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| Looking into Bryce Amphitheatre from Sunrise Point |
We thought that we had been impressed by all the canyons that we had seen so far, until we caught our first glimpse of the Bryce Amphitheatre. It was then that we were blown away. A fairy tale kingdom of different shades of pink and white hoodoos, fins, pockets, windows and cliffs opened into a vast arena before us, reminding me of a thousand different chess pieces joined together on a gigantic, open board.
We started our 6 mile hike at Sunrise Point, along with all the other hoards of tourists enjoying the mighty grand panoramic views from the view point, walked along the paved Rim Trail for more superb views at Sunset Point, then dropped into the canyon along the Navajo Loop so that we could walk through Wall Street, Bryce's only slot canyon.
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| Bryce Amphitheatre - Sunrise Point |
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| Hoodoos everywhere |
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| Hiking down Navajo Loop |
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| Blue sky on Navajo Loop |
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| Steve in Wall Street |
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| Walking thru Wall Street |
The entire amphitheatre is a photographer's delight, light and colour allowing for as much creativity as your imagination (and skill) allows. We were extremely lucky, having lucked into the bluest of blue blue-sky days which contrasted beautifully with the pink of the rocks. Our hike was extremely snappy happy.
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| Steve getting arty farty |
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| Trail thru the canyon |
Half way down the Navajo Loop we skipped across onto the Peekaboo Loop, hiking along the bottom of the canyon floor amongst all the trees and climbing back up again looking up at the variety of cliff formations from different levels and angles. The Wall of Windows was a highlight.
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| Taking a break on Peekaboo |
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| Windows and lions |
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| Right in amongst it |
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| The Wall of Windows |
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| The Wall of Windows |
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| Coming up to Bryce Point |
We hiked out of the Amphitheatre at Bryce Point and walked the Rim Trail back to Inspiration Point. From this angle of the view point, you could really see how concentrated all the hoodoos are in the Amphitheatre.
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| View from the Rim Trail |
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| Looking towards Inspiration Point |
The park has a free shuttle bus running a one way loop through the National Park and out to Bryce Canyon City that stops at all the view points. We took the shuttle back to the Visitor Centre to learn some more about the park and do some organising for the next couple of days, borrowing their Moon Guide Books on Utah to work out some logistics.
Our Odyssey is sadly coming to an end and with that knowledge comes the joy of trying to figure out how we are going to get back home to Houston. All will be revealed over the next couple of days.
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| Watching the sunset over Bryce Amphitheatre |
We ended this enjoyable day sitting on a log bench with some local microbrew beers watching the sun go down over the Amphitheatre and staying up late (for us) to wait for the stars in all their magically bright glory to come out. They reckon you can see 5,000 more stars out here then you can back in the real world. I'd believe that!
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| Fading light over Bryce Canyon |
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| Pink hoodoos over Sunset Point |
CRANKING ODYSSEY STATS
Total Odyssey miles: 2,847
Overall Fastest Speed: Steve (46 miles per hour) Mandy (36.8 miles per hour)
Bludge Days: 6
Bonks: Steve (1) - Day 46
Dog chases: 3
Dummy Spits: Steve (7) Day 10 - because it rained; Day 16 - because the rocks in the river were slippery; Day 29 - because it takes me so long to get ready in the morning; Day 36 - because I was blogging and Steve was dieing of starvation; Day 44 - because the clothes dryer didn't dry his clothes; Day 45 - because by the time I got organised he didn't get to eat a crappy dinner until 8pm; Day 47 - because his bike shoes were smelly and wet from sitting in the pool of water around our tent yesterday afternoon
Mandy (3.5) 0.5 Day 14 - those freakin' wreckless Idaho drivers!; Day 26 - because my bike computer had a meltdown; Day 28 - because Steve wouldn't help hold my bike up in the wind after watching it nearly fall over 3 times whilst I tried to put my clothes away in the panniers because it looked like rain ahead; Day 44 - because Steve's bushies flew back and hit me in the face (twice)
Flats: Katie (4); Steve (1); Mandy (2)
Wrong turns: 8
Beer of the day: Uinta Hoodoo Kolsch Style Ale
Lesson of the day: the one way Interstate drop fee with Enterprise car rental is 47 cents per mile - that just blew our plans to drive back to Houston right out of the water!
No. of days with no shower: 19
No. of days in a hotel: 13
Starting weight: Steve (90kg) Mandy (51.5kg)
Day 30 Rawlins weigh in: Steve (183 pds / 83kg). Mandy (110 pds / 50kg)
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