Southwest Vacation - Utah Part 2, hiking at Bryce Canyon
After our luxurious day of nothing, we were ready to get out and get active again. We took the drive out to Bryce Canyon National Park. When we arrived, we realized we weren't the only ones who had the idea to hike the park on a Tuesday morning. It was already crowded. However, the crowds were mostly elderly people, people with small children, or physically unfit people. We knew if we picked a strenuous enough path we'd have plenty of space all to ourselves AND we'd be able to hike it just fine. We're thankful for our able bodies, and we should use them while we have them!
We were right. The longer, winding, moderate path was barely populated and gave us amazing scenery. We actually sweat during a hike for the first time (on this trip). We took our time on the way down to the "Tower Bridge".
We hiked past the "Chinese Wall" and many other interesting hoodoo formations. It looked like another planet there. The trees were so different than all the other pines we're used to seeing. Everything was amazing and new to us. We even got to see a Steller's Jay, which Brennan knew about from a pencil he got as a gift from our friends at the Grand Canyon... so he was crazy excited to see one in person!
Once we got to the tower bridge, we turned around and hiked right back the way we came... uphill the whole way back. The hike up was a welcomed challenge. It was a 6 mile hike... though it didn't feel that long, felt more like a 4mi, but according to the map we did 6. According to Josh's knee it was 6 miles too.
Tristan took a bunch of photos with his phone here as well. In fact, he kept saying "Mom it's just so beautiful, I can't make myself stop taking pictures! How can you help it?" to which I replied "I can't help it, I just take my pictures super fast now" lol.
After the hike we were all very hungry and tired. We found a great BBQ spot in Panguitch on our way back (far enough away from the really touristy stuff) called The Cowboy Smokehouse. It was delicious!! And since it was like 3:30pm when we walked in, we were practically the only people inside so we didn't have to wait very long. When we got back we were able to just sit and chill the rest of the evening. I had put a roast beef into the crock pot before we left so it was falling apart and fantastic by time we ate dinner. Great day!!
Our next chapter: Utah Part 3, exploring Cedar Breaks
We were right. The longer, winding, moderate path was barely populated and gave us amazing scenery. We actually sweat during a hike for the first time (on this trip). We took our time on the way down to the "Tower Bridge".
We hiked past the "Chinese Wall" and many other interesting hoodoo formations. It looked like another planet there. The trees were so different than all the other pines we're used to seeing. Everything was amazing and new to us. We even got to see a Steller's Jay, which Brennan knew about from a pencil he got as a gift from our friends at the Grand Canyon... so he was crazy excited to see one in person!
Once we got to the tower bridge, we turned around and hiked right back the way we came... uphill the whole way back. The hike up was a welcomed challenge. It was a 6 mile hike... though it didn't feel that long, felt more like a 4mi, but according to the map we did 6. According to Josh's knee it was 6 miles too.
Tristan took a bunch of photos with his phone here as well. In fact, he kept saying "Mom it's just so beautiful, I can't make myself stop taking pictures! How can you help it?" to which I replied "I can't help it, I just take my pictures super fast now" lol.
After the hike we were all very hungry and tired. We found a great BBQ spot in Panguitch on our way back (far enough away from the really touristy stuff) called The Cowboy Smokehouse. It was delicious!! And since it was like 3:30pm when we walked in, we were practically the only people inside so we didn't have to wait very long. When we got back we were able to just sit and chill the rest of the evening. I had put a roast beef into the crock pot before we left so it was falling apart and fantastic by time we ate dinner. Great day!!
Our next chapter: Utah Part 3, exploring Cedar Breaks
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