Sunday, September 11, 2016

Road Trip - Bryce Canyon National Park

Day 10: We departed Las Vegas for Kanab in Utah (located just north of the Arizona state line) on 11th September 2016. We stocked up on food supplies at Sprouts Supermarket in Las Vegas before our 320 kilometer journey.

We chose to stay in Kanab because it's centrally located in between Zion, Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon (North Rim) National Park also known as the "Grand Circle" area

Apparently Kanab was a popular filming location for Western movies and TV series such as The Lone Rangers, Planet of the Apes, El Dorado, Daniel Boone and many more.

We arrived at our airbnb accommodation that night. We were glad we had the nicest room in the house which was located at the end of the hall as the other rooms had windows that face the walkway. We spent $250 SGD for 4 nights which we thought was reasonable for the location.

Our accommodation in Kanab
Day 11: The next morning, we drove to Bryce Canyon National Park which was about 1½ hours (120 km) drive away.

The main feature of this park is the collection of giant natural amphitheaters and its not a Canyon at all.
 
"To encourage visitors to stay healthy while having fun, Bryce Canyon National Park has developed a new activity called "Hike the Hoodoos!" Part hike, part scavenger hunt, visitors must hike at least 3 miles on specially-marked trails and find "Hike the Hoodoos" benchmark survey markers along the way.

Visitors may either obtain rubbings of the benchmarks, or take pictures of themselves with the benchmarks, to prove they hiked the required distance. Upon showing their rubbings or photos to the visitor center ranger, they are then presented with a special reward."

We found 4 out of the 9 "Hike the Hoodoos" benchmarks, sadly by the time we got back to Sunset Point, it was too late to redeem the special reward. 


We hiked from Sunset Point -> Rim Trail -> Sunrise Point -> Queens Garden Trail -> Peekaboo Loop Trail -> Navajo Trail -> Wall Street Trail -> Sunset Point. It was a mixture of easy to moderate to strenuous hikes. 

According to the Health app on my phone, we walked 21,836 steps and climbed 102 flights (a flight of stairs is counted as approximately 3 meters of elevation gain (approximately 16 steps). It's no wonder I was running on empty at the end of the day.

Bryce is so picturesque we couldn't stop taking photos.
 

Sunset Point - Rim Trail & Sunset Point to Sunrise Point Trail is paved and fairly level. There are 4 main view points on this trail. (1 mi/1.6 km round trip).

Posing with my Osprey Daylite Daypack 💓!
Of course the view is awesome too!

Queens Garden - This is the least difficult trail into the canyon. (1.8 mi/2.9 km round trip)


Navajo Loop - "The Navajo Loop begins at Sunset Point and goes down into Bryce Amphitheater through a “slot” canyon where large Douglas Fir trees are stretching to reach sunlight high above." (1.3 mi / 2.2 km round trip).


Peekaboo Loop - is a steep but spectacular hike through the heart of Bryce Amphitheater. This trail is shared with horse/mule rides and we are advised to give the right-of-way to these animals. We didn't see any of them during our hike though. (5.5 mi/8.8 km round trip).

Alex and his orange hat

Wall of Windows - a steep zig zag trail up the hill that leads back to Sunset Point.

Having fun with our shadows
Can you see me?

We really made the most of our day here in Bryce Canyon and enjoyed every bit of it. Definitely worth all the uphill climbs and sore legs. 😊


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