A real life fairyland
We arrived at the Bryce Canyon north campground on June 6th and quickly found the best spot in the campground. It was a corner spot, with lots of privacy, space, and shade. Bryce canyon was a welcome break from the heat, as the elevation and shade provided some of the more comfortable temperatures of our trip. Although it was a challenge to get the camper level in the spot we had chosen, it was well worth the effort. This was my favorite campground of the trip.
Bryce Canyon almost entirely consisted of hiking for us. Though many trails followed the edge of the canyon, the most interesting and challenging hikes dove right into the canyon, and we weren’t about to back down!
Queen’s Garden / Navajo Loop
The morning of June 7th, we woke up early to hike the Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop trail. This is one of the most popular trails in the park, and for good reason! It has the most shade of all the hikes we did, and was objectively the easiest. It also had some great views of the hoodoos, including the famous Queen Victoria Hoodoo from which the area gets its name.
If you look carefully, the Hoodoo furthest to the left resembles a queen with a large formal gown and crown.
The landscape had a tendency to change dramatically along the trail, leading from rocky outcroppings and hoodoos the the most extreme looking desert I’ve hiked in.
It was difficult for the hikers too!
This trail was definitely a hilight of the trip.
Driving Tour
After our hike through the canyon, we took a break and drove the rim road to see the rest of the park. Although it was rewarding to see the hoodoos on their own level, the view from the top was truly spectacular.
There was even another arch, as if we hadn’t seen enough of those on the trip already!
Happy family’s make for happy trips.
It really is an almost alien landscape.
Peek-A-Boo Loop
The next morning, June 8th, we woke up bright and early to hike the peek-a-boo loop. This 5.5 mile hike took us into the heart of the canyon, and even closer to the hoodoos than the queen’s garden loop.
This is one of my favorite images from the whole trip. I just love the composition.
Everyone taking in the rewarding view, except Colton who’s goofing off.
More hiking action shots…
From the top, it can be hard to get an idea of how large some of the structures in the canyon really are. Some of the hoodoos dwarf our usually tall family!
Seriously, it was hard to go wrong on this hike. You just had to point the camera somewhere new and take a photo.
Night Photography
I’ve always struggled with night photography, but on this trip I think I finally started to get the hang of it. Around 11:00pm, we ventured out to sunset point to try and get some night photographs. Using a tripod and long exposure times, I was able to capture some really great images! Bryce Canyon’s lack of artificial lighting and remote location make for some of the greatest night time viewing I’ve ever seen.
I got lucky, and the milky way just happened to be starting to peek out this time of year. The light on the rocks are from some bozo who wouldn’t shut off his flashlight so we could take night pictures. In this case, I think it actually adds to the photo but any extra light can really mess up the exposure on these long images.
Grand Staircase
The next day, June 9th, we drove to Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. This was a bit of a drive, and I didn’t really get any great pictures from the experience. It was, nonetheless, such an incredible place. I feel like national monuments are in general underrated, but this place is truly special. The rock formation is unique, the road is breathtaking, and the views are stunning. I really intend to return to this place someday and spend more time exploring what it has to offer.
To be continued, again…
On June 10th we left Bryce Canyon behind to move onto our third and final destination, Zion National Park.