Hoodoo Ya' Love?

Today, Tim was the official photographer. Why, you ask? Because we did some hiking and I am too much of a wimp to carry the camera. In fact, I didn't carry anything. We started the day at 4:30 a.m.--yes, that's 4:30 in the morning, and yes, Tim is a trooper. The sunrise was well worth it. Before the sun ever peeked out from behind the mountains, the sky filled with purple, orange, and pink as the clouds reflected the sun's light. Once the sun had crested, all attention turned to the hoodoos. Each minute turned the towers different shades of orange and red--unbelievable (see pictures). After sunrise at Sunrise Point in Bryce Canyon, we ate a hearty breakfast at a local restaurant (good, Deane, but nothing to write home about--no pun intended). Most of the time our breakfast is light--whatever the hotel offers, some better than others. But this morning we wanted to make sure we had fuel to hike Bryce Canyon.

Nothing I've hiked in Missouri could have prepared me for what we did. The hike started with a half mile jaunt out to "Wall Street" on the Navajo loop. There was a huge rock slide last year, so you could not complete the loop (see pictures). You could walk down to the slide then turn around and walk back. That leg of our journey was .6 miles, .3 straight down, then .3 straight back up. I'm glad we did that one first. Tim took pictures of the hoodoos and the switchbacks on the trails. The only reason I made it back to the top is because I had no choice. : )

When we finished that, we took the other half of the Navajo loop to a connector to the Queen's Garden Trail. Every corner we turned we saw a different view of what we had seen from the rim of the canyon. There really is no way to take in the immensity of these towers until you walk on the canyon floor and look up. The sky was intensely blue today, making for some great pictures. Tim in getting really good at setting exposures with the camera (honestly, that's the hardest part) and he's always had a good eye for composition. His pictures (of over 350 pictures today, I probably took 20) are just as good as any of mine. He's just more modest.

Thankfully, the walk back up to the rim of the canyon was slightly less steep than the walk down. I'm really not sure I could have turned around and gone back up the way we came. When we got to the rim, we were still a half mile away from the car. Tim, my knight in shining armor, walked back to the car and drove it to the parking lot to pick me up. I'm not sure I could have made it back to the car. When all was said and done, I had hiked close to four miles, Tim almost four and a half--most of it either up or down. I like the hiking at Zion better (translated: easier), but the views are spectacular from the floor of Bryce.

I was so tired, I was even uncomfortable sitting in the car. Therefore, we stopped in Torrey, Utah at the Days Inn with a hot tub. After a long soak, I'm feeling much better.