At last, a real day of adventure. We woke up to a very chilly morning and immediately had to move camp sites. Our new home was the camp's group site, which is designed for parties of seven or more. The site features a private bathroom, dish washing station with hot water, and about a bagillion picnic tables. We are unsure of why there were soanh tables but the hot water was a very nice addition. As far as non-hotel accomodations in Bryce Canyon go this has to be one of the best.
After our move and a hearty breakfast of french toast on the griddle, we packed up our children and headed out for our first hike in the canyon. Today's hike started at sunset point, took us down the two bridges trail, and eventually lead us to the peekaboo loop. We hiked a total of six miles, including the half mile our and back from our campsite to the trail head.
There are several challenges facing folks who want to hike at Bryce:
The elevation makes it very challenging to catch your breath. On steeper sections I found myself stopping often to let my respiratory and circulatory systems catch up.
There is a a lot of up and down. Just getting into the canyon is pretty lengthy endeavor.
The temperature changes a lot. The difference in temp between standing in the sun and being in the shade with a breeze seemed like it was close to 20 degrees. It was thought to find the right balance of warmth and breathability.
The peekaboo loop goes up and down within the canyon, and we got to see a lot of different rock formations. My geology knowledge is somewhat lacking, but it is safe to say that Bryce canyon has some very unique views. All of the hikes carry you right through the rock formations, so there is always something beautiful/interesting/stunning to look at.
We finished our hike with a long climb back out of the canyon. We were the only group that I saw carrying heavy packs, and many folks commended us. It was a grueling last mile, but made it.
Dean's dad owns a small plane and flew into the Bryce airport with his wife to join us for the weekend, although they didn't partake of the hiking. After a filling dinner to replenish our energy reserves we went to bed in preparation for our big hike tomorrow.
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