Since the crowds weren’t nearly as bad here as Zion, we had a slow morning at home. We drove 2 miles into the park & parked at Sunrise Point. Our plan was to hike down into the amphitheater today, so we started out on the Queen’s Garden Trail & quickly descended. The trail felt somewhat crowded, but the narrow trails & 20 mph winds might have made this worse. At the Queen Victoria hoodoo, approximately 1 mile into the hike, most people turned around. We continued deeper into the canyon, toward the Peekaboo Loop Trail. The hikers dissipated, and it felt like we had Bryce Canyon all to ourselves! At the river we had a picnic lunch, & we contemplated turning around & backtracking our way out — but, we were curious what else there was to see!
At the Peekaboo Loop Trail, we headed southeast on the loop. From here, the trail got very steep, very small, & very muddy/icy/snowy! The winds easily pushed us off-balance! This was a true challenge, & the kids were such great sports! The end of the trail was a series of steep, narrow switchbacks, with the cliff (end) in sight!
We ended at Bryce Point (6 miles later & almost 1,000 ft in elevation climbed) with big smiles, chests burning, & noses running. The kids were so proud of themselves (they didn’t complain at all, nor did they once say they were too scared to go on)! Now, THIS is our favorite hike! We saw the shuttle parked at the trailhead & somehow had the energy to run to it. We rode back down to our truck, grabbed some cookies & coffee at the general store, & went home to get ready for our dinner theater plans!
We drove across the street to Ebenezer’s Barn and Grille for a buffet-style dinner with all our favorites: BBQ, mashed potatoes & gravy, coleslaw, beans, bread, and dessert. And a soda fountain. The band played after dinner, & they did a lot of the old country classics. I remembered all of the songs, & it brought back memories of riding to dinner with my grandparents in their Cadillac.
After dinner, we drove back into Bryce to see the night sky. I don’t remember the last time I experienced total pitch-blackness. Driving along the roads & only seeing the trees that our truck lights could illuminate – and nothing beyond it – made it feel eery. We stopped at Bryce Point (where we’d ended our hike earlier that day), & the wind was still so intense. The giant pine trees were bending & swaying & making the weirdest sound as the wind beat at them. The moon was so bright, it actually hurt our eyes & it cast moon-shadows.
Go Big and Go Roam 
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