Our Bryce Canyon Weekend Getaway

The last couple of weeks were busy. The busy season has been crazy and I had a few nights that were midnight or later. I have been pretty stressed. Fortunately the client I am on filed their financial statements on Thursday. Since the audit was finished the team I was working on decided to take Friday off.

Alison and I took advantage of our long weekend by going on a weekend getaway to Bryce Canyon. As soon as I knew the financial statements were filed I booked our room at Ruby's Inn. At this time of year, you can get a great deal on accommodations. We caught up on our sleep on Friday morning and then drove to Bryce. On our way, Alison tracked our favorite food truck, Cupbop. We stopped there for lunch. We enjoyed talking, listening to music, and learning from podcasts on our drive down.

We arrived in the late afternoon and headed straight into the park. We are planning to visit a few National Parks this year so we bought an annual pass. Our first stop was Sunset viewpoint. There you get some of the quintessential views of Bryce Canyon.

Bryce Canyon in the snow was different. The white snow against the red rock provided a beautiful contrast. We decided to hike the Queen's Garden Loop. It is a pretty short (3 mile) and fairly easy hike. This trip was more difficult because it was snowy, muddy, and icy. The nice thing about this time of year is that the trail was completely deserted. We saw maybe 5 people on the trail. It was so nice to be out among the beauty of the forest and the red rock. It was calm and serene and relaxing. The canyon was especially beautiful because the sun started to set as we hiked.

After our hike, we headed to Ruby's Inn. They were adequate accommodations. The only downside to staying at Ruby's inn this time of year is that most of the restaurants in the area are closed. We had to search a little bit to find somewhere for dinner. We found a little place within a few minutes of the hotel. We were pretty tired so we called it a night after dinner. We thought we might get up in the middle of the night to take pictures of the stars, but the moon was so bright and the stars were dim so it didn't work out.

The next morning we woke up and got breakfast at Ruby's inn restaurant. We wanted to do something new so we headed to Escalante. We have never gone there before. It was an hour away from Bryce. The drive over was uneventful. We stopped by the visitor center. It was closed, but fortunately, the bathrooms were open. They also had some signs with helpful information. They also had a lizard statue in front so, of course, we took a picture.

We headed over to the trailhead for Calf Creek Falls. We read that this is one of the most popular hikes in Utah. It didn't disappoint. It is a six-mile round trip hike. It was a beautiful clear day. It was so quiet and peaceful out on the trail. It was also nice and warm. For most of the hike, we were in the sun and really enjoying the warmth. There was one long stretch that was in the shade. This portion of the trail was covered in ice and snow, but it didn't last too long. Otherwise, the trail was dry and relatively easy. We didn't see very many other people during our hike. When we got to the falls there was one other small group, but other than that, we had the falls all to ourselves. We set up our tripod and took some pictures. The falls were really an amazing sight.



We saw a bunny on the trail

On our way back to Bryce we stopped by Kodachrome Basin State Park. This was another place we had never been to before. We took the turnoff in Tropic and drove back along a rural road for about nine miles before arriving at the park. By the time we arrived, it was getting later in the day. When we pulled up a very friendly park ranger was there to greet us. We saw the entrance fee was $8 and we thought for a minute whether or not it was worth it since we would only be there for an hour or two. Alison asked the ranger what there was to see at Kodachrome and he immediately responded by telling us about the unique stone formations. He also pointed out a hike he thought we might be interested in. We were sold. We paid the fee and took a map. The hike he recommended was a short hike called Angel's palace. It was perfect because it provided beautiful views of the entire state park. We enjoyed the hike and had fun taking pictures. Kodachrome is really a beautiful little state park.

We stopped and got dinner in Tropic before heading back to Ruby's and calling it a night.

On Sunday morning we slept in. Then we packed up our stuff and headed back to Bryce. We meandered through the park stopping at all the viewpoints. We ended up driving all of the ways to the end of the park. We enjoyed the beautiful views.

I was sad to see such a fun weekend come to an end. This weekend was a nice reprieve from the worry and responsibility the week will bring. It was great spending time with Alison in such incredible places. This trip really makes me excited about all the adventures we will have in 2016.