Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Bryce Canyon

After seeing Salt Lake City and having to prove myself for a drink (I was 35 at the time) it was time to head south to see some National Parks.  Bryce Canyon was our first stop.  If you havne't been following me for a while you should know, I have a fear of hiking downhill.  It's been near paralyzing at times.

With that, we arrived at Bryce Canyon in the afternoon and were given 2 hours to explore.  We were given the choice of a couple different trails and although I was hesitant I took the longer hike.  Oh, not only do I have a fear of hiking downhill, I was also in terrible shape having had bone taken from my right leg 3 months before for a bone graft. But then, nothing like a little exercise to get your body back. 

The hike actually only took an hour and 15 minutes and I did manage to hike down without killing myself.  The hike up however... it was strenuous.  As in, switchbacks like I haven't seen since I was in Norway going to Geringer Fjord, except instead of riding in a bus I was walking it.  Ugh, I thought I was going to die.  Ok, maybe it wasn't that bad, but I was hurting at the end. And my shoes were coated in a lovely layer orange dust. This is one of those place I would suggest bringing your old shoes too.

It was worth it though, Bryce Canyon is beautiful.  The colors are fabulous, I'm sure it helped that we had a bright sunny day to contrast with the deep earthy browns and oranges of Bryce.  The formations of the hoodoos make the landscape unique from all of the other National Parks I have visited.  And as much as the hike sucked, it was also fun, there were a lot of quirky formations there, the kind of things a writer could make an interesting story out of.