Thursday, December 9, 2010

Thanksgiving in Utah - Day 2 in Bryce Canyon

After a great hike in Zion and a great Thanksgiving dinner just outside of the east entrance we slept like babies.  The Best Western at the turnoff to 9 turned out to be a great deal for 60 bux a night.  Rooms were perfect!  We got up early the next morning and hit the road for Bryce Canyon.  It isn't too much more than an hour or so to the north and the drive was quite nice.

Getting started at Bryce Canyon on the Peek-a-Boo Trail
We were greeted by single digit temps and thick snow all over the Bryce Canyon area.  It is much higher in elevation than Zion - 8000ft+ at the top vs. 5000ish around in Zion.  We decided to try the Peek-A-Boo trail which is a 5.5 mile loop through the heart of Bryce Canyon.  Like all of the hiking trails in Bryce Peek-A-Boo starts at the top of the canyon walls and descends drastically.  The thick snow made it a real challenge in a lot of areas.  Some of the unpacked snow was over knee deep and kept our pace pretty slow!  However the snow really made the area beautiful.  I had been here before so it was great to see the mars-ish terrain covered with white!  I wish we would have brought some skis - quite a few good opportunities for some downhill cross country action!


The hike was amazing.  I think my GPS said we lost and gained overall about 2000ft of elevation.  The rock formations and windows were just amazing.  If you haven't been there you have to visit!  The peek-a-boo trail was great!
Wall of Windows - Bryce Canyon
Just getting started but a great view of the canyon.

Sun rising through the hoo-doos

More great shots of the red walls in Bryce canyon

Great photo of the sun shining off the snow in Bryce

Name that rock...





Thick snow!

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