I've been wanting to visit Bryce National Park for some time now. I've always wanted to see the hoodoos up close and hike around that beautiful place. So, I told Derek we were going this year. We let his family know, and they wanted to join us. Grandma found us a place in Panguitch and we were able to meet her and Grandpa and the Potter family there for a few nights. We were bummed that the other half of the Bruton kids couldn't make it, but it was still a great time with family.
The boys were CHAMPS on the drive down. It's only about 3 hours to Panguitch from Provo, but still. They were so great. It really makes the trip go much faster. Henry was just excited to see Grandpa and Grandma, I think, and John just had fun playing with the toys in the car and mooching off Derek's Fresh Strawberry Shake. I drove the whole way, which is rather unusual when we're all together, but it was such a nice drive!
We arrived at "the house" as Henry called it around 8:30. The boys giggled and ran around with their cousins, Ian and Luke, for about ten minutes while we unloaded. Then, we did the bedtime routine and got everyone in bed. Henry was pretty excited, because the bed he chose to sleep in had a green headboard. "A green bed, Mama! Just for me! I have to sleep in it." Because Kimberly, Wyatt, and Allyson decided last minute not to come (illness), Henry and John actually had their own room. Which was great! Johnny took a little bit to go to sleep, but once he and Henry were out--they were out all night!
The next morning, the boys woke up around 8, which was just right to get ready, have French Toast for breakfast, and get out the door to the park! We decided to hike the Navajo Loop with Lori Ann, Stephen, and their boys first, which was a lot of fun. We took the shuttle up to Sunset Point, which was of course a highlight for Henry. He loves taking the bus. He was our little navigator, too, using the map to tell us where we were going.
Oh man, that first look down at the Amphitheater was totally worth the whole trip. AMAZING. The hoodoos and other rock formations were beautiful and everything I hoped they would be. It was a fantastic view from the top, looking down at all the incredible beauty that our Heavenly Father created for us. Henry was pretty excited looking out at all the rocks, and Johnny kept pointing at everything, jabbering away. We didn't stay up top for long, however. We got right down into the hoodoos!
We started hiking towards a formation called "Wall Street" first. The switchbacks were fun; Henry liked looking up and Johnny and I as we were above them, and Johnny loved it when I ran to catch up. John was determined to touch as many rocks as rock walls as he possibly could and got very mad at me whenever I moved on. He was completely captivated, especially when we got right in to "Wall Street" where the rocks and quite close together, a little slot canyon.
The boys both love the backpacks we have for them, but they were eager to get down and scamper around in the canyon with their cousins, too. John loved peeking around everything and did his best to keep up with Henry, Ian, and Luke. Henry was just happy to jump around. The four boys played around for a while, climbing up and down the rocks and hunkering down in the little caves, but then it was time to move on.
Navajo Loop has a bit of a flat part going through the bristle cone pines, which is a nice break in between the descent and the climb. We had a little snack and some water in the shade down there, then headed up.
In hindsight, I wish we would have checked Henry's blood down there. He kept telling us he was done and wanted to go home, and when we finally checked him at the end of the hike his blood sugar was quite high. It's one of those things we are still learning, even though it's 5 months since his diagnosis. I look at the the pictures of the second half of the hike and I can see in his eyes he doesn't feel good. Just one of those realities now, one of those things we need to do better at.
Anyway, the hike up was a bit tough for me. We figure Johnny is about 20% of my body weight, and that is quite a bit to be lugging up and down a canyon. But we persevered. I was particularly excited to see "Thor's Hammer," one of the most famous hoodoos in Bryce Canyon, and it was towards the end of this hike. Johnny was getting a little tired, so I let him have his binky, something I usually only let him do when it's time for sleep. Unfortunately, as I was snapping a picture of Henry and Derek, John took his binky out of his mouth and dropped it. We watched helplessly as it bounced off rock after rock all the way down the canyon, right next to "Thor's Hammer." And then Johnny let us have it. He was so mad that Daddy wouldn't go get it. He kept yelling "baba!" (what he calls a binky) and tried to fling himself out of the backpack. This made the hike up even more interesting: having 25 pounds of angry boy flinging himself back and forth on your back while you try and hike up a canyon is not easy.
By the time we reached the top, we were sure grateful to be there.
We met up with Grandpa and Grandma at the visitor's center after that, where we had a quick lunch. Henry was really excited about a 3D map of the park, where he pointed out the exact spot where Johnny threw his binky down the canyon. Everyone was really tired and a thunderstorm was on its way, so we made our way back to the house to relax for the afternoon before dinner.
No one in our family really took a nap, though. John fell asleep in the car and didn't sleep much in his crib, Henry had just had insulin and was definitely not tired. Ian and Luke crashed for quite a while, as did their parents, which was good for them.
Despite that, after dinner, it was our little quartet that headed back into the park for another hike. As we were driving in, I kept thinking maybe we should turn back, everyone is tired, especially when Henry fell asleep. I'm glad I didn't listen to my nagging, though, as this was the best part of the entire trip.
We hiked the Queen's Garden trail, which starts at Sunrise Point. We got there just as the sun set, (ironic, right?) and it was beautiful; the clouds were gorgeous, the colors brilliant in the setting sun. This hike was amazing. The way down was nowhere near as steep, and it had incredible views the whole way down and fantastic hoodoos, too. I made up a silly hoodoo song and dance, which Henry and Johnny both LOVED. We laughed, had races, talked about how beautiful everything was, and were just US. It's so nice to have those moments, when we can truly be ourselves: silly and goofy, but also talk about the serious bits. We stopped and said a little prayer together as a family to thank Heavenly Father for the beautiful creations we were seeing, which was awesome. I always want my kids to remember where the beauty in this world comes from, who made the cool rocks and the mountains, and why they're there: because Heavenly Father loves us.
We hiked down the canyon until just a little after 8pm, when it was starting to get dark. Then we turned around and headed back. At this point, Henry really wanted to be with me and John was reaching for his Daddy, so we switched. So silly. Now I was lugging the heavy boy UP the canyon. Good thing it wasn't as steep, or I would have been in big trouble. Henry was awesome, though, and kept saying "you can do it, Mama!" and "Go, Mama, Go!" It was nice to have someone to encourage me up the hills.
When we reached the car, it was completely dark. But oh, it was the best hike we've ever done as a family. The boys crashed that night, completely exhausted after a full day of fun. But Derek and I ventured out again to take a look at the stars and try and take a few star pictures--our first attempt at that.
Oh wow, the starts were BRILLIANT. I've never EVER seen so many, and the Milky Way is so bright down there. We had decided earlier to just go to Red Canyon, which is jut outside the park. We thought we'd hike in a bit, but when we arrived at the pull out and saw how DARK DARK DARK it was, we decided to stay by the car. But wow, the views of the heavens were still amazing and definitely worth the effort to go out so late.
The next morning, we had breakfast and packed up. The Potters headed home, but Grandpa and Grandma and the four of us headed in for one last hike: Mossy Cave. That was a fun one!
It was quite short, and Henry really could have walked the whole way, but he loves riding in the backpack, so that's what we did. There were bridges over a little stream, where we threw rocks, and then the cave which had "awesome green moss, Mommy!". But the best part was the end. There's a small waterfall, but a pretty good sized stream at the top flowing over the beautiful red rock. First thing I did when we got there was plop John in the water where he kicked and splashed. I took my shoes off and was right in there with him, and Henry and Derek followed right after. It was so refreshing! And it was awesome, because despite the smooth rocks, it wasn't slippery! Not a bit. We walked up and down the stream and played for about 25 minutes, throwing pine cones around and splashing. But when Henry's pine cone went down the waterfall and he started bawling, we knew it was time to go. A bit of insulin and a snack later, we were packed up and heading back. Which turned out to be a REALLY good thing, because less than 10 minutes after we got in the car it was POURING rain.
We grabbed lunch out the back of the vehicles at Ruby's Inn, where we had huge rain drops pouring down on us. The boys sat in the front seats with us while we ate, and then Derek and I braved the downpour to get them buckled up. We were laughing at laughing as we leaned into the car, rushing to strap them in safely as the rain soaked our backs.
We had one final stop on our adventure, and that was at the official Bryce Canyon National Park sign. Heavenly Father granted us about 3 minutes of no rain so we could snap the traditional picture, and then we were off, waving goodbye to the hoodoos and the trees as we started on our way back to Provo.
It was a fantastic couple of days for our family. We loved hiking together. Henry kept saying "I love hiking. We need to do this more often." And we agreed. Let's do Bryce Canyon more often, too.
