It's not a Canyon, it's an Amphitheater

That's all very well, Bryce Canyon National Park, but I hiked it, and it felt like 200 canyons.



We spent 3 days in the park, hiking a different loop trail every day.  I could bore you with hundreds spectacular shots of red rocks because there is a photo op at every turn of every trail. But I'll try to restrain myself.



Our favourite trail was the Fairyland loop, which took us 4-1/2 hours right from the campsite and dropped down into the canyon and then back up and down over and over.

On the first night the campsite was full soon after we arrived.  A young fellow walked up to us and asked if he could put his tent up in our campsite.  We wound up having a great 3 days hanging out in the evenings with Van, a data analyst and rock climber from Washington, DC, and our other neighbour, Laurent, a Corsican (French) who lives in San Francisco and is trying to see as many National Parks as he can before his visa runs out next year. 

My sister Dorothea had recommended Willis Creek Slot Canyon as an excellent hike in Utah, and when I finally got around to googling it, it turned out to be just a few miles away from the small town of Tropic, the site of our favourite coffee stop and the only real grocery in the vicinity.



As we rattled our way down the dirt road in the middle of nowhere we wondered if we misread the directions, but then we turned a corner and there were 20 cars parked.  Nevertheless, the canyon was long enough that we were not overrun and often found ourselves alone with no one in sight. 



My definition of overcrowded is if I get tired of saying hello to everyone we pass, it's too crowded; this didn't happen in Willis Canyon. Bryce Canyon certainly didn't pass the test, but it is a National Park during Easter week, and definitely less crowded than Grand Canyon, and reportedly Zion this week (reported Laurent, who as I said was trying to visit every National Park, so drove there for the day after we told him the campsites were all booked up).

The slot canyon went on for several miles, then spread out into a wider canyon.  We turned around after an hour and walked back.  Really a great hike!