Bryce Canyon June 1st

On Sunday June 1st we moved to Bryce Canyon. We had originally planned to be here for three nights but we have been having Refrigerator issues and I have scheduled a repair job at St George, Utah for Monday 6/2. It didn't happen, Today is June 3rd and we have been here in St George for two days waiting for the parts that were supposed to be here on Monday. Hopefully we will get our repairs tomorrow and move on to Las Vegas on Thursday. Mark and Kathie stayed in Bryce Canyon for the three days and hopefully had a great visit. We will meet them in Las Vegas.

Our ride from Torrey to Bryce was beautiful but unbelievably wild. Highway 12 is a Scenic Byway that goes through what is called the Grand Staircase-Escalante. This is a series of canyons that step down giant valley to giant valley. It is magnificent. The road is very windy and narrow and at one point we were driving on a ridge that was slightly wider than a two lane road, with no guardrails and drops of 600 to 1000 feet on each side. Needless to say I saw very little of the beautiful scenery due to the fact that
my eyes were glued to the road. Eileen who has a fear of heights was taking pictures at the same time that she was helping me drive. We stopped shortly after crossing this ridge to take a deep breath and stop the shaking of our hands.
Although Eileen did take many pictures you can't get the depth perception from the top of the ridge. Just another gorgeous part of this beautiful state.

I came to Bryce this one day to walk in the Hoodoos. These are formations of tall spires of red sandstone that have been eroded over millions of years. These are the formations that make Bryce Canyon what it is. Eileen stayed in the Bus due to her altitude sickness, but Kathie, Mark, and I did a 2.9 mile hike down about 400 feet into the canyon on a portion of the Navajo Loop trail returning to the top on the Queens Garden Trail. We were all sucking for air when we got back to the top but the experience was everything that I had hoped it would be. I had been thinking about doing this hike ever since 2008 when I passed it up. I sure hope my pictures will give you some idea of the beauty.

                             The Ride to Bryce!

                                                                  

       No pictures of the ridge ride on the Grand Staircase because our eyes were closed!

                                Bryce Canyon NP!!

                                                   The beauty speaks for itself.

                                                         

Kathie and Mark!

 

 

This is Queens Garden!

 

The trail looped to Queens Garden we had to go another way!

Pine nuts!

 

This is where we started. About a half a mile away on the rim!

 

 

The HOODOO's from Bryce Point!!

                                                                       This is incredible!!