There is a lot to talk about, so I will divide the material between a few posts. Today I will talk about the specific trails I hiked and throw in a few pictures.
The first day we hiked the Fairyland loop. It was 8.0 miles and had a 2309 ft elevation change. This trail and the subsequent ones started at the rim of the canyon which is around 8,000 ft in elevation. While things were foggy, we were able to see a few things. The trail was completely covered in fresh snow and more was falling as we walked. The trail was quiet; we only ran into one other person.
I was hiking with my friends Larry and Peter. We were all impressed with how this rock formation in the distance looked. Then, we saw the trail go toward it and became dejected we would have to climb it. Luckily, the trail veered off and we did not have to ascend it.
Two days later we took some better pictures at Bryce Point. The fog cleared up a lot and the snow turned to rain. I do not remember exactly where I took all these pictures, but the ones below are from the second Bryce day.
Our next hike was a combination of several trails. It was Queen's Garden to Peakaboo Loop to Navajo Loop. We started at Sunset Point then hiked to Sunrise Point before descending to the Queen's Garden. It is so named because of a rock that looks like Queen Victoria. Then, we walked up the Navajo Loop on the Wall Street side for 1/3 mile until the trail was closed because of weather dangers. Next, we took a trail over to the 3.0 mile Peakaboo loop. After hiking that, we backtracked to the Navajo Loop and took the other side of it up to Sunrise Point. The entire trip was less than 6.4 miles and had 1785 ft in elevation change.
On this hike the falling snow had turned into rain. This left the trails in a sloppy condition. They were either muddy, snowy, slushy, or all of the above. When the snow started to melt and mixed with the dirt the snow took on an orange color. We used Yaktrax, which fit over the soles of boots and increase their traction. They were very helpful, even if one of mine broke at the end of the trip.
One common sight at Bryce Canyon are rock formations known as hoodoos. I will refer you to the Unnamed Geniuses for a complete explanation of hoodoos and how they are formed. There is also a great picture of Thor's Hammer in the linked article. I would put up my own picture of it, but after several hours in 30 some degree cold and a constant rain my camera died. Below is a picture of random hoodoos I took.
No comments:
Post a Comment