Week 99: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
Bryce on Ice is Twice as Nice!
Hello, hello, and welcome back to another weekly update. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 99 weeks since we sold our house to travel full time in an AEONrv we’ve named Henry — I feel like we’re just getting started. I’m trying to think of something fun to celebrate in next week’s post — stay tuned — or drop me a comment and let me know if you have anything you’d like to see.
We spent this week at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah — and it was amazing! Don’t believe those bad reviews — like this one in Subpar Parks:
If you haven’t heard of Subpar Parks you’re in for a hilarious treat! Amber is too funny and I love her art. She has a book out and another on the way. I crack up every time I see her posts — in her words: “Real one-star reviews of national parks, turned into art”!
Now let’s see what we’ve been up to!
Sunset at Sunset Point
Monday we took it easy in camp and then hiked over to Sunset Point to watch — yep, you guessed it — the sunset.
We wondered why it was called Sunset Point because it doesn’t face west…and it turns out it’s so that you can watch the shadows slowly make their way over the amphitheater. Tricksies! No sunset for us.
Even though we didn’t see the sunset, it was still neat watching the light change across the hoodoos:
After hiking back to camp we set our alarm for 4:44 am and went to bed early because we had big plans to go…
Searching for a Comet and Watching the Sunrise at Sunrise Point
Tuesday the alarm jarred us awake.
It was 20 degrees and pitch dark when we bundled up, grabbed our packs and binoculars, and put on our headlamps to hike from the campground over to the canyon and search for Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS).
The comet was supposed to be visible near the horizon in the east, but the clouds blocked our view, darn. We worked our way along the canyon rim looking for a better vantage point but just couldn’t spot it.
I was glad that I made us each a tea in our travel mugs because standing around looking for a comet in 20 degree weather is cold work! Brrr.
We kept hoping that the clouds would break up before sunrise, but no joy.
We did get to watch a glorious sunrise, tho!
I always tell J that the best color is right before dawn — and it held true here at Bryce Canyon, too:
I couldn’t stop taking photos! (Longtime readers probably aren’t surprised.)
I kept changing my viewpoint and watching the ever-changing light.
The actual sunrise itself was kinda boring:
The glints of orange light on the hoodoos as the first rays of the sun hit them was so incredible:
Then we hiked back to camp, had a big ole breakfast of oatmeal with blueberries — and another tea — and took a nap.
What a way to start the day!
“I Hiked the Hoodoos” Challenge
While we were at Bryce we took the “Hike the Hoodoos” Challenge — it was so fun! The challenge is to find special medallions embedded on signs while you’re hiking and either take a selfie with them or do a rubbing — I opted for a doing a rubbing — of course — just so I could use my magic pencil. (Note for my fellow art gear enthusiasts out there: I take this wooden version of the magic pencil out hiking, and keep this mechanical version in my Art Toolkit since it’s a heavy beast, ha!)
I made a little ‘zine to do the rubbings and when I took it to the Visitor Center to show the ranger and claim my reward she said it was the most creative way to do it she ever saw! She even knew what a zine was — that totally made my day.
I can’t wait to put my sticker on my next sketchbook. Woo hoo!
Back to Rainbow Point
What do you do when your camp spot is in the shade of tall Ponderosa pines and you don’t get enough sun to keep your batteries topped off with your power use? Go for a drive and turn on alternator charging!
That’s what we did on Saturday when we drove back out to Rainbow Point (catch up on our time there last week here if you missed it). We were also able to get a parking spot in the sun so that we could charge the batteries while we went hiking.
Hiking the Riggs Springs Trail to a Promontory
We were both feeling a little under the weather so we decided to hike the strenuous 8.8 mile Riggs Springs Trail as far as we wanted and then turn around and hike back. No pressure — just stretching our legs and having fun.
The hike started off through a burn scar from the Riggs and Lonely fires in 2018. The weather forecast only had a 20% chance of rain, but we kept a close eye on the sky — and an eye out for any trees that might blow down.
Here’s a bit about the fires from the park website:
Both the Riggs and Lonely Fires were started by lightning strikes – the Riggs Fire on August 25, 2018, and the Lonely Fire on September 6 of the same year. Both of these fires originally started on Dixie National Forest land, and eventually merged into one large fire in mid-September. The area in which the fires were burning hadn’t been impacted by fire for many years, so fire managers decided to let them burn naturally to reduce the buildup of fire fuel brought on by fire suppression. At one point, however, the fire began to spread up into the park towards the parking lot by Rainbow Point, which would threaten both visitors and historic buildings like the restrooms on the south side of the parking lot. As a result, fire managers decided to implement a backburn off of the Bristlecone Loop trail.
The fire was patchy in some areas, while in others there weren’t many trees left at all.
Hiking through a burned area can both be sad and hopeful all at the same time. It’s sad to see all the trees that were burned and knowing that the forest won’t recover in our lifetime. But it’s also hopeful seeing young saplings coming up and new growth.
We also saw mountain bluebirds, chickadees, and robins.
We stopped for lunch at a promontory — and of course that’s when the wind started kicking up, ha!
I did a quick sketch of the hoodoos, but the wind was too cold to add watercolor. Brrrrr!
We decided to head back down the trail and then over to the Bristlecone Loop to see the famous pines again.
Visiting the Bristlecone Pines Again
We noticed way more Bristlecone Pines this time versus last.
I guess we learned to spot them better!
Paria View
On the way back to camp we stopped at several of the overlooks, and then Paria View since we hadn’t been there yet. There were some really dramatic clouds!
I thought for sure we were going to get some form of precipitation — either rain or snow — but we didn’t get a spec until the next morning…
Bryce on Ice is Twice as Nice!
Sunday morning we woke up to SNOW!
I was so excited!
We hurriedly ate breakfast, then bundled up and hiked over to the canyon — I couldn’t wait to see if there was snow on the hoodoos.
Turns out there wasn’t much snow on the hoodoos themselves, but it was still a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
As you might guess, I couldn’t stop taking photos — so here are just a few favorites.
This was our first glimpse of the canyon when we got to the rim — it was almost a white-out at times:
It abruptly stopped snowing, but we could see another wave coming in:
We watched that wave pass us by — and could see another blast on it’s way:
Then it REALLY started coming down — and there was some pea-size hail mixed in too!
We considered hiking down into the canyon on the Navajo Loop or Queen’s Garden Trails, but we saw some people coming up with their pants and shoes covered in mud — it’s no bueno to hike on trails when they’re very muddy because it can really mess them up. So that was a no-go for us.
We hiked almost to the North Campground, then decided to head back to ours, stopping to watch the clouds along the way.
What an incredible experience!
What they say is true — Bryce on ice really is twice as nice!
That’s a Wrap
That’s it for week 99! Whew! Thanks for reading until the end.
And big thanks for following along on our journey — it really means so much to have you along for the ride! — Lisa, Jason, and Henry-the-Van
Spectacular photos and writing too! What a wonderful place!
Love Bryce!!! It’s truly otherworldly! Wierd and wonderful! Astonishing!!!!! Thank you for the terrific photos!!