Peek-a-boo

Tuesday July 5, 2011
Bryce Canyon National Park

David here. 
With the forecast of rain in the afternoon,
we planned an early start
so we would be back before the heat or rain. 
I did all the preparations last night
while Sherry was blogging,
so we were up at 6 AM and out the door at 6:15
with coffee in hand and hot water for the purist,
watered Camelbacks, breakfast and snacks. 

The trail is called the Peek-a-boo Loop
and is 3 miles of wandering up, down and around
in the Bryce Amphitheater
among all the hoodoos
we had been looking down on from Sunrise, Sunset,
Inspiration and Bryce Points
as described and pictured in earlier posts (from the Rim Trail). 

Because the Peek-a-boo Loop is down in the amphitheater,
you need to take one of two other trails to access it. 
We had already hiked one of those trails
so we took the one that leaves from Bryce Point
(Under the Rim Trail)
and is 2.5 miles round trip making the total hike 5.5 miles. 

Because we were out before the buses were running
we had to drive up to Bryce Point,
but we were still heading down the trail at 6:45 AM,
estimating we would be out by noon or 12:30 PM.

 

First view from the top:

 

 

One of many cautions ...

 

And sure enough, here it is
and Sherry throwing caution to the wind stepping into it. 
No, sorry, wrong Sherry -
this Sherry is proceeding WITH caution.  ;)

 

A closer look at a different view

 

And about an hour later
we were down to the Peek-a-boo Loop.

 

Now you know this place inspires
a LOT of impulse photo shooting
numbering well into the hundreds,
now double that since we each have a camera,
and you can see my dilemma.
I volunteered for this assignment
after Sherry did both the
Fairyland Trail and Navajo/Queens Garden
which were both equally spectacular and photo laden. 
What was I thinking?? 

Unlike Sherry,
I am not going to walk you through this one
in a nicely knit narrative,
that would take me far too long. 
Instead I will just run you through
four sets of my favorite pictures
from this hike, not in any particular order,
but categorized as
wildflowers,
colored rocks & sand,
Peek-a-boo windows,
tunnels and slots
and finally my overall favorites.

First the wildflowers. 
This low growing (less than one inch tall)
cedar-like green is the only one of its kind
I have ever seen and it was literally covered
with tiny white trumpets as recently as yesterday. 
Today they have faded
but still impressive, it must have been quite a show.

 

And the lovely evening primrose
in both its glory and faded-glory colors.

 

Though not a wildflower,
when we were passing even the leaves of this ground cover
have taken on the colors of the neighborhood.

 

The prize for oddity goes to this one. 
It has leaves, so I am calling the delicately colored
inflated thingies flowers. 

 

 

 

I love these things
which I believe come after the flower of a clematis
- at least they do at the farm. 
These guys are wild so may be something different.

 

And this one is my personal favorite, the purple columbine!

 

Moving on to favorite colored rocks and sands,
check this one.

 

Coming round a corner we saw this one.

 

 

Yellow and pink on this one got me - beautiful!

 

 

Sherry couldn’t help herself,
she had to touch it.
She kept saying these orange and yellow and white
looked like Dreamsicles.
Remember them?

 

Odd but colorful.

 

Purple, orange, pink and mustard
- only Mother Nature can do this so well.

 

 

And the graceful sweep of the sandy colored slopes are stunning too.

 

 

Our lunch spot.

 

Reminders of Yuletide every where.

 

Now for some of the features that got this trail its name. 
Check out this peeking hole.

 

And now a large, high, hidey hole.

 

Loved these windows between
a short, stout figure
and a pair of taller twins who appear to be dancing. 
Don't ask me why or how they are joined at the hip.

 

Absolute favorite windows which we saw
from many angles, all looking completely different
and all spectacular.

 

 

This small peeking hole

 

 

was found on the trail!!

 

 

Tunnel ahead.

 

 

Sweet view!  ;)

 

Another tunnel through a wall connecting different galleries.

 

 

 

Sometimes natural openings connect different spaces as well
so that there are always surprises coming along this trail.

 

Just lookie through here.

 

And what is through this tunnel?

 

Well peek-a-boo to you too!

 

You probably did not notice the keyhole in the cliff,
but watch this.

 

 

 

 

A double peek-a-boo to you.

 

 

and a single one.

 

 

And a great place for hide-and-seek too.

 

Look like something you might want to see out there??

 

Finally, here are some of my many favorite shots today.

A little happy dance in the foreground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So is he coming or going??

 

 

How about this for an inviting look ahead?

 

 

 

She's right, that right leg is skinny.
But stop looking,
pay attention to the trail and
the scenery.  :-)

 

 

 

  

This one is a howler!

 

 

Nice hat, nice expression, but a bit ghoulish.

 

 

Nice one to end with - just beautiful.

 

 

I could not help but feel a new appreciation
for the meaning of WONDERFUL after taking this hike.

Boy did we have fun!!!

And in the end, the rains did come - big time.
BUT not until AFTER we finished the hike!!

Thanks to Sherry for keeping taps
on Mother Nature's watering schedule!