05/25/01:
A couple of hours driving brought me to Bryce Canyon National Park around 9am. I didn't see many free camping opportunities on UT 12 before the park, nor did I find any on UT 12 after it. UT 63 north appears to be BLM land. 4-5 miles north I did find some trees and some camping spots. The whole area outside the park is a huge plateau at 8000 feet stretching for miles in three directions.
Like Zion National Park, the recommendation is to use the free shuttle because of severe traffic congestion. So I parked 3 miles from the park entrance and took the Blue Line in to the visitor center. At 10am there wasn't a parking space anywhere. I didn't even bother going into the visitor center knowing it would be a wall of people.
Instead I waited for the Red Line which runs every 10-15 minutes. It only stops at four scenic locations, Sunrise Point, Sunset Point, Inspiration Point and Bryce Point. What make Bryce Canyon National Park unique is the abundance of hoodoos. Hoowhats? Yup. A hoodoo is a very tall spire or column, rising a hundred or more feet in the air. All of the scenic views look down on valley and canyon floors where hundreds and hundreds of these spires rise, presenting a wonderful sight.
Sunset Point was the first stop. After clicking off a number of pictures of the hoodoos, I started down the 1.3 mile Navajo Loop Trail. This started off with an immediate 500 foot descent along sharp switchbacks. The real obstacle was all of the photographers with their tripods and other gear strewn all over the path. The bottom of the switchbacks is a slot canyon. This is a very narrow, very tall canyon and, in this case, with some huge Douglas firs growing where they could find adequate sunlight. The trail then began winding its way back up with close up views of many of the hoodoos that were so awesome from above.
Bryce Point and Inspiration Point were more of the same with Sunrise Point a disappointment after the beauty of the other overlooks. Back on the Blue Line on the way out of the park I jumped off at Fairyland Point. It may well have been the best of the lot with hoodoos and other rock formations much closer than the other points.
The Green Line only runs 3 times a day and requires reservations. It visits a number of overlooks down a different road than the Red Line. I think tomorrow, I'll be at the gate at 8am and try to do views the Red Line skipped before everyone gets started. Saturday on Memorial Day weekend will be a killer.
05/26/01:
Temperatures in the 50's with a 10-15 mph wind blowing as I entered the park at 7:30am. I wanted to get an early start before the crowds got moving. The Green Line tour is 15 miles to Rainbow Point. Farview Point, Natural Bridge, Aqua Canyon and Black Birch Canyon are the main view points along the way with several additional turnouts.
The views along the Green Line are not as panoramic as those on the Red Line route although every bit as spectacular. The trip only took 1.5-2.0 hours so I stopped at Paria View on the way back. This is one of the better views in the park. By this time the cars were just pouring into the park.
05/27/01 Hiking Rim Trail:
I arrived at Fairyland Point at 7:30am while it was still nice and cool in the 60's. The general plan was to hike 5.5 miles along the Rim Trail to Bryce Point and then, if I felt like it, to hike back.
The first leg, from Fairyland Point to Sunrise Point is 2.5 miles. I didn't see a soul along this stretch but did see a mule deer buck with short, thick, velvety antlers. The scenery is excellent, every bit as good as the standard viewpoints. I'm sure I took almost as many pictures along the Rim Trail as I did at the various viewpoints.
The leg to Sunset Point is .5 miles as the leg to Inspiration Point. As expected, more people were out on these shorter stretches than on the longer ones. Inspiration Point has the steepest and the longest stretch on the trail. The last leg to Bryce Point is 1.5 miles.
I was getting tired since I hadn't been hiking at 8000 feet and found a nice shady spot overlooking tons of hoodoos. I had every intention of taking a nap but looked down and saw a bunch of fire ants crawling on me. That killed that nap. I got to Bryce Point at 10:30am. Instead of hiking back I grabbed he shuttle, stopped off for a shower and took it easy the rest of the day.