Labor Day in Bryce Canyon National Park - September 3-6, 2010

We adventured in Bryce Canyon National Park for Labor Day weekend.  Our plan was to spend Friday night in a campground, backpack down into the park and spend Sat night and Sun night, then drive back to NSL on Monday.  Kathleen flew in on Thursday evening and we worked on Friday.  Then hit the road! 

After our last Arches Nat'l Park adventure - where we had to camp inside town at a super-expensive campgound in the very last available campsite that didn't even have a picnic table, in a tent that didn't even have a floor - I reserved a campsite ahead of time.  We camped inside the park at the Sunset campground.  Such a relief to see our name on the sign!

James had reserved a small 3-man tent from backcountry's gear closet for our adventure and we set it up at midnight.  It turned out to be a small 2-man tent.  Kathleen set up her sleeping pad in the back of The Outlaw and we had to decide what to do for our planned backpacking nights.

There are no advance reservations for the backcountry campsites in the park, so we went to the Visitor Center in person to find out what sites were available, if any.  Almost all the backcountry sites were available, but none of them have any reliable water sources.  Even trickier, the free shuttle doesn't go all the way into the park so if we hiked out a different trail, then we'd have to hitch-hike (which is illegal according to the backcountry camping information guide) back to the car.

We decided to backpack only one night and camp at one of the big campgrounds on Sunday night.  We chose the Iron Springs campsite - which does have water, but it is pretty sluggish and tastes very metallic, so we just planned to pack as much water as we had containers for and hike back out first thing in the morning before it gets too hot. 

Our trailhead was at Rainbow Point - at the far end of the National Park - in fact, the road ends at the Rainbow Point parking lot.  It was fun to drive through the entire park and stop at a couple viewpoints along the way.  Natural Bridge:

Can you pick out James along the Rim Trail?  He's wearing blue.

We also saw antelope, deer, chipmunks and even a coyote!  Just hanging out in a meadow next to the road.  He stayed long enough for us to turn around, drive back, turn around again and take a handful of pictures.  Then he disappeared into the trees.

Every overlook point has the same WARNING sign:  Dangerous cliffs.  Watch your children.  Stay in your car during lightning storms. No pets or bicycles on trails.  Do not leave valuables in your car.

The hike down to the campsite is 3.9 miles and it is down!

This sign is for the Bristlecone Loop (a 1 mile loop with educational signs about Bristlecone pines and other vegetation), the Yovimpa Point Overlook (I think Yovimpa might be "Bristlecone Pine" in an Indian language) and the Under the Rim Trail.  We were heading down the Under the Rim Trail - it is 22 miles of trail along the bottom of the canyon - if you were to hike the whole thing.  Once we passed the sign, we didn't see many other hikers.

3.9 miles seemed like a long way, but it is beautiful!  We saw small horned lizards and startled one deer.

Success!  The Iron Springs campsite sign. Camp within 150 feet of the sign.  Campfires are not allowed. Protect your food from bears. No bathing in the non-existant water sources. There were a couple logs that were ok to sit on, but it certainly wasn't my favorite campsite.  No cooking rock and no campfire and no water.  Camping in the desert is very different from the usual Simpson Backpacking Adventure.

James packed the "bear bucket" that we borrowed from the Visitor's Center (so we wouldn't have to tie our food up in a tree).  It was probably most useful for protecting our oatmeal from the ants and horned lizards - do you think they like oatmeal?

This is the origin of Iron Springs and the inspiration for the name of our campsite.  The water just sort of oozed out of the hill under a tree - you can see some of the roots.  The ground around and downhill of it was very spongy and muddy - a few hoof prints, probably deer - and any tree trunks in the water are stained orange.  I tasted it.  It was cool and metallic-tangy.  Maybe tang could have masked the flavor?

James packed the little 2-man tent, but we decided just to throw the sleeping pads out on the ground and sleep in the open.  I got a few mosquito bites - mostly on my arms and shoulders from when I got hot and opened my sleeping bag up - but otherwise, I didn't miss the tent.

Here is one of the little horned lizards.  Most of the lizards would scoot away fast if you took a step toward them, this one actually let me catch him.  We saw one big one and the rest about this little one's size.

All packed up and ready to go!

James took this photo from the ridge top on our way back out.  Can you spot the light green patch of Aspen trees in the valley?  They surrounded our campsite and Iron Springs.

The ravens were huge!  And had the people very well trained!  This guy wouldn't take food out of your hand or hop to the ground for food.  But, if you put a pretzel onto the rock fence post where he was standing, then he would eat it. 

After we hiked out of Iron Springs and back to our car, we decided to choose our campsite for the night.  We spooked one deer on the edge of the campground and then this little lady stopped to check us out before bouncing after her friend.

Our Sunday night site had plenty of wildlife.  We tempted these guys with some trail mix - mostly sunflower seeds and peanuts.  We had 2 or 3 chipmunks and 4 or 5 Stellars Jays coming in for the feast.

We did some more hiking - I KNOW!  After we hiked 3.9 miles up uP UP out of the canyon, we did more hiking!  This little chipmunk was begging for treats.  And when James gave him some sunflower seeds, he seemed to say, "That's it!?!"

This is along the Queen's Garden trail.

Along the Navajo Loop - coming up the two bridges section.

Thor's Hammer:

Our Sunday night campsite in North Campground.

On Monday morning (Happy Labor Day!), we explored along the Rim Trail.  Just wandered out of our campsite and out along the rim of the canyon.  Beautiful morning! 

We packed back up and decided to go back to the Visitor Center and watch the video about Bryce Canyon geology and check out the museum.

We learned a lot about the types of plants and animals in the park, including the rare, endangered Utah Prarie Dog. And on our way out of the park, we spotted one crossing the road to it's den!  Pulled into the nearby parking lot and then I tromped out through the weeds to try to get his picture.

I felt a bit like paparazi, stalking a celebrity!

Stopped by the Bryce Canyon Airport and the Subway in Bryce Canyon City for lunch - not the most expensive Subway in the country, but close.

We only took one detour on the drive home.  We chose to drive the Mt Nebo scenic byway instead of the freeway.  The leaves weren't turning yet, but the views are still incredible.  Plus, the Boise St. v. Virginia Tech game was on the radio.  Go Broncos!

We really enjoyed exploring more of Bryce Canyon National Park.  Next on our National Park list: Canyonlands!