BRYCE CANYON, Utah — Yovimpa Pass. It's a Paiute word meaning "pine tree ridge." I should start gathering a Paiute glossary for Max Tracks, because in the last Max Tracks, we learned that "Panguitch" means "Big Fish." Both are fun words. I encourage you to say them out loud!
In the news biz, some weeks are just comfort food weeks. I'm sure you all have similar experiences. You push through the tough stuff, and go home to pasta and pie.
This trip came in one of those weeks, so I didn't even think about where I'd go until the afternoon before the trip.
I turned to the geographic equivalent of comfort food for me...the always enchanting Bryce Canyon.
I was shocked I could! Turns out if you're up for hiking a couple miles, you can get last minute reservations at backcountry campsites in Bryce.
Honestly, I had never even thought of the words "backpacking" and "Bryce" together before this trip. I always thought of Bryce as the little park of day hikes.
As often happens, I was wrong.
So off I went, leaving late as always, which is dumb when you are hiking in to camp.
The trail from Rainbow Point on the south end of the park road is a steep downhill from point to point. It's the kind of downhill that leaves your quads quivering, especially when you're a middle aged guy who isn't in peak condition and packed way too heavy.
Here's the thing...I needed those three cameras, and the phone and iPad, and the guitar, and the refrigerator.
Ready for an actual confession?
I set up my tent in the wrong spot. You are learning about this before the park rangers, unless you are a park ranger, in which case you are reading it at EXACTLY the SAME TIME!
So here's the dish: I got there at dusk. Saw above the trail to one side the big sign for the food prep area, which is smartly set apart from the tents so bears don't think I'm the freeze dried chili.
I looked to the other side of the trail, where there was a level, tent sized patch of gravel clearly set out on that spot for my tent! Yes there were two signs nearby saying camp over there, but they weren't as big and it was dark.
That's the confession: Illegal tent placement! I didn't mean to do it. I plead ignorance and inattentiveness, but I am guilty.
The next morning, after cracking a rib (watch the video. It still hurts but the trip was worth it), and having some breakfast at the WELL MARKED food prep site. I looked across to my tent and saw one (really small and low) sign saying don't camp here, and other saying campsite that way (an arrow).
So I moved my camp for night two. Then I took a nap. Then I woke up and hiked around for a while. Then I strummed my guitar. Then I ate and went to bed. Seriously, I love being alone in the middle of nowhere. I should go to a convention for people who feel the same way.
Walking south from the southern-most car-accessible overlook in Bryce, once you get a quarter mile from the Riggs Spring Loop trailhead, you are swallowed up in the Bristlecone forest, and in no time you emerge along a part of the canyon's rim most visitors miss.
Bristlecones should be ranked higher in the AP poll of trees. Bristlecone pines feel like old holy ones to me. On a landscape where the soil is mostly sand on top of sandstone, these giants grow slowly and strong. Their bark is so craggy it almost looks like the crag might go all the way through to the other side. That deep dry epidermis hugs the living center. They just stand there, protecting the silence, waiting for the day they are the lightning rod. Some of their colleagues stand tall and charred nearby...struck in a recent (by tree standards) storm.
When you camp or hike here, the rule is lay off the trees. Don't use them to hang a hammock or support gear. Protect your elders.
This is the upslope to Bryce from the south...where the high elevation forest still dominates the immediate surroundings. The brilliant oranges and yellows of the cliffs peek through the trees and hint at the Seussian Spires at the heart of the Park.
That's kind of a nice way to say this is a part of Bryce that is a little less Bryce-like. If you have not visited Bryce before, you need to see the stuff of posters and postcards. The spires, the hoodoos, the arches and windows. They are magnificent.
On the other hand, if you feel like you already know Bryce Canyon and want to go somewhere new. That's what I found here...a new spot to enjoy an old favorite.
Just pack light, trust the rangers more than the website, and remember every step downhill means a step back up.
