We started the day with a delicious breakfast, care of the Bryce
Trails B&B in Tropic. Our first stop was mere minutes down the
main road at Mossy Cave. The early morning sun made the red rocks glow
and Eric found plenty to photograph.
We saw many wildflowers and lizards along this trail but it was already pretty hot, so I knew we were in for some tough hiking.
After about half a mile, the trail splits and you can head one way toward a waterfall...
...or the other way toward a cool cave with moss hanging overhead.
Once we got into the main area of the park, we parked at Sunrise Point and started the Queens Garden Trail which is known for being the "easiest" way to get into the canyon. The trail started as a steep downward slope, but got easier due to some well-placed switchbacks. Viewing the hoodoos from below was totally worth the climb back up.
The Queens Garden trail wound through the rock formations and we passed underneath some arches in the rock.
We had full sun for the whole way down, but the clouds started to roll in for the return trip. Thankfully, the temperature dropped considerably.
Eric and I just really like this shot of a lonely tree growing right out of the red sand on a hillside.
The longest hike we planned to do was out of the way, so it was time to drive to some overlooks...
