Exploring Bryce Canyon - Wall Street, Rainbow Point, Bristlecone Loop - Pt 5 - 2022/09/07

Let's wrap up our time here at Bryce Canyon National Park. 

Yesterday we had a fun hike going down the Navajo Trail. Today we're hitting it again, but taking a different path down. 

It starts the same at Sunset Point. 

But instead of taking Two Bridges to the bottom, we're headed down Wall Street. 

Hearing from many others on the trail, Wall Street is the favorite for going down. I'm glad to go down, but happy I'm not trying to go back up here!

Wall Street? Because of the close walls I suppose as you're going through the bottom. 

Kind crazy seeing the tall trees growing here. They have to stretch so high to get to the sunlight! And even then, they're only getting sunlight for a few hours of the day!

They are thankful for trees. 

In fact, Ian has a new mantra that he repeats every time he washes his hands in a public restroom. He refuses to take a paper towel to try his hands and says "Save the trees, save the world!"

There's many balancing rocks scattered throughout the area. I'm hoping we don't have any of those giant boulders we saw yesterday drop down on us! 

A mini arch. 

Another spot to take a rubbing for our "Hike the Hoodoos" challenge.

That rock looks very precariously balanced. 

Heading back up the other side. 

Resting in the shade. 

Once we got to the top, we hiked along the rim. 

Over to Sunrise Point. 

And over to the General Store. 

Grabbing our favorite sodas. 

The bees were persistent yesterday. They were even more persistent today, managing to sneak down into my bottle while I was drinking it. 

Passing one of the areas where all the Prairie Dogs hang out. 

Speaking to a Ranger here, they actually recommend staying clear of the Prairie Dogs because they are known to carry the Plague. Yes, that Plague. The same that caused 50 million deaths across the world back in the 14th century. 

We've spent most of our time here in the black rectangle section near the front of the park. We hopped in the car to go to the very end at Mile 18 to grab a few more trails. 

Let's go explore the Bristlecone Loop Trail. 

Here we saw lots more signs of life. 

I've heard of Peregrine Falcons of course (the fastest animal on earth) but didn't know this was their habitat. They can dive at speeds in excess of 200mph! We got our rubbing for this loop. 

A Bristlecone Pine, known as the oldest living species, reaching ages of 5000+ years.  

I see you. 

Looking out towards the canyon at Rainbow Point. 

On the way back, we stopped to see the Natural Bridge. 

Which is really just a mis-named arch. 

Time to go collect our reward! We've hiked so many of the trails here and made so many rubbings of the signs. Our reward is a cool vinyl sticker in the same style as the rubbings we made proclaiming "I HIKED THE HOODOOS!"

We'll leave a few bucks in the name of our new home state, Florida, and say Thank You Bryce Canyon National Park for a fun few days!