Tuesday 9 June

I'd arrived late the previous night and pretty much all I did was pitch my tent and go to sleep. The first thing I did in the morning was go to the visitors center to pick up maps and the like as I arrived so late the entrance station wasn't even open.

Scenic Drive

I then drove down to the end of the scenic drive and slowly drove back stopping at every overlook on the way, of which there was many. It was quickly obvious that I was going to like Bryce as I thought the rock formations were very cool. One overlook was of a rather cool arch althought the views from many of the others were as good.

The Figure 8

Most of the rest of the day was spent doing a hike, called "The Figure 8" because of its shape, that combined two different trails, and which was meant to be the best day hike in the park. It started by zig-zagging rather steeply down a deep and reaosnably narrow gulley which had a couple of rather tall trees growing at the bottom of it - it all looked a little bizzare if rather cool. Reaching the bottom I then started round a 3 mile loop that was shared with horses. Although I knew the whole hike had some 1700 feet of elevation gain this section went up and down a lot more than I expected and I found it quite sapping. I also had to give way for horse parties three times. Finishing the loop I then walked back via Queens Garden, so named because the rock was meant to look like Queen Victoria, not that I could see it. I eventually got back to my campsite and that was it for exploring for the day. The walk was throughly worth doing as I really enjoyed the scenery despite how tiring it was.

Wednesday 10 June

The plan for this day was to do enough longer walk (8 miles and more than 2000ft elevation gain) and then I wasn't sure what - it would depend how tired I was as all the days of walking were starting to take a toll.

Fairyland Trail

The trail I did was called the Fairyland Trail and was meant to be the next most worthwhile trail if you'd already done The Figure 8 as it viisted a completelty seperate part of the park. I'd agree that it wasn't as good as the previous day's walk but it was still well worth doing even if I did start to feel a bit ill on it - I think I'd pushed myself too much in the heat over the last few days. Highlights of this walk were the flowers and trees I saw and the odd looking bridge that was done a short spur trail towards the end of the main trail.

Red Canyon Visitors Centre

As I'd decided I'd had enough of long hikes for a while I went off and explored Red Canyon, part of Dixie National Forest, which was only a few miles away and which I'd driven past on the way to Bryce. From the visitors center I went for a short walk and was taken by the subtle differences from Bryce only a few miles away. There were also rock formations that actually looked liked what they were named after - including a rather cool camel.

Tunnel Trail, Red Canyon

I next took a short trail to an overlook over some wierd tunnels which the main road passed through - I still haven't worked out why the road didn't just go around the rock rather than through it. The viewpoint itself was a little disappointing as the tunnels were often a little obscured by trees. That was the end of my day exploring and the end of my time near Bryce as I was off to the Grand Canyon the next morning.