Saturday, April 1, 2006

Bryce Canyon: Queens Garden and Wall Street & Other Lookouts


Archive Post. Photos taken in 2006, I finally decided to put together this post in 2017. Man I need to make it back down there again. So since it has been 11 years, things might be a little fuzzy, but I will try to be as accurate as possible.

Anyway, on our 1 year anniversary we decided to take our first adventure together and go see Bryce Canyon. My family went there all the time when I was a kid so it was something I wanted to revisit as an adult.

The Queens Garden/Wall Street trail is a 2.9 mile loop. Keep in mind like most trails in Bryce, it starts at the top, goes down, and then you need to climb back up. This was rougher on us back then than it is now, so something to keep in mind if you are not a hiker.

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Sunrise Point.

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Heading down into The Queens Garden.

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Some great hoodoos.

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Closer look.

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Cool formation.

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A pair of windows.

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More hoodoos.

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Great group of hoodoos. I think we are in the garden at this point.

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Little tunnel we had to pass through.

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The viewpoints above are nice, but walking amongst the hoodoos is truly something special.

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And there is Queen Victoria.

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Another shot.

At this point you can return the way you came another .09 miles for a total 1.8 mile trip, or continue along for a longer adventure. We decided to keep going.

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More hoodoos.

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Chipmunk.

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more hoodoos.

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Hoodoos and trees.

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Tight fit.

You have the option of retunring via Navajo Loop, or Wall Street. I can’t remember why we chose the longer wallstreet, but that is the way we did.

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Moe hoodoos. It really is neat seeing them from below.

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Trees growing in a narrow canyon. This was probably my favorite spot.

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Really narrow canyon.

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I guess technically this was my first slot canyon.

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Person for size.

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Looking up.

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Trees are amazing.

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Incredible down here.

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Another person for size.

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And then you have these crazy switchbacks to climb. Looking back down the Wall Street slot canyon.

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More switchbacks. This was tougher on our not used to hiking bones.

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nearing the top.

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Holy crap, I cant beleive we climbed up that!

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And Sunset Point. Now we just need to make our way back to the car at Sunrise Point. Only another half mile.

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More hoodoos.

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I think that is Thors Hammer there.

That was really an incredible hike, and it kind of made us realise that that is something we both enjoy doing. I am super glad we did and need to do it again. I do remember it being a little tough, and quite hot, but we still enjoyed it. 10 out of 10 squirrels!

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From here we decided to drive along the main road and enjoy the different view points.

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I think we are still at Sunset Point.

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I’m not 100% sure, but I think this is Inspiration Point.

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The Grotto this is at Bryce Point.

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View from Bryce Point.

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I think this is farview Point.

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Natural Bridge.

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Random crow in Agua Canyon.

Well, it’s fuzzy but I think I got the gist of it. I need to do the Queens Loop again someday. I really enjoyed seeing the hoodoos from below. I remember we were hot and uncomfortable doing the trails in April but we both had a great time. We returned in 2014 but experienced a winter storm, which was also a neat experience, but I think I would like to go back and enjoy the trail systems again.