INTRODUCTION
One of the big draws of living in the western United States is the opportunity for easy access to some of the best outdoor experiences available. As my wife and I continued to settle into our new life in Arizona and sought to embrace those opportunities, we set out for a weekend trip to Bryce Canyon National Park. From our home, Bryce Canyon is about eight hours by car. Everyone has their own level of tolerance for roadtrips, but for me, eight hours is well within a single day’s driving range (I previously did a single twenty hour stent in the car on my way to Arizona from Ohio when traveling for away rotations in medical school). So, we set out early on a Saturday morning with the goal of making it to a hotel in Kanab, UT just south of the national park.
Our drive took us up through Phoenix and then onto Flagstaff where we stopped for lunch at a Chic-fil-a just off the highway. With our hunger resolved, we continued north to page just east of the Grand Canyon. I had driven through page several times before (most notably on my unexpectedly fantastic roadtrip from Tucson to Salt Lake City LINK) but had never actually gotten off of the highway to venture into the small city. This time, we made it a point to do just that. After turning right off of Hwy 89, we spent some time driving around Page to better understand its character. I was shocked to find several houses with lawns (something I hadn’t seen since moving to Arizona) with sprinklers spritzing away to keep them lush and green. The juxtaposition of houses with xeriscaping next to those that look like they belonged where I grew up in the midwest was, for some reason, a bit comical. And a broader juxtaposition of this small town and emergently low water levels of the nearby reservoir Lake Powell made me question the future for such lawns.
We eventually made our way to Grand Canyon Brewing, somewhere I’d wanted to go ever since I’d bought a single one of their beers from the refrigerator of the general store in Tusayan, just south of the Grand Canyon.
We got flights of beers to sample and finished them off while snacking on the largest pretzel I think I’d ever had. And then we got back on the road toward Kanab. Before we got too far from Page, however, I pulled off the road again just after crossing the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge into the parking lot for the Glen Canyon Visitor’s Center. I had stopped here once before —also on the aforementioned roadtrip to Salt Lake City— and on that trip had only pulled off looking for a place to eat some McDonald’s I bought just a mile or so up the road after I decided against eating while driving. I got out to walk around and stretch my legs and ended up discovering a peaceful little slice of the earth where I looked out over Lake Powell and the surrounding red-orange rock, with the dramatic dark clouds and intermittent lightning of a monsoon-season storm in the distance. The unexpected nature of my encounter with this place gave the experience a connotation of discovery. Since then, passing time has polished this small memory into one I cherish, making this small little parking lot at the end of the Glen Canyon Bridge uniquely special to me. As we walked around the back of the visitor’s center to gaze from the viewing platform at the impressive dam below and to the right, and at Lake Powell out to the left, I remembered my previous special little experience here.
The views driving just North of the Grand Canyon, A delicious flight at Grand Canyon Brewing in Page, AZ, and two photos overlooking the Glen Canyon Dam | Lumix S5, and iPhone 13 Pro
Back on the road, the sun was starting to set in the western sky as we traveled the highways of southern Utah. By the time we reached Kanab a couple of hour later it was dark as we checked into our hotel for the evening.
Wanting a full day in the park, we hit the road early before most others were awake. We drove past forests made interesting by their undulating geography and massive red rock formations that intermittently stood above the trees. About an hour and twenty minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot of the Bryce Canyon National Park Visitor Center to plan our day of hiking. A few minutes later we were back in the car, Deneen Pottery mug in hand to add to my collection, with a plan to hike the 7.8 mile Fairyland Loop Trail. After driving a bit further into the park and securing a parking spot, we were off to begin our hike.
Taking our first steps away from the car on what was initially a concrete walkway toward the trailhead, my first thoughts were of the weather. It was hot, as one might expect in mid-July, and very sunny. As a person who spends the majority of his time working in dark rooms lit only by the glow of medical imaging monitors, I don’t exactly maintain a background tan to help protect me from the Sun.
So, I lathered on some sunscreen, and if I didn’t want to end up like a lobster after a day’s hike on a completely exposed trail, I’d need to remember to reapply.
Where we stood at the beginning of the trail was an elevated shelf of land, similar to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. And as we hiked, we would first descend down from this shelf reaching our lowest elevation at about the halfway point. We’d then continue along the loop back up to the shelf of land, but about a mile north of our starting point, leaving us to hike this distance back to our car. And along the route, we’d be constantly surrounded with the iconic rock formations for which Bryce Canyon National Park is known.
As we began our first steps below the rim of the Fairyland Loop trail, our view was immediately filled with scattered clusters of the bulbous red-orange rock spires called hoodoos in the distance as far as the eye could see. We also spied a series of white linear projections standing prominently along the path down below. This is a place (like most national parks) where photos are truly necessary to convey the visual grandeur of what one can see here. And even then the sense of scale is lost in a two dimensional medium.
Descending the Fairyland Loop Trail | Lumix S5
The trail continued winding back and forth with intermittent inclines leading us to vantage points from where we could look down on more clustered hoodoos faces, followed by declines which sent us back down along cliff faces. We continued like this for a few miles until we reached the low point of the hike. And reaching this point meant that the second half was essentially a constant climb. Up to this point, we had neglected to take any real break to rehydrate and refuel, having never passed a nice shady spot to avoid the direct sunlight.
And as we started the climb back to the rim after being in the sun for a few hours, we were in need of such a break. However, we kept walking for some time, holding out for a shady spot. A mile or so passed before we found one: A little area about four feet tall carved out of the shady side of a rock face. We planted ourselves on the tannish-red ground and enjoyed the coolness of the breeze, refilling on water and carbohydrates. Eventually, another drained group of hikers rounded a corner looking in obvious need of a break, so we relinquished our spot to them and continued up to the rim.
Views along the ascent back to the rim | Lumix S5
Another hour or so passed and we made it to rim where we wer again rewarded with some fantastic views. And from here we hiked along the rim for what seemed like an eternity, but what in reality was only about a mile, back to the car. It was at this point that we had a decision to make: We either stay another night nearby and drive home in the morning, or we commit to an eight hour drive to Tucson tonight. It was currently about 3pm, meaning that at the earliest, we’d make it back a little after 11pm. Not wanting to make a decision on an empty stomach, we headed out of the park and south to Mount Carmel Junction, a tiny little town at the intersection of roads leading to Bryce Canyon and Zion, for a meal at the iconic Thunderbird Restaurant.
Out final view from the rim, and the path along the rim back toward the car | Lumix S5
Similar to the Glen Canyon overlook we’d visited the day prior, Thunderbird restaurant was another interesting place I’d stumbled upon unexpectedly on my previous roadtrip to Salt Lake City. At that time, I’d pulled over looking for a gas station and when I got out of my car to start pumping gas, I looked off to my left at some colorful neon lights that spelled “Thunderbird Restaurant” and “Home of the Ho-made Pies”. I’m a sucker for the vintage roadside diner, but unfortunately I had several hours of driving ahead of me at that point and didn’t get to stop. As I drove away the enticing lights of the restaurant gradually disappeared from my rearview mirror and the restaurant was burned into my memory as a place that beckoned for a future visit.
I’d since had that future visit when I again unexpectedly passed Thunderbird traveling a different road on my way out of Zion National Park, having not realized it sat at the intersection of roads between Zion and Bryce Canyon on my initial nighttime drive to Salt Lake City. All of that to say, like the Glen Canyon area, Thunderbird holds a uniquely special little place in my memory. And now, with a hunger fitting our post-eight-mile-hike-in-the-direct-sun situation, we walked into Thunderbird excited for our late lunch/early dinner, and perhaps more so for a slice of one of their “ho-made” pies. I ordered the not-so-enticingly named “Hot Beef” (an open-faced roast beef sandwich) followed by a slice of apple pie with ice cream. And with a full stomach, we felt much less drained and ultimately decided to make the drive back to Tucson. This mostly nighttime drive passed without issue and we made it home a bit after midnight, cherishing this quick weekend in a new national park and our lives in the western US that allowed for it.
Stopped for a quick meal and famous piece of pie at Thunderbird Restaurant | Lumix S5