We decided that Monica and Milo would go with Scott on his early morning photo session. Sunrise was pretty late (~7:30 a.m.) which made things a bit more bearable. Scott did want to be there early enough to watch the clouds light up before the sun comes up so we left the motel before 7. It was a better than average pre-sunrise cloud show for Bryce. There was even one interesting composition looking southward. A set of thin, fast moving clouds pinked up and Scott grabbed a photo just as they went over a hoodoo called The Sentinel.
The sunrise actually worked out pretty well. There were very few clouds on the horizon to interfere with the rising sun. Scott’s main objective for the morning was images of Thor’s Hammer. He tried a few different angles and came away with some decent stuff. He has some ideas for next time though… Here is one of the better panos of Thor’s Hammer from that morning.
Larger image
Scott decided that he had spent enough time with Thor’s Hammer for the morning and that Milo was probably getting somewhat restless in the car so he hiked the few hundred yards back up the trail to the car. Monica and Milo were just getting ready to leave, so we packed up and headed out for a trip around the Peekaboo Loop trail. This is our favorite trail in Bryce. We like to get started early to avoid the crowds and also get some nice light on sections of the trail. We tend to go around the loop clockwise as it seems to be less uphill and we get to Scott’s favorite set of white hoodoos (pictured below) sooner.
As we started moving again after taking photos of the white hoodoos Milo found a stick which he used to entertain himself. He mostly claimed, “Me want hit rocks!” You see the trail is cut into crumbling sandstone and Milo found it enjoyable to hit the sides of the trail and dislodge small chunks of sandstone. It looked crazy fun, but it didn’t do much for our pace. We tolerated it for stretches and disallowed it for other stretches. The one drawback to the Peekaboo Loop trail is that it is shared with horses. We were lucky in that it had just rained which decreased the horse generated dust on the trail tremendously. There were however still plenty of horse biscuits lying around on the trail. Previously in places like Yosemite, Milo had been very adamant that we avoid stepping in “horsie poop.” This day however was different…he wanted to step in “horsie poop.” As you can see his mother was thrilled 
I am not sure why she cared. She wasn’t the one carrying him on her shoulders from time to time….
One of the major landmarks along the Peekaboo Loop trail is The Wall of Windows. If you know where to look you can see them from a few places along the rim. However, the most striking way to see them is from the Peekaboo Loop trail. You can see them during a bit of the loop, but Scott’s favorite vantage point is when the trail goes under them. It is beautiful because there is this wall of rock with beautifully colored and shaped sand below it. Scott was pleased with how this image turned out as he has had trouble in the past getting an image of the this area that he likes. Monica and Milo again waiting patiently while Scott photographed the area.
There had been a fair bit of rain in Bryce over the past few weeks, but we were surprised at how much water was still around and flowing. There were small streams along the trail in many places. True to form Milo loved the water and wanted to play in it. What better to do with the water then get his stick wet? At nearly every puddle or stream Milo stated, “Me want get me stick wet!” Monica didn’t really want him getting wet and cold, so we kept telling him no. Finally, Scott relented with the caveat that only the stick and not the boy get wet. Milo sat down and had a great time playing in the water with his stick.
Milo taking a break.
A family picture taken near the end of the loop.
We finished the Peekaboo Loop trail and decided that instead of heading back up to the top of the rim we would continue on and take Milo to see the Queen Victoria hoodoo along the Queen’s Garden trail. It had taken us much longer than usual to do the Peekaboo Loop trail, so it was getting to be about lunch time. We figured we could eat in the shadow of the queen. One thing that I like about Bryce is that even during the harsh mid-day light you can see some beautiful light. Some cracks between the hoodoos are only lit up by the afternoon sun. It is quite beautiful even if the pictures aren’t spectacular. It is hard to see the “glowing” hoodoos in this downsized version, but if you look carefully you can pick out some of the glow, particularly in the lighter colored hoodoos.
Scott was trying to hurry things along and in the hurry incorrectly read the trail signs and missed the spur trail that leads to the Queen Victoria viewpoint. Milo was disappointed and Scott felt a bit silly, but I guess that is the price we pay for hurrying and not paying attention. By this time Monica and Milo were a bit tired so we went back to the motel. Scott also grabbed a quick nap and then returned to Bryce to take some pictures of the Silent City when it lights up. He was a bit upset about missing Queen Victoria so he quickly hiked that trail again and grabbed a few photos of the Queen Victoria hoodoo. He even made it back in time to take some photos of the Silent City when it was lit up. Scott really enjoys being around the Silent City when it lights up. It is some very beautiful lighting and isn’t visible from all viewing angles. It is really fun to listen to other people as they discover this beautiful scene.
Queen Victoria hoodoo.
The Silent City all lit up.
When Scott finished up taking photos he went back to the motel to pick up Monica and Milo before going to dinner. We decided to do the easy thing and eat at the restaurant located near the motel. We were unfortunately very disappointed as the food was average at best. Certainly not somewhere we will be eating again…
I do have more panos from this day. I will post them in another post as this post is already long and image laden.
