An Ice Cream Fever Dream on the Trail at Bryce Canyon

The Fairyland Loop Trail at Bryce Canyon National Park begins with a lengthy walk along the canyon rim overlooking the canyon’s fantastical limestone walls, curtains and columns. The trail offers a close-up view of the pastel-colored formations and desert scrub as it descends steeply into the canyon to Bryce Creek and back up to the rim.

• Fairyland Loop Trail (Sept. 20, 2021), 7.8 miles

Our Journal

Bryce Canyon National Park was a bonus stop on a drive to Colorado to brighten the gray of the pandemic with some fall color. The weather was cool but sunny – perfect for hiking in the desert.

The loop through the hoodoos is like navigating a dreamscape of Neapolitan ice cream. Imagine orderly scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry – plus nut toppings – just beginning to drip, slump and swirl toward the bottom of a confectionary canyon. But without the sticky. Definitely throw in some orange dreamsicles.

We didn’t see any golden aspens, but the green of gnarled bristle-cone pines and desert chaparral contrasted nicely with the stone pastels. We enjoyed lunch in the dry creek bed on a large chunk of driftwood,

The climb out of the canyon is steep. We were more than ready to crest the rim and head back to Escalante for some refreshment. Finding a pub at the end of the trail in rural Utah can be tough, but we were in luck. Escalante is home to the only bar in Garfield County.

Cheers!

In September 2021 we drove from our home Coastside on the San Francisco Peninsula to Colorado via southern Utah. It was our first trip off of the the West Coast since the pandemic reached the United States in January 2020.