In July of 2015 we set out on a grand vacation through the southwest. We traveled for 21 days and over 6,000 miles, visiting 5 states and 9 National Parks. We explored new places and met up with old friends. Overall, it was an amazing journey and everyone learned so much. You can see all my posts about the trip by clicking here.
Day 4 – Bryce Canyon National Park
Our second day in Bryce Canyon we started out strong with big plans for a day of hiking. I had packed a picnic lunch for us and tons of extra snacks. We decided to attempt the Navajo Loop Trail which goes down into the amphitheater (remember it’s not really a canyon). This trail is listed as moderate to strenuous because of how steep it is, and also because much of the decent has loose sandy footing that makes it a little slippery if you have on regular sneakers (which we did).
Let me just tell you that the trail was amazing. We went slow and let the kids explore and climb on rocks along the way. They loved the unbelievable views from the bottom.
When we got down to the very bottom we found a nice spot for a snack and a rest. There were a surprisingly large amount of birds and small critters for us to watch. This trail was crowded right at the top, but it seemed that many people weren’t interested in venturing all the way down to the bottom.
We made it back up to the top right before lunch. This is a picture of us on the way up, you can see Thor’s Hammer in the background. We enjoyed a picnic lunch while we recovered from the steep climb out of the amphitheater. After lunch we drove all the way to the highest point in Bryce Canyon. There is a short, 1 mile trail called the Pinecone Loop that we did with the kids. Then it was back to the hotel for our afternoon swim in the pool.
