Adventures / Fun Times / Hiking / Nature / Photography

Maps are Overrated-Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

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There have been many, many good things that have happened in 2020 (surprise!) One of them is the fact we have been able to explore more of the United States. I have been so focused on international travel, I had forgotten how many truly beautiful places there are in the US. Our national parks for instance. Good lord, they are some of the most stunning places in the world. And don’t worry, we have been doing it safely with masks, avoiding crowds as much as humanly possible and either camping or staying in remote places.

On a recent Lake Powell and North Rim Grand Canyon tour, we were able to experience Bryce Canyon in all it’s glory.

It was pretty packed when we got there….and took a while to find a parking spot near the Fairyland trailhead. This particular hike is about an 8 mile loop and is supposed to be less crowded then the Navajo or Peek-a-Boo trails. Naturally, this was the top pick for our Bryce adventure.

So, we took a look at the stationary park map near the General Store and started on our trek to the main trailhead. 20 minutes later (and A LOT of “are we close to the trailhead yet?” comments from Sean), we stopped for a bio break. I happened to pull out the paper map from the visitor center and realized we were going the wrong way. OOPS – had to improvise quickly or I’d be in trouble. Let me just say, this is one of the easiest national parks to navigate and somehow I managed to take us down the wrong path.

The first time you see Bryce Canyon, your eyes nearly pop out of your head at its gorgeousness. As you continue along the rim, the scenery doesn’t change all that much and you start to wonder what all the hoopla is about and take it all for granted (at least I did). THEN, you start to descend into the middle of these crazy hoodoos and instantly, you fall in love (at least I did).

We ended up walking along a chunk of the Rim Trail to the Bryce Overlook, down to the Peek-a-Boo Loop and up Wallstreet (part of the Navajo Loop). It was about an 8 mile diversion and was exactly what I was trying to avoid!!

However….

Words cannot express how much stinkin’ fun this mishap was for us. I am grateful to have poor map reading skills as it afforded all of these beautiful views. It was an incredible feeling to be right in the middle of it all.

The weather that day was lovely – a nice breeze kept us fairly comfortable. I can imagine this place would be crazy hot in the middle of the summer.

Some day, I will go back and hike the Fairyland Loop, I do hear it is amazing….maybe in winter? We’ll see. In the meantime, enjoy our experience through my lens. (You’re welcome :-))

“In wilderness is the preservation of the world.” – Henry David Thoreau

…i choose this…

Pam

87 comments

  8. Oh darn, I was hoping you’d share images of the Fairyland Trail. We managed to do the Navajo loop which was amazing and I was hoping to hike Fairyland but ran out of time. Seems I say “next time” a lot. 😀 Bryce Canyon NP is a sight to behold and photographs never do it justice. Love that place!

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      1. When we were there in April of ’16, it snowed. I loved the white against the red rock. However, when those trails are wet, it’s slick thick mud making for an unpleasant and potentially dangerous hike.

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  10. About 5 years ago I did a dawn run of the Fairlyland trail and had it pretty much to myself. There is far prettier hiking at Bryce. No one in my family was up for the distance and I wanted to see it so I got up early and saw it.

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  12. Hi Pam, I am afraid domestic travel will be our choice until mid 2021, and that is good in a way. As you wrote in your post there are so many places in our Countries that we usually neglect in favour of international travels. And this is a good time to explore..then whentravel abroad will be safe again we will re start exploring the world. I have to Bryce Canyon long ago, in 2006, and I do still remember it as one of the most amazing places I have ever seen in my life, thus, if you like the it’s feature I would suggest you to come to Italy, on the Dolomites, and go visit the so called “Earth Pyramids”. It’s very similar to Bryce, but on a much smaller scale

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    1. Exploring close to home is a good thing. I think it allows us to appreciate what we have. I’m glad you loved it here too. Italy is ALWAYS a favorite for us. I have been to the Dolomites, but not this place u mention. I’ll just have to go back 😀

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  14. Looks like an amazing landscape and a beautiful walk. (Just a minor point, but I was hoping to click on a photo and view the pics ‘full size’, one by one, in a gallery. Was that meant to be, or have I missed something? Great images need to be viewed as big as possible! 😉)

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      1. If you are using the new Editor, then each ‘block’ (new paragraph) has its own setting. Normally it’s text but you can choose from a whole range of options – one of which is ‘Tiled gallery’ (there may be other galleries but I prefer the tiled one). You may need to page down the list (or drag the side-bar), but you can’t miss it as there’s a small image with 4 rectangles with the words beneath. You then prompted to upload your photos (selecting them from your computer or media) and, although it may take some time depending on your line speed, the gallery is created. The post Preview will prove that it worked or not. (You can email me if you need screenshots or try Google or the WP Help which is generally very good). Anyway, good luck. 😊

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  18. I misread your title and thought it said “Masks are Overrated– Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.” I started reading and nothing made sense. Honestly, I need a vacation. Perhaps to Bryce Canyon National Park? Lovely photos, the colors– oh yes, the colors…

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  20. Great photos of a beautiful place, Pam. One of the fun things about Bryce is that you never can get Truly lost. Just follow a trail up and you will be back at the road. This doesn’t necessarily mean you will be close to your car, however. 🙂 –Curt

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    1. Thanks Curt! I thought it was pretty hard to get lost as well, but just heard something to the contrary 😳. Just got back from Bend, took a bunch of drives to get acquainted with the area. 💕

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      1. I am sure there plenty of box canyons to wander into. 🙂 How was Bend? Did you make it up to Three Sisters? Much to see and do in Eastern Oregon and excellent backpacking up in the Cascades. –Curt

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  21. Now that I see what you did, I think we made the same mistake! We definitely did that same hike you did, but I vaguely recall that it wasn’t exactly what we set out to do. I even started panting with thirst as I looked at a few of your photos – it was sooooo hot and dry when we were there, and a few of the turns look totally familiar. Glad you didn’t get TOO lost; the relative of an old friend just got lost in there a week or so ago and was rescued two days later in rough condition!

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  26. I remember being absolutely stunned speechless by Bryce Canyon’s beauty when I got there in … 2001 !!!
    Your pictures are amazing; walking by the hoodoos is something I didn’t do then, it looks so incredible.
    Funny how you always end up in crazy adventures, showing off your poor map reading skills when you should have learned by now! 😉 I’m starting to wonder if you’d rather do it on purpose, just because you know you’ll end up living another fantastic unexpected adventure!

    Thanks for the ride, anyway!
    xoxoxo

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    1. Thanks lady! I CANNOT for the life of me, read a dang map. What the hell?? haha. The unexpected adventures are usually the most fun that’s for sure. I’ll be thinking about you this coming month. Just grateful you are not in full on isolation like you were in Paris.

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  27. Love Bryce. I had that same feeling the first time I went there. I wondered what all the fuss was about and then I got to the rim. I often wonder what European settlers and pre-European Native People thought the first time they happened upon Bryce. I’m guessing their reactions were just as filled with awe as ours are today.

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  29. hey pam – your words and photos show the beauty of this place – and another example of happy accidents or mishaps –
    🙂
    oh such a beautiful place – and glad you are able to highlight these parks right here int he good ol USA – we have been exploring some in the country places too – but sticking to the east coast – 🙂

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      1. Hi! Glad to
        Connect again- I was super busy from feb thru august – lol – I think I was one of the few folks who overworked during the height of the pandemic – but I had projects going – remote work – house stuff – and then once distant rescue was allowed – squeezed in a family trio to see my mother / who thankfully is healthy!
        All that to say I had a restorative month in October and now have some time to pour into blogging a little – and whew! Missed so many of the connections –
        Ok – good day to you and TTys

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        1. Totally get it. This summer was a beat down at work as well so I am WAY behind on reading others posts and connecting. Glad your mom is ok! Cheers to a good October! Thank goodness for the restorative days 😊

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  30. You absolutely can’t go wrong with any trail at Bryce. They are all gorgeous. Having said that, we LOVED the Fairyland loop. It felt like we were in a different world and it was so peaceful. I couldn’t agree more with you Pam about the joys of discovering our own countries. And yes, you guys should be very proud of your national parks. They are awesome!

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    1. I am glad you got to see it! I assumed it would have been way less crowded. Next time for sure. Canada is pretty sweet, dying to get up there and do some backpacking and river rafting. Maybe 2022? I sure hope so. Bracing myself for another shutdown here…ran out and stocked up on TP. Lol

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  31. Wonderful scenery! I would really like to revisit Bryce Canyon. We were there towards the end of our Arizona/Utah road trip and we were running out of time to get back to Vegas for our flight home, so we only had time to admire it from the rim 😦

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      1. Never been to the USA … but on our first Camino journey in Spain we’ve walked with a dear pilgrim friend from Maryland and he also told us about the beauty of the national parks in your country. If this virus can just sort itself out … we could maybe come and see for ourselves 😏

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