Day 74, We do Hoodoos

We woke this morning to 34 degrees. Since we didn't need to travel today, we spent some extra time just snuggled down and taking care of things like cancelling having our mail that's being forwarded to Colleen, since we plan to be home next week.

Like most National Parks we have visited, parking at the attractions and trailheads is limited. Bryce Canyon has a free shuttle (assuming you have paid for park entrance fees). One of the stops on the loop comes right to our campground, Ruby's RV Park. We took advantage of the shuttle yesterday but today, we wanted to go farther into the park. There is an 18-mile Scenic Drive. Since all the viewpoints are on the returning side of the road, they recommend you drive all the way out and stop at the turnouts and hikes on the way back.

We did that and used the National Parks Service app to learn more about what we were seeing at each stop and to decide which hikes to take. It is amazing how we noticed so many different things from different perspectives. Here are (more than) a few pictures taken from the 13 stops:








One of the things I really appreciate are the number of wide, paved trails and railings. It makes it so much easier for me to enjoy the scenery.

That said, there is a trail we would like to do of we ever get back. The day was so packed with other short hikes that we ran out of time to  consider the Queen's Garden Trail to Navajo Loop, which we are told is pretty great. There's also a paved multi use trail that runs from our campground into the park.  

The park had suffered a few forest fires in recent years. They were started by lightening strikes but burned so not that they sterilized the soil so regrowth has been slow. We saw rangers making piles of forest debris. They will be control burned once there is snow on the ground.


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