Dave, Bruce, and I met our wives in Tropic, Utah, just outside of Bryce Canyon National Park. Here, after 13 straight days of riding, we all took our first real rest days of our trip.
Chris and I did a little hiking and a lot of relaxing and hanging out. I also got a little bit of work done, did some bike maintenance, and some ride planning, but that is boring. Bryce Canyon is a truly unique national park. I am not sure if merits more than a couple day visit—once you have seen the hoodoos (photos to follow) from a few different angles, you get the picture. Fortunately you are pretty close to two other National Parks, Zion (about 1.5 hours away) and Grand Canyon (about 3 hours away). Each are only a few hours from Las Vegas if you are flying in.
If I were to make some recommendations for a visit to Bryce, I would suggest the following.
Bryce Valley Lodging — small cabins In Tropic. We stayed here last time as well. They are convenient and close to some decent restaurants.
Hike the Rim Trail in Bryce Canyon NP where you can get a nice over the top view of the hoodoos (rock formations)
Hike into the hoodoos—this time we took the Navajo Loop Trail, which had some uphill and downhill. But it is a whole different perspective when you are in the hoodoos.
Drive out to Rainbow Point — farthest driving point into Bryce Canyon NP. It is a bit higher elevation and offers a different perspective.
Finally, check out Mossy Cave trail, a short easy trail that gives you an even different perspective on the hoodoos.
We had fun. It is great to spend time with Chris. I got a couple of good nights sleep. Now it is time to go back at it. Chris will be staying with me for the next few day, so it is not goodbye to her quite yet.