“There’s magic in 3/4 time, pace yourself and you’ll be fine.
Slow and steady wins the race, it puts a smile there on her face.” – Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers
Today we got to return to Bryce Canyon National Park, the park that made me first fall in love with the West. We started our day in Mount Carmel Junction with the best ho’made biscuits and gravy imaginable. If you ever pass through this area read up on its history and spend a night at the Thunderbird East Zion Lodge.
I don’t really have the words to describe Bryce Canyon, but it is a beautiful place. Today was especially good since the weather was cooler than what we’ve had further south and the crowds seem to have gone somewhere else today. We hiked the Figure 8 Loop which covers the vast majority of the main amphitheater. Even the animals were cooperative today posing for pictures whenever we requested one.
I took lots and lots of pictures to use as screensavers for the next year (I have pictures from our past trips on a 10 minute rotation so I get to see a lot of them). After our hike we stopped into the lodge and had another great lunch there. I think they serve one of the best club sandwiches anywhere. After our two big hikes of the last couple days; 12 miles at Zion and 8 today at Bryce we were all pretty worn out so we’ve retreated to our hotel in Tropic for the afternoon and evening to recuperate a bit. I’m enjoying one of the Waldos’ Special Ale I brought along from Chicago (I’m not totally sure it’s legal in Utah at 11.3% ABV and with no food). At some point we’ll either fall asleep or seek out an evening snack, but otherwise it’ll be a low-key afternoon.
