Bryce Canyon in the Winter?

Over the President's day long week-end our family took a trip to Bryce Canyon National Park.  I made the reservations right after a snowy Christmas break and assumed that in February there would be lots of snow in Bryce Canyon. As the this winter has progressed, it often felt more like spring with warm temperatures and no snow. My hopes for snowshoeing in Bryce Canyon plummeted.

February 2015

We left our snowshoes and even our snow boots home.  We planned to stop for lunch at a hamburger place in Panguitch, that the kids and I had eaten at last summer. We arrived in Panguitch to find it closed for the season. There are not a lot of food options in Panguitch and we ended up eating at an Arby's that is inside of a gas station. A short while later we arrive in Bryce Canyon to find very little snow.

Beautiful view of Bryce Canyon with a little snow

We hiked the Queens Garden/Navajo Loop trail on mostly dry trails. With the warm sunshine the kids took off their jackets and wished they had shorts to wear.  Since it is winter and we were going to Bryce Canyon for Winter Fest, I never even imagined they might wear shorts!

Elaine and Jenna on the Queens Garden Trail

Joe on the Queens Garden Trail

Jenna on the Queens Garden Trail

On the Queens Garden Trail

Joe on the Queens Garden Trail

Navajo Loop Trail

Elaine on the Navajo Loop trail

Navajo Loop trial with no snow to be seen

Seth attempting to hike with his hood over his face.

Seth, Joe and Elaine on the Navajo Loop Trail

Joe on the Navajo Loop Trail

We did get a little muddy

Most of the trails were dry

Joe and Seth

Later that night we scouted out the options for dinner.  It didn't take long, as there really aren't many options in the winter. The restaurant in Ruby's Inn was the only restaurant open and it was busy because of a dinner/concert as part of the the Winter Fest. We were not going to the concert, but wanted to watch a BYU basketball game on TV that started the same time as the concert.  Realizing we would not be done with dinner in time for the game if we ate at the restaurant, we opted for buying food in the grocery store and heating it in the microwave.  Second meal of the day that wasn't quite what we had hoped for, but at least we had food and got to watch the game. Except the hotel didn't get the channel the game was on and the Internet feed wouldn't load, so we listened to the game while we played some card games.

The next day after attending a church service in Tropic, we did the Tower Bridge hike.  The park ranger had told me that trail was snowy and we would need spikes. That's just what we wanted to hear since we all had a pair of micro spikes.

Joe and Jenna at the rim of Bryce Canyon

Rich and Elaine overlooking Bryce Canyon

We started on the trail and with the wind it was significantly colder than the previous day. The first little bit I wondered if we should just turn back around since we didn't have coats with us.  But we turned a corner and suddenly the wind didn't bother us and we continued on the hike.

After going around this corner the wind didn't bother us

We passed some patches of snow and ice on the trail but nothing that we really needed the spikes for.  So they just added extra weight to our day packs.

The Tower Bridge trail with some snow and ice.

 The Tower Bridge viewpoint was shaded and therefore a little cold so we didn't stay to long before heading back up the trail. We enjoyed the hike until we rounded the same corner and the wind was back.

Tower Bridge. It reminded us of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Seth by the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia.  Do you see the resemblence?

Seth, Rich and Jenna hiking on dry trails.

Joe hiking on dry trails

Jenna and Joe on a snowy trail.

Elaine near the top where it was windy and cold.

I was determined we would have a good dinner that night so we went to the restaurant.  We found what we wanted to order only to realize it was on the lunch menu, not the dinner menu and we were not there during lunch time.  So we found alternate choices and thought we paid a lot for mediocre food.  I guess we should have tried the grocery store/microwave option again!

The next day the forecast showed storms and wind.  Thinking that would not be fun to hike in we decided to just head home instead. We drove home with bright blue skies and didn't see a storm until we were almost home. Certainly not everything went just how I had wanted, but that's OK.  We had a lot of fun together (except for a little section of a hike when one child was done playing nice) and were glad we had gotten away for a few days. All of our travel experiences have taught us to be flexible in our circumstances and to be able to enjoy less than perfect conditions.