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.
