Bryce Canyon National Park
Personal Notes:
All Trails Trip
This page presents our personal notes on hiking and camping in Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah during our 2005 visit.
| Friday, August 19, 2005 | |
| Saturday, August 20, 2005 | |
| Sunday, August 21, 2005 |
Friday, August 19, 2005
North Campground
12:13 p.m.
We arrived in Bryce Canyon National Park and drove to the North Campground and found campsite 21 in loop A. It is clouding over, and the wet ground indicates that is must have rained earlier in the day. There are lots of tall pine trees in this campground, providing some good shade. Loops A and B are for trailers and RVs only. Loop C is for tents only.
At this time we have the trailer set up and we are still unpacking. The GPS Coordinates for our site are 37 38.310N; 112 10.092W; at an approximate elevation of 7,921 feet. We had reserved the site, so our fee for two nights came to $29.00.
12:59 p.m.
Site 21 is close to one of the park shuttle stops. From there the shuttle goes to the Visitor Center, which is within easy walking distance of the campground, across the main road, near the entrance station. Even though the road passes near the campground it is far enough away that the road noise is not much of a bother. The drinking water is across the A loop road. The restroom facility is farther away, up the hill. It has flush toilets and a gray water disposal sink, and electricity. The roads through the campground are asphalt.
Sunrise Point
After we got set up we ate some lunch, then walked up through the campground to the amphitheater and then over to the Rim Trail. From there we walked over to the General Store near Sunrise Point. They have some basic supplies and snacks, restrooms, pay showers, and a laundry.
Visitor Center
3:44 p.m.
From Sunrise Point we rode the shuttle over to the Visitor’s Center. We noted that there are quite a few Germans and a good number of French tourists at this time.
At the Visitor’s Center we looked around a bit, then asked a ranger about the Navajo Loop Trail. It is still closed and under repair from water damage earlier in the year. We had heavy snow and a lot of rain this past spring and apparently much of the upper portions of that trail have been washed away.
We walked back to the campground from the Visitor’s Center. We then started some coals and Anne prepared a good Dutch oven meal of pork steaks, onions, potatoes, and mushroom soup. We’ve had this before and it is very good, but makes a lot of food.
After dinner we started a fire and sat around watching it until about 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
6:59 a.m.
We got up at about 6:35 a.m. It is cold at about 40 degrees, and still dark, with the Sun just starting to come up over the trees to the east. We ate cold cereal for breakfast and then got ready for our day’s hike.
8:09 a.m.
We’re packed up and are just about ready to head up the trail. We will be doing the Fairyland Loop / Queens Garden / Peekaboo Loop Trails today.
Rim Trail
We hiked from our campsite, up through the campground, to a short connector trail that leads to the Rim Trail. From there we headed north along the Rim Trail toward the Fairyland Overlook and Trailhead. This portion of the trail has a bit of climbing, but nothing too serious. It can be rocky and slippery in a few places.
8:35 a.m.
Along the Rim Trail we spotted a pair of female mule deer crossing the trail. They watched us briefly, then bounded away like they had springs on their feet. It was fun to watch them bounce along through the tall grass.
Fairyland Loop Trail
9:05 a.m.
We reached the Fairyland Loop Trailhead. It is 2.37 miles from our campsite and 2.7 miles from here to Sunrise Point along the Rim Trail. The sky is clear. The GPS Coordinates for the trailhead are 37 38.948N; 112 08.849W; at an approximate elevation of 7,766 feet.
9:19 a.m.
We found that the upper part of the Fairyland Loop Trail is choppy and very wet in many areas. At this elevation the strata are composed of layers of silt and clay, which get quite mucky and produce a gooey paste that is slippery to walk on and sticks to boot cleats like they are magnetized. There is quite a bit of water damage along the trail. It is easy to see where the previous winter’s runoff has caused small slides and deep erosional cuts. The trail seems rougher than normal. Since we are headed down it is mostly a matter of maintaining balance, but if we were climbing up in this area the mud could be a real problem for tired legs.
9:55 a.m.
On one of our ascents I spotted a small, dark green garter snake about a foot long along the side of the trail.
Tower Bridge Trail
We came to the Tower Bridge Trail Junction at GPS Coordinates 37 38.004N; 112 08.761W; at an approximate elevation of 7,232 feet. We took the side trip to take a look. It is only about 200 feet off of the main trail. The Tower Bridge viewing area is at GPS coordinate 37 37.936N; 112 08.684W; at an approximate elevation of 7,189 feet. There is a stone bridge between two hoodoos and is interesting and worth the short side trip.
From there the trail seems to climb and climb and eventually it reaches the level of the Rim Trail once again and comes out just a short distance north of Sunrise Point.
Sunrise Point
11:23 a.m.
We made Sunrise Point. We’d hiked 8.01 miles in 2 hours and 50 minutes of moving time. So we averaged 2.8 mph walking time. So far we’ve had a total ascent of 1,577 feet. Our highest elevation over the 8 miles was 8,166 feet. The GPS Coordinates for the Fairyland Loop Trailhead at Sunrise Point are 37 37.796N; 112 09.788W; at an approximate elevation of 7,961 feet.
The GPS Coordinates for the General Store, near Sunrise Point, are 37 37.928N; 112 09.931W; at an approximate elevation of 7,951 feet.
We sat and relaxed on a shady bench and ate a snack of Tiger Milk bars. Then we changed our socks and walked over to the General Store to use the restrooms. Then we climbed up to Sunrise Point and took the Queens Garden Trail back down into the canyon.
Queens Garden Trail
The Queens Garden Trailhead near Sunrise Point is at GPS Coordinates 37 37.699N; 112 09.773W; at an approximate elevation of 7,983 feet. It starts down a steep slope with lots of loose rock and lots of tourists. Of course there are great views of the canyon below and the various hoodoos.
The Horse Trail
Eventually we came to the junction with the Horse Trail. We took that and left most of the tourists behind. They tend to head toward Queen’s Garden, which is only a short distance further on. Eventually the Horse Trail meets the north junction of the Peekaboo Loop Trail at GPS Coordinates 37 37.057N; 112 09.503W; at an approximate elevation of 7,427 feet. The Horse Trail has deep ruts from the horse's hooves and is pretty crumbly or dusty in other areas.
Peekaboo Loop Trail
We crossed the base of the canyon and then climbed up the west side of the Peekaboo Loop. This portion of the trail gets steep in several places and seems to go on and on. It passes through a man-made tunnel and then descends on the other side down a series of tight switchbacks.
1:17 p.m.
At the tunnel of the Peekaboo Loop we were just shy of 11 miles.We stopped here to put new batteries into the GPS and to take a drink. At one point past the tunnel the trail passes along the base of the Wall of Windows, a spectacular erosional feature with several natural windows.
Then the trail climbs again and eventually passes the horse corral and some restrooms. Shortly after that the trail meets the southern junction of the Peekaboo Loop. The south junction of the Peekaboo Loop Trail (with the trail up to Bryce Point (1 mile)) is at GPS Coordinates 37 36.456N; 112 09.536W; at an approximate elevation of 7,695 feet.
From here there is a one mile trail that leads up to Bryce Point. Or, there is the trail down the east side of the loop. We took the eastern portion of the Peekaboo Loop and descended quite a ways before we had to climb again. We stopped in a shady alcove to get some rest and cool down and met a nice couple from upstate New York. Then, as we continued, we met several groups of horses, just before we climbed up and over another ridge and then down to the northern junction of the loop trail.
Navajo Loop Trail
From there we headed across a connector trail to a junction with the closed Navajo Loop Trail. This junction, below Wall Street, is at GPS Coordinates 37 37.077N; 112 09.729W; at an approximate elevation of 7,465 feet. There are nice benches in this area, so we again took a short rest before heading on toward the Queen’s Garden once again.
Queen's Garden
The Queen’s Garden area is very popular and so we encountered many, many tourists in this area. There is no hope of finding solitude in this portion of the park. We climbed steadily up and worked our way back to the top.
3:25 p.m.
We are back at Sunrise Point. Our GPS stopped down in the Queen’s Garden (drained battery), so we don’t have an absolute mileage, but we estimate that by the time we return to camp we will have hiked 15.5 miles round trip.
4:03 p.m.
We are back in camp. We estimate that we had about 3,400 feet in elevation gains. We are very tired. Our average hiking speed over the entire trail was 2.7 mph. We were gone from camp for just under 8 hours, but that includes a long break of about 45 minutes at Sunrise Point between the Fairyland Loop and the rest of the hike, and then our break at the General Store after we finished the main part of the hike, and a couple of brief rest stops along the way. So our actual hiking time was probably about 6 hours.
General Store
5:35 p.m.
After resting a few minutes (after our 15.5 mile hike) and snacking, we drove back to the General Store and took showers. The showers cost 8 quarters for 10 minutes. But there was no hot water on this day due to some sort of maintenance problem. So we took cold showers. They were pretty chilly, but still felt good. At this time it is raining lightly, so I'm going to take a nap.
On the way out of the campground we spotted a small horned toad scooting across the road. It was fat and round and mostly gray.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
7:40 a.m.
We slept in a bit this morning. It was cold and we didn’t want to get out of the warm covers. The air temp is 43. Anne made us some eggs and bacon for breakfast, then we started packing up.
10:52 a.m.
Checkout time is 11:30 a.m. We are packed and heading out of the campground. We dropped off our trash in the containers near the entrance to the campground, and we’re heading home. It’s a warm, sunny day, with a few clouds on the horizon. There may be some afternoon showers.
