Bryce Canyon (Part 2 - Hoodoo Views)

     Our first day at Bryce Canyon National Park continued with our drive north through the park, stopping at more overlooks. Our next stop was at Inspiration Point for what was another great view of the Bryce Amphitheater.

Inspiration Point view of the Bryce Amphitheater

Looking southeast with Bryce Point at the top left.

     We made it up to Sunrise Point by lunch time. There is a General Store nearby which had all the essentials inside at a reasonable price. We grabbed some ice cream sandwiches to go with the lunches we had packed, and bought a hat for Shannon. This morning she realized she didn't have a hat for 28-degree nights so we grabbed her a nice one from the store. It kept her warm the rest of the trip and also was a nice memento to take home.

Start of the Queens Garden Trail at Sunrise Point

View from Sunrise Point

Opposite view from Sunrise Point

     After a quick stop at the Visitor's Center, we hit up Fairyland Point and then drove out of the park and down UT-12 toward the town of Tropic. It was downhill the whole way and took us back into the park on the northeast side. I had the road bike in the car, so I was instantly planning to ride back if we had the daylight left. First, we had another short hike planned. We parked along UT-12 and hiked the Mossy Cave Trail. The trail takes you along a stream in Water Canyon, which is man-made, dug to take water down to Tropic. It was another short hike of about a mile round trip. There was a waterfall along the way and the trail ended at Mossy Cave, which is not really a cave, but more of a wet, mossy overhang.

Fairyland Point

On the Mossy Cave Trail

Water Canyon stream

Shannon has me smelling trees now. Found some sweet butterscotch and vanilla trees in Water Canyon.

Water Canyon Waterfall

Video: Water Canyon at the waterfall

Mossy Cave

Plenty of green moss in this grotto

     After the hike, we drove the rest of the way to Tropic, where I hopped on the road bike and climbed back to Bryce. The climb was 5.7 miles long and gained about 1,300 feet in elevation. It wasn't the toughest climb I have ever done, but it was great to be riding my road bike up onto a massive plateau inside Bryce Canyon National Park.

Heading up out of Tropic

Climbing in Bryce Canyon National Park

Climbing the Paunsaugunt Plateau

The top is just ahead

      I still had a few minutes before dark so I rode past the campground and into the park on the paved bike trail. Like the shuttle, the paved bike trail only covers the north end of the park, ending at Inspiration Point. You have to ride the road to get to the south end of the park. The paved path was nice as it stayed away from the main road and was empty for the most part. I went all the way to Inspiration Point and saw the moon hanging up above the amphitheater. I was greatly disappointed to not have a camera or phone on me to get some great moon pictures. The path was gradually climbing all the way to Inspiration, so I had a fast descent back to the campground in the dim light. There were lots of curves as I descended which were really fun on an empty, narrow bike path. I just had to watch for deer as I bombed through the woods. It was an awesome way to end a great first day at Bryce and gave me some ideas for the following day.

     More from Bryce in the next post as we hiked down into the hoodoos.