Wednesday, May 17, 2017. Again, super exhausted. We hadn’t quite caught up on our sleep yet so we slept through alarms (again). However, I found it extra difficult to want to get out of bed this morning. There were no curtains in the room so the light usually woke me up in the morning, but this morning was different. It was still dark and I could tell it was super gloomy outside. I got out of bed and went to look out the window to discover that, are you ready for this? IT WAS FREAKING SNOWING. In May. Snow. In. May. I’m sorry… what?

I was borderline panicking because I was wondering if we were even going to be able to make it to Bryce Canyon this day. But, we decided to take our time and make some breakfast and enjoy the snow falling. I had never seen it snow like this before so I was very excited. I sat by the window and just watched it come down. It was so, so peaceful.

We tried to wait it out and see if it would stop but it didn’t. So, since it was our last day, we decided to brave the snow and head out towards Bryce Canyon National Park. We figured it had to stop eventually. We were sort of right. It was a lighter snow our whole drive out there and it even snowed quite a bit while we were there. After a while, it started to clear up. The clouds opened up and the sun came out to play! It was still super cold though. I’m glad that I decide to pack a beanie wherever we go because I was hardly expecting cold weather, let alone snow!

I was pretty surprised to see how packed it was, despite the fact that it was very cold and snowy. It was nowhere near as packed as the Grand Canyon or even Horseshoe Bend, but there were still a good amount of people here. You know the drill from here. Visitor center, NP patch and on we went!

 

Our first hike was up to Inspiration Point. Inspiration Point is part of the Rim Trail in the Bryce Amphitheater. Just from walking to the start of the trail from the parking lot, I was already in awe. The spire formations here are called “hoodoos” and I just think that’s the funniest thing. The hoodoos are eroded out of the cliffs of the canyon walls. The melting of the snow and ice eventually create cracks in the walls which in turn create “windows” in the cliffs. As time goes on, the tops of the windows eventually collapse and tall columns are left behind. From further erosion from rain, the hoodoos are born. Well, not born, but you get the idea.

 

We spent quite a bit of time exploring the rim trail and just sitting and staring down into the canyon. In between our time exploring and admiring nature, we were running back to the car to warm up. Sadie was with us on this trip, but I don’t have photos of her from here because we tried our best to keep her snuggled in the backpack and warm in the car.

 

The next major stop we made was to Natural Bridge. This was a quick walk from parking lot to viewpoint. It was such an awesome sight to see. This entire trip, I was just so amazed at everything in nature. I was amazed at the fact that this “bridge” was formed through years of erosion and that this is the outcome today. In another million years it could be gone or 10 times cooler! Who knows?!

 

Also, did you know that due to it’s high elevation, clean dry air, and lack of light pollution, Bryce Canyon is one of Earth’s darkest places? I’m pretty bummed we weren’t able to stay super late, or even make the drive back, to check out just how dark it gets. I’ll just have to save that trip for another time.

We probably only spent about five hours here because it was just too cold to do any serious hiking. We spent our time driving around and stopping where we could but we also didn’t want to exhaust ourselves because we still had an 8 hour drive home the next day. So, after we took in all we could and started to get pretty hungry, we decided to head back to the AirBnb to cook up some dinner and hang out for the night.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the adventures Lyle and I had in Arizona and Utah for my birthday! I know it’s been well over a month since this trip ended but I’ve been so busy and I tried my best to get everything up! I just love having a place to share photos and experiences! If just one post helps someone plan a trip or decided to get out and explore, then I’ve done my job and I’m content. Until next time, xo!