April 27…. Hiking!

Yes, I know. I walk, I don’t hike. Well, today it all changed and I actually hiked.

Bryce Canyon N.P. Yesterday, we stopped at an overlook, looking down into the canyon, a bird’s eye view of all of the hoodoos (the eroded rock spires that make this place famous). As we looked down, I could see a trail winding in and out of all the formations, and all I could think was “I want to go down there!”

Today, we went down there.

The trail we picked, after speaking with a ranger, was a 1.1 mile descent into the canyon, then a 3.1 mile loop trail, and 1.1 back up. Wellll, it’s not the miles that kill, it’s the ups and downs. What goes down, must come back up. ☹️. “Only” a 600 foot drop to the canyon base (and 600 feet back up), this seemed very doable.

Wellll, they neglected to mention that while there was an overall 600 ft. elevation difference, the loop trail below went up and down. And up and down. And up and down. Over and over. I think we covered that 600 ft elevation a dozen times in just under two miles.

Part way through the lower loop, there was a side trail, leading to another trail, which lead back to the cliff top. We took it. Saved us about a mile off our original route, and we still covered a bit over four miles. But we still had to climb that final 600 ft up the cliff wall. Step after step, switchback after switchback. We hiked.