May 18 - United States: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

The alarm went off at 7:00 this morning for our run along the canyon rim.  We, however, didn't get up until 9:30.  And surprise-surprise, the campground - which was completely full up last night - had cleared out entirely while we were asleep.  This doesn't make sense to us because today is Saturday and isn't this the peak time of the weekend to be here?  Unless I'm missing something.

Jon made chocolate chip pancakes and we goofed off around the campsite for a while.  Then we went for a drive around the park to check out the various view for sunset pictures tonight or tomorrow night.  For lunch, we had grilled turkey sandwiches again, and we'd just finished cleaning up when Kathryn, Craig, and Aida drove up.

Blast From the Past

Kathryn and Craig are friends of mine from high school who - ironically - started dating two years ago when they met up again at our high school reunion.  Aida is Kat's Dalmatian.  Kat lives in Salt Lake City and Craig lives (technically) in Detroit, but he's a pilot so he's more nomadic than that.  Since we couldn't get to see them in SLC, they decided to come down here and hang out for weekend, which makes us very happy.

We sat around for a bit and got caught up.  I haven't seen Kat in a year, and I haven't seen Craig in twelve years.  (Yikes!).  Then we decided to go for a hike.

Navajo Loop and Queen's Garden Trail

The day was much like it was yesterday, except with a lot more people on the trails.  We hiked the Navajo Loop first, which took us down some scree slopes and through a gorgeous slot canyon called "Wall Street".

Heidi, Kathryn and Craig at Wall Street/Slot Canyon

Later, when the Navajo Loop looped back up the canyon we turned onto the Queens Garden Trail, which went a bit further off.  Most of the time, we were so busy chit-chatting that we forgot to look around at the cliffs surrounding us.

On the way back up, Craig started asking me questions about our trip and I suddenly found myself breathing hard from the exertion of climbing, talking, and breathing at altitude.  I mentioned this to Craig and he said, "Why do you think I'm asking you questions and making you do all the talking!"  Sneaky little devil.

Bryce Canyon

Back at the Campsite

A few hours later, we were back at the campsite happily drinking beers.  Probably not a good idea since we should have been hydrating, but we really deserved some beers after the afternoon's hike.  We prepped dinner, which was meat tacos and fixin's that Kat and Craig brought with them.  

Jon assigned me the responsibility of setting up the campfire, which is not something I have any experience doing.  So I made a (purposely) girlish attempt at putting the wood on, and counted to ten.  This is about the amount of time that it took Craig and Jon to come over and to begin to extol their Tenderfoot and Eagle Scout advice.  In no time at all, all my campfire duties had been performed by the two guys.  I love it when that happens!

Jon and Craig Playing Boy Scout (Aida Acting in Supervisory Position) 

We would never have thought of tacos at a campsite, but it worked out incredibly well and was quite good!  This is something Jon and I will keep in mind next time we're looking for something exciting to fix on the stove.  

When the sun went down, we sat around the campfire drinking beery and wine and watching the stars come out.  Around 11:00, we were cold enough to call it a night and go to bed.

Kat, Jon and Craig Around the Campfire