Wild-West Road-Trip: Bryce Canyon

I’m going to say that Bryce Canyon was a little disappointing. It’s still a beautiful place, and we still enjoyed seeing the things that we could see, but I think there were several factors that made it difficult for us to love it the same way that we loved Arches and Canyonlands.

First, parking is very limited inside the protected area, but they do have a shuttle. The shuttle, however, does not travel to the furthest extent of the park. We did take a short hike from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point, but Adelyn threw a huge fit at the top of the trail and some guy actually had the nerve to ask me to “take my crying away from the people.” I almost destroyed that guy, but I managed to hold it together.

The kids did manage to complete the Junior Ranger program at the park, and they did receive their badges, so I still feel like it was a good experience. I’m really glad that they’re getting the chance to learn about these parks and how to preserve them for future generations.

Here's a picture (above) of Hector, the ranger, speaking to us about the formations in the park. The pic below is of Owen completing his junior-ranger workbook.

Second, the main hikes in Bryce Canyon, which is really an amphitheater and not a canyon at all, are all on the rim of the park. There are lots of trails, though, that lead into the lower interior. The only issue with those trails is that they don’t all loop around and you’re forced to return through the same path, albeit uphill.

Third, the main part of the city outside of the park is really touristy. I think that almost all of the land and the businesses in the area are owned by the same people. I don’t know about everyone, but I was hoping for something a little more authentic. On the brighter side, the food at the lodge was very good.

Fourth, we were supposed to see a real live rodeo, tonight. I was actually really excited about that because I’d never seen a bona-fide western rodeo. I really wanted to bring back some pictures of brave cowboys lassoing the livestock and getting thrown into the air by a few broncos. Unfortunately, July 5th is a difficult day to attract enough contenders and they cancelled the event.

In lieu of the rodeo, I did walk around and look for interesting things to photograph. I saw some deer, some horses, another amazing sunset, and a totally random picture of the moon. When I got back to the RV, I was pretty tired and all of the kids sere watching movies.

Anyway, my takeaway from today is that not everything can or ever will go as planned. There will always be missed opportunities and times when you just have to be thankful for what has worked and what has gone well. There may not always be a tomorrow, after all, we leave Bryce Canyon in the morning and I’ll probably never hike into the lower interior of the park. But don’t let that stop you from getting excited about what might be possible.

(one more pic from tonight, just because)

Thanks for reading this blog and for all of you support! Tomorrow, we travel to Zion National Park, and I hear there’s a pretty good brewery in town. I’m already excited about that, so till then, take care!

- Wayne