Fairyland loop trail Bryce Canyon

Classic view of Bryce

Link to detailed route page and map click on route title 

Headed up to Bryce for the day and some much needed exercise as we have not really done anything since we were in the Lake District over a week ago. Decided to do a circular hike from Sunset Point along the Rim Trail to Fairyland Point and then down into the Canyon to complete the loop via an undulating ‘Fairyland Trail’. It is well named as there were numerous stunning rock formations which took the shape of all sorts of magical formations, a cat sitting on a rock with its ears pointed up; Tower Bridge with pinnacles either end of the Bridge; Buddhas; a Chinese Wall to name but a few. The hike was nearly 16 km and not as tough as what we had done in the Lakes but we were both were surprised how hard it felt with the effects of altitude.

An added bonus were the spring flowers we saw along the path. Amazing how they are able to germinate and survive in this type of landscape where there is no apparent soil layer. Had read about a microorganism soil crust which helps prevent erosion as the micro filaments, which also  store water, hold together the sand particles and provide nutrients to tiny plants and micro organisms. Fascinating. We also saw a chipmunk, a New World Warbler hunting for grubs in a dead tree and what I think was a wild turkey with a red topknot on a fence post as we drove back to the camp site. The warbler is a small colourful bird that had a yellow breast and face with a reddish orange head tuft and black wings.

On arriving back at the RV we decided to check in with Cruise America to see what progress they had made in getting a time for us to take the RV into a garage in Moab to get it fixed. Long and short of the story was that they had not been able to get an appointment at a garage in Moab and there would be even less chance of getting it fixed as we headed North. Only real options were either to live with the problem or take the vehicle into Salt Lake (close on a 300mile drive) to their centre to get it fixed/replaced. Didn’t want to live with the problem as when we are in Yellowstone we don’t have hook ups so agreed to change our plans from visiting Kodachrome State Park and drive to Salt Lake instead.

See below for a compilation of photos from our hike, press play to view