Dave & Dru Bryce National Park Of the more well known attractions, Bryce National Park was perhaps our most favorite. In addition to its spectacular scenery, it's a bit more out of the way and therefore less crowded. However, it is considerably higher at 8,000 feet elevation, which you need to consider if you are going to do any hiking. Since Bryce came towards the end of our trip, we were reasonably adapted to the higher elevation. Bryce offers some excellent hiking trails, which although challenging, are within reason. The major plus is one can set one's own pace. Below is a shot of what is probably the most famous scene in the park: the amphitheater. Along the rim of the amphitheater is a trail known as, ta da, the Rim Trail. It's a rather benign trail, even paved and wheelchair accessible for a portion. Other parts are a little steep in places, but the total elevation change is less than a hundred feet or so. We hiked two trails: both of us took the Queen's Trail and Dave continued on the Navajo Trail. The Queen's Trail is classified as "easy" while the Navajo Trail is "moderate." (After our experience at the Navajo National Monument, we learned to pay attention to trail classifications.) The two trails do connect, and if you don't have a problem hiking downhill, take the Navajo Trail down into the canyon (it's quite steep at the beginning) and the Queen's Trail out (the lower half is quite gentle, and while the upper half is steeper, it is not difficult). That way you get to enjoy them both, paying the exertion for only the "easy" Queen's Trail. Below are a couple of scenes taken on the Queen's Trail. The photo on the left was taken about half way down the trail. The trail leads to an area called Queen Victoria's Garden. On the right is what indeed looks like Queen Victoria's profile as she watches over her garden. This location is about 400 feet below the rim and 0.6 miles each way. Not bad as long as you are carrying an adequate supply of water. One of the intriguing things one encounters while touring southern Utah is interesting trees. It's amazing how they can survive. I couldn't resist them. Below left is a tree struggling to survive right on the canyon rim. It looks as though it's a giant spider or sand crab walking along the rim. The tree gives testimony that the erosion process that created Bryce is still in progress. Believe it or not, the bristlecone pine tree below right is alive. It's needles are more brown looking than green, and its main trunk (on the left side) is dead. This tree has been dated to be over 1600 years old! Apparently there are others in the area also known to be this old. One of the projects I had to do for my Photoshop course was to create a panorama from multiple photographs. During the first portion of our trip I took a series of desert panoramas, carefully setting up my tripod and scanning horizontally from side to side. Bryce's Navajo Trail passes through an area called Wall Street, so named because it is a very narrow passage. Lo and behold, right in this narrow spot a tree somehow took root and managed to survive, now towering as tall as the local canyon walls themselves. In keeping with my tree fascination, I wondered if a vertical panorama would be possible. I didn't have my tripod with me, so my attempt was all hand-held.

This is the result! Quite frankly, I'm amazed that it turned out as well as it did. I had the final product printed at 8" x 34" and mounted. Just as I was looking for a place to hang it at home, the prof informed us that she was collecting all of the class panoramas and holding them to enter in the Del Mar Fair next summer. Sigh. On the right you can see what I started with. They didn't line up all that well and naturally the exposure was different. As a result, the walls were darker and darker in the upper pictures while the center washed out. It took a lot of tinkering to get a reasonably consistent result across the composite. At first I was annoyed that the trourists lingered and were a part of the photo. However, in retrospect they add a lot to the picture, clearly indicating the grandeur of the tree. So, I got another tree to add to my tree collection (after the fair). There is another trail I would like to hike on a return trip. It's called Peekaboo Loop and is accessed via the Navajo Trail. The trail goes around a huge rock formation at the lower end of the amphitheater. They say each turn in the trail reveals spectacular mini-canyons, one after the other (thus the peek-a-boo notion). It's classified as a "moderate" trail, so it shouldn't be too bad if one is already adapted to the altitude. The total drop on the Navajo Trail is 800 feet and Peekaboo Loop probably varies +- 300 feet from that. So you're hiking at around 7200 feet elevation. The only problem is that after you finish the five miles of undulations on Peekaboo, you have to trudge back up that 800 feet to get out. But at least you get a chance to pause and say hello to my tree. Go to Zion, Canyonlands, Natural Bridges & Hovenweep, Canyon de Chelly, Navajo Nat'l Monument, or Monument Valley Go to the index for our Southern Utah travels Back to Dave & Dru's Home Page