Our Utah Adventure: Day Three: Part III: Bryce Canyon "Queen's Garden Trail"

 This is a continuation of a travel series to Utah.  To start at the beginning, go  HERE.  The rest of the posts in chronological order are HERE,  HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE!

In last week's travel post I shared all our excitement and emotions as we walked the rim of Bryce Canyon amphitheater.  In this week's post, and in the week's to come, I will share our adventures as we hike deep down into the canyon.

The most popular hike in Bryce Canyon is the Queen's/Navajo Combination Loop.  This hike combines Queen's Garden and Navajo Loop to form a 2.9 mile loop.  To keep the posts from getting too long, I'm only going to cover Queen's Garden in today's post and I will do the Navajo Loop next week.

The loop connect the two most famous scenic overlooks in the park,  Sunrise Point and Sunset Point. It is recommend that you start the trail in a clockwise direction for safety reasons (which is Sunrise Point).  A lot of visitors want to start at Sunset Point so that they don't have to hike the steepest part up.  However, the gravel can be slippery and dangerous falls can occur if you hike it that way. You also get better views (especially when you reach the famous Wall Street area) if you hike it clockwise.

To take you down as safely as possible into the canyon, the trail is a series of switchbacks.

As impressive as it was to see the amphitheater from the rim, it's even more impressive as you descend down into it for you get a real idea of the size of these unique formations called "Hoodoos".

My husband got such a kick out of the shapes of some of these monuments.  He came up with a lot of creative nicknames.  The most famous hoodoo on this trail is called "Queen Victoria" because the shape looks very similar to the Queen.  You will have to google that to see it, I'm not sure if we got a picture of it.  How that happened, I have no idea. 😠

We had so much fun exploring all the nooks and crannies on this trail.  There were so many interesting tunnels and door ways.

Can you tell how hot I am in the picture?  I think it was in the upper 90's this day.  It actually didn't feel that bad because the air is so dry.  The park service recommends that you drink at least one liter of water for every two hours you plan to hike.  I definitely did that and more!

We were constantly "oohing" and "ah hing" on this trail because around every bend was something else unique and interesting.

I loved this beautiful formation of hoodoos.

You still get a lot of gorgeous panoramic shots like this one even when you start walking deep into the canyon.

It's fun to look down as well as up, and all around to get all the different viewpoints of the hoodoos.

Next week I will cover the second half of this trail:  Navajo Loop!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

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