Utah Again, Day 5: Sunrise is Just a Word

The weather was somewhat rainy today. It made it difficult to plan for hikes or other activities. However, we had lunch with Catherine's parents and decided that the weather would allow for a drive and possibly would clear enough for a hike. We drove to Bryce Canyon National Park, which is a beautiful route through a prairie/ high desert landscape.

We arrived in Bryce Canyon National Park, which is a very interesting location. It is similar in some ways to Cedar Breaks, and somewhat different from Zion. It feels more temperate and less desert-like than Zion, and is much cooler. They also appear to have bat boxes.

We decided to go to Sunrise Point, which caused a bit of a discussion. Anthony pointed out that "sunrise is just a word" when someone suggested that we might go to Sunset Peak instead. He was trying to point out that Sunrise Peak was beautiful even in the afternoon, and was not only suitable for viewing at sunrise. However, this lead to a lot of other statements, like "a hike is just a state of mind" and "Brian Head is just in your head." Eventually we got to the parking area but had a bit of trouble finding the trailhead. Catherine was actually the one who found it: she is apparently now an expert in geography and navigation.

Some of the trails have interesting, fairytale-like names.

We went to Sunrise Point and found that it is in fact a very real place and not merely a word. It would be beautiful at sunrise, but it was beautiful in the afternoon as well.

Catherine suggested that Anthony and Daniel could do the Queen's Garden trail, which involved a hike down into the amphitheater and then back up. She and Katie waited at the point.

There were amazing views from the hike down into Queen's Garden. It seems almost prehistoric, like a setting where you would expect to see dinosaurs and pterosaurs.

Daniel and Anthony during the Queen's Garden hike.

We left Bryce in time to get back to Brian Head and get on the road to St. George. Catherine's brother, Fr. Michael, had been at a conference in Kansas City and was flying in to St. George to join the group. Since we tend to stay up a bit later and his plane was coming in at 9:00PM, we were the ones who went over to get him. We got back to Brian Head and then left in time to have dinner and pick Fr. Michael up at the airport.

We had dinner at a Peruvian restaurant called Viva Chicken. Catherine got a chicken sandwich and Daniel got a rice bowl, and we also had some plantains. We seem to have eaten a surprising amount of South American food on this trip, which isn't exactly what we expected in Utah. We also tried Inca Kola, which we had heard of before and seen people drinking but never tried. It isn't really much like cola at all: it tastes more like a cream soda.

We then drove to the Saint George Airport, which was very small. Fr. Michael's plane landed and he was at our car within fifteen minutes. We then drove all the way back to Brian Head. When we turned to go up the mountain he felt like we were going to the middle of nowhere, which is somewhat accurate. Catherine's parents came over to visit for a bit. We will probably have a restful day tomorrow, especially because it might be rainy and stormy again. There are a lot of beautiful drives and fun things to do indoors as well, however, so if hikes or mountain biking aren't options we will find something else to do!