Baseball Road Trip 2011: Day 14 (Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon)

Day 14 (Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon)

June 18^th

Woke up after a night of camping in the outdoors, with a bit of a stiff neck, but otherwise unharmed. Not the best sleep of my life, but also not the worst. We packed up our camp and went over to grab breakfast at the deli next to the North Rim lodge, before heading out on a short hike out Angel point, for yet another scenic view of the canyon. After we felt content with our stay at the canyon, we decided to go seek out other national parks in southern Utah. Riley and Peter talked to a park ranger in the visitor center and got directions to a place called Buckskin Gulch, a few hours away. We decided not to stop at Zion, as it was a little out of the way, and instead stop at Bryce Canyon and possibly the gulch in Escalante, if there was time. The drive was very pretty. Orange, wind-swept, rock pillars lined the side of the road, creating a forest of rock sculptures. Deer scattered the side of the road and didn’t appear to be too frightened of cars. We had some difficulty finding Buckskin gulch, so instead decided to stop at Bryce Canyon to camp in the national park for the night, and do the gulch tomorrow morning. We entered the national park after the park ranger told us there was availability in the campground, and lucked out again, finding the last open site. After setting up camp, we went on a hike down in Bryce Canyon, which was different from the Grand Canyon but equally breathtaking. It was really cool to be able to venture down in the canyon after only being able to view the Grand Canyon from a high elevation. If sunset at the Grand Canyon was the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen, then this hike was the coolest, most scenic hike I’ve ever been on. Again, I have trouble describing the canyon’s awesomeness in words. All I can say is that every time you turn around, it’s a perfect photo opportunity. The combination of the trees and awe-inspiring rock pillars made for a wow factor that has to bee seen in person to be truly understood. We hiked for probably two hours, and at one point went off the trail to scale a fairly steep hill to get to the top. Luckily, it hasn’t been too hot and we brought plenty of water. After the hike, we headed back to the campground to prepare another meal of hotdogs and baked beans over a campfire. We watched a movie in the tent and called it a night. Tomorrow, we plan to get up early and drive over to the Buckskin Gulch in the Escalante area to explore before continuing another six hours to Arches National Park in Moab Utah.