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I woke up at about 5:15am and drove off. Soon into a mild snowfall. In Cedar City, after filling up up gas, I turned off onto a side road which would take me east towards Bryce National Park. The road was snow covered most of the way. Some drifts were actually quite bad, and I wouldn't want to have driven this in just a little car. It was very slow going. Eventually I got onto the 89, and it was in better condition. Then onto Bryce.
Extremely disappointingly, the government shut down was still ongoing. Bryce was still open, but due to having no paid workers they didn't have as much plowed and open as they normally would in the winter. The road was shut down past sunset point. I had planned to stop at these, and Inspiration and Bryce Points, to take photos. Before doing a hike farther south along the road. That plan went out the window of course.
Getting out of the car at sunset point, I just left with my full winter clothing on, but no backpack, just my camera in my jacket pocket. Thinking to just take some photos, then consider my options. As usually happens with me, I got sucked into hiking all the way along the rim trail to Bryce Point. I thankfully was wearing my icers, but I stupidly didn't have any food or water with me. Nor did I have my tripod.
Views from the rim trail near Sunset Point.
The trail was technically closed just before Inspiration Point, but many people were hiking up to that viewpoint.
Views at Inspiration Point. Its hard to convey the vast proportions of the views from each of these points. So I attempted to stitch panoramas together. The photo quality goes down, but it gives a better idea of what you can see in real life.
Almost no one was continuing on the Rim Trail past Inspiration Point. I wasn't concerned about conditions though. The trail was only under a foot or so of snow, and not icy. Though it was exposed on one side down to the canyon. It stayed away from that edge by a fair margin, and therefore was perfectly safe in my opinion for me to hike by myself in my icers. Another factor in my continuing on, was that no one was around to see me do so, and therefore follow me even though they most likely shouldn't. I never want to entice any people less well equipped, and less used to these conditions to follow me.
This was the most exposed section of the trail, where it becomes a bit narrow and you are hiking right next to the canyon drop off on the left hand side. It is right after Inspiration point. It was still easy, and after this the rest was far less exposed. The trail was usually a placed a bit back from the canyon edge in the trees. Coming out at corners, so you could see the view.
The views along the canyon trail were varied and amazing. I ended up being quite happy that instead of doing my original plan, I was forced to hike this instead. Just visiting the viewpoints is great, but seeing them all lined together by hiking along the Rim Trail, was definitely better.
Views along the Rim Trail.
A giant window in the lighter formations to the left, above the darker formations down in the canyon below.
At the far end at Bryce Point a cold wind was blowing up from the valley, so despite how lovely it was there I couldn't stay long.
More views from Bryce Point. A truly spectacular spot. Which I had all to myself (this must be extremely rare), on this cold December day. I would expect hordes of crowds here in the summer.
A tree helped me take this photo (since I didn't have my tripod), on the way back along the Rim Trail.
Back at Sunset Point after hiking the Rim Trail.
I had some food, then actually packed up a bag to do a short hike down into the canyon. I originally didn't plan on going that far, so I didn't look at the map all that carefully. But once again I couldn't stop myself, and ended up hiking the entire Navajo / Queens Garden loop. Which returns you up to Sunrise Point, then you walk the Rim Trail from there back to Sunset Point. It was a lovely little loop, and again I'm glad I did it.
Starting down the Navajo Trail you first reach Thor's Hammer.
Then the trail descends switchbacks between two giant walls of cliffs. This reminded me slightly of the switchbacks going up to Angels Landing the year before in Zion. Then there are some natural bridges, hidden around a corner at the end. After which your out into the open bottom of the canyon. The Navajo Loop would continue back up to the Rim to the right. This part of the trail was closed though, and with the number of people around I respected the closure, and instead continued to the left. This led me along the bottom of the canyon to Queens Garden.
Queens Garden and its hoodoo formations.
Continuing along the Queens Garden trail. This photo is staged, as I am facing the opposite direction I hiked. There were so many colorful hoodoo formations along this trail. As well as a few man made tunnels and other interesting features. It was so different from the Rim Trail, it was a great easy second hike for the day. My actual plan for this day probably wouldn't have been any better.
Near the end of the loop there is this precarious perch that makes a good photo opp. I can't recommend sitting here by any means, its quite the drop off on all sides, so be very careful if you try it. Especially in the snow. I was watching some other people pose here, and help them take photos, so I just couldn't resist getting one of my own though.
After getting back to the car, I decided against waiting for sunset and drove off to my next stop of the day: Mystic Hot Springs. By the time I got there it was sunset. I had a lovely hot shower, which was a real treat. My hair was becoming quite the filthy mess by this point. Then I got into the hot springs after it had become dark. So I couldn't get any photos unfortunately. After relaxing for some time, and talking to a man from Ohio who had recently been to Banff, I had to get out. I still had to finish my drive up the 89 to a national forest spot near Fifth Water Hot Springs. So that I was close enough to hike in very early in the morning.
I stopped at a KFC for dinner, then continued on. The drive was taxing, as the small towns it goes through seemed never ending. Eventually I got out onto the US-6 and found my parking area. I do love the National Forests in the USA. It was about -13°C when I went to bed. This was going to be my coldest night yet.
Day 7 - December 29 (Saturday)
I woke up at 3:45AM, cold. I got up and ran the far for ~5 minutes to fill it with warm air again, then got back into bed. After that I managed to sleep till 8am, though it was still a bit chilly in the end. I pulled the wool blanket I had been using to protect my feet from the truck, up over the sleeping bag. This seemed to help, rather than hinder (by decreasing the loft of my down sleeping bag). It was -15°C when I got up at 8am and drove off, eating some nuts and beef jerky in the car for breakfast, and doing without coffee. The trail head for Fifth Water Hot Springs is along the Diamond Fork Road.
The whole time I was planning this trip, I'd wished there was a way I could have avoided doing Fifth Water Hot Springs on a Saturday. I knew it would be crowded despite it being winter, and despite the road being closed a full 6km from the regular trail head. The parking lot had a few cars, but wasn't full this early in the day. So I started off. The road portion was a bit boring. Eventually I got to the Three Forks trail head, and turned off onto the actual trail. This was more pleasant to walk along. Though I was extremely glad I brought my icers, as two sections of the trail were sheer ice and looked very dangerous without them.
Hiking along the trail, which follows Fifth Water Creek. Its a quite 4km and 238m up to the springs from the Three Forks trail head. It took my only 1h 10min to do the whole hike from the road closure.
When I got to the springs there were only three couples in the main area, and two of those were leaving. I couldn't believe my luck to have the place mainly to myself. One of the girls was nice enough to take some photos for me. She was extremely obliging, and even suggested I go up to the other pools to get more photos. I was very impressed with her patience. I would never have gotten any photos here otherwise.
The lower pool of the main area, which has a waterfall coming off the upper pools into it.
The upper green pool, which I sat in for the majority of the time I was here.
The upper blue pool, and a lot of little waterfalls leading into it.
A short panorama I stitched together of the upper pools of that main area. A truly lovely little spot to spend a chilly morning.
There were some more pools (possibly hotter?) above the main area (shown here), though those were quite shallow from the looks of it, and not as large. As well, just below there was one last pool, though it couldn't possibly have been as hot.
After the two couples left, not too many people showed up for a full two hours. I sat alone in my pool (the deeper green one) enjoying the warmth and the natural beauty of the place.
Then when more people showed up I got out, changed, and headed back out. It was basically right at the point that I'd been sitting still to long, and wanted to get out anyway. So that was perfect timing! There were a lot of people in the pools by the time I changed, and many more hiking up. I was extremely glad I'd planned this correctly, and gotten there bright and early.
I drove off down the US-6 which lead into Provo and got back onto the I-15. Stopped at the the Starbucks by the REI in Salt Lake City and then continued on. I ended up staying in Hawkins Reservoir again that night. The whole way it was a bit snowy and overcast, but the roads so far had been good.
I was restless that night and didn't sleep very well. Getting up around midnight and reading some more before finally settling down.
Day 8 - December 30 (Sunday)
I woke up at 8am to continue driving back to Calgary. Originally I had planned to hike in a state park in Utah, but the cold temperatures were wearing me down. So instead I'd changed my mind, and decided to drive home early so I could spend New Years Eve with Heath.
As I passed Idaho Falls the road conditions deteriorated. It was a snow storm for most of the way back up to Calgary. It was sunny for a while around Butte, but really terrible going over Elk Pass beyond that. The wind was strong and the road was completely covered. Visibility was very low, and the steep descent was nerve wracking. I only arrived at Boulder at the bottom of that section at 3pm.
I decided to take a break and see if the storm would wear itself out. Driving through town to Boulder Hot Springs. The lady at the desk helpfully looked up the weather for me, and said the main part of the storm would end around 8pm. I first went into the outdoor pool, but the wind was too strong, and it was too cold outside for that. So I went back into the indoor pools. These are connected to the change rooms, and therefore separate for women and men. There was also a cold plunge pool, and a steam room. I sat in the small square room containing the hot pool for a long time. Occasionally going outside for a moment to cool off. There wasn't much to see, but there was no one around and the hot water was relaxing as always. It was my own subterranean oasis.
I eventually got out after two hours, and drove back to the gas station in Boulder. The woman behind the counter said she had been urging everyone who came in to stop driving and take a break. Conditions were just too bad. I set up my window covers, and took a nap where I was parked.
I woke up at 8pm. I had been having nightmares about slipping around on the road and eventually crashing over the edge. Apparently the long drive was getting to me. I bought a coffee and started off again. At this point I'd run out of Mythos and stated a new audio book Heath had got for me: Sharp Objects. Which was a mystery novel. The characters were all very messed up. So it was a bit of a depressing listen, but interesting at least, and kept me awake.
The road to Helena was still all downhill, which I cursed on my way down. Once there it became slightly easier. The next pass was also less stressful, and in some time I was at Great Falls. Some parts of the road at this point were basically dry, while others appeared and felt to be mainly covered in black ice. It was still rather slow going. I stopped at a rest area in the deep gully, and took another nap from 2am to 5:30am. Then continued on the next day to Calgary. Making it back in plenty of time to have New Years Eve dinner at a sushi restaurant, and then go to a party at Heath's cousins house.
Total distance for the trip 5315km.
Next time I plan on staying down longer, in case the roads are bad to make it more worth while. Also possibly not going at Christmas, so I don't have to endure backlash from my family. I may even go down to Arizona instead of Nevada. Though I still have Death Valley to see out in California, if I do Nevada again. Its 50/50 at this point.
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