Southern Utah - Day Four Part 1

 We got back quite late from Page and it made me thankful that Alton was quite close to Bryce Canyon and we did not need to get a very early start on our day. We got to the gates, bought our annual America the Beautiful pass, went to the visitors' center not long after it opened, bought some souvenirs, and got some advice on how to spend our day from the friendly ranger working at the info desk. He advised we drive all the way straight through to the end of the road at Rainbow Point, hike the Bristlecone Loop, and then hit all the viewpoints on the way back to the amphitheater. 

That sounded good, so we hopped in the car and made our way to Rainbow Point. But we couldn't totally resist the temptation not do any viewpoints and made one stop at Natural Bridge... 😬

With elevations ranging from 9.000 to just over 6,000 feet, and temps around 23 degrees, it was no surprise that there was still quite a bit of snow. It made for beautiful views but, as we were about to discover, not such great hiking on steep trails... 

At 9,115 feet, Rainbow Point is the highest elevation at the park. The Bristlecone Loop trail, like many of the trails, was coated in patches of highly traveled, melted, and refrozen snow and ice that made me glad we had bought real hiking boots before we left, had our trekking poles but wish that we had remembered our crampons... :/  But the view at Youvimpa Point was worth the walk. :) 

this was the only icy trail I took a picture of but

it was not the snowiest, iciest or steepest one

we hiked that day

Next were the viewpoints at Black Birch Canyon, Ponderosa Canyon, Aqua Canyon , Farview Point, Piracy Point, Swamp Canyon, and Paria View. We did them in that order but I have no idea which picture is from which place... 😜

But the two most spectacular viewpoints were Bryce and Inspiration Points! The overlooks of Bryce Amphitheater were worth the steep icy hike and getting snowed on at the top! 😍😮💗