscape continues to be awe inspiring.  My husband was reminded of Tatooine (obviously a Star Wars fan); I immediately had flashbacks to the movie Independence Day with Will Smith and The Host based on the novel by Stephanie Myer -  remote, isolated communities and "barren" landscapes.

(The North Rim of the Canyon is still closed this time of year (March) - we passed by the road split that takes you to that region on our way to Springdale, Utah to embark on the Zion and Bryce portion of our trek - about another 5 hour drive, but well worth it.  FYI - we traveled over 1,100 miles on this trip and we and the kids barely noticed - we loved every minute.)

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