After a day off from hiking, it was back to Bryce Canyon for a second
day. In years past, we would have gone out more in the hard to access
areas and hiked something more difficult, but the knee precluded that
line of attack. Still, the hike we did was a good days work. The hike
was called Fairyland Loop. Again, you get to see all the hoodoos and
rock colors Bryce is known for, but you're close to everything at the
park headquarters, and not alone out in the rugged areas. In these pics
you can make out the trail in spots and see the grades are manageable.

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1i5qvu9a5kbyjr14klale/Hike1.JPG?rlkey=2kvgi4q2yc5cxiw73oe24vjpn&dl=0>

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/yalvkv97xladvjstkj2d8/Hike2.JPG?rlkey=dyhdfgbhcjombdmy8nuzby871&dl=0>

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/oqnmyvngwszn8uqkucazh/Hike3.JPG?rlkey=z3e5sm9u1ynm4rjgfnlz3sckv&dl=0>

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/bquijmxfgxuvo449jp4pg/Hike4.JPG?rlkey=fomtlecmgbew3zrwn9jw4edhk&dl=0>

This hike ended up being 7.94 miles and we took almost 5 1/2 hours to do
it. 5 years ago we would have done this hike in half the time or
better. Oh well, with almost 1300 feet of ascent, you do get a workout
on this trail. Being longer and having more climbing, there were far
less people on this hike. We probably only saw another dozen people on
the hike, and we enjoyed the quiet immensely. Temps were again in the
low 80's and to be honest, it was hot. Lots of water, several breaks, a
few bites of protein bars and we did just fine for a couple of old farts.

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/stiqaip7y0trurh1f3xv2/Fairyland-Loop-Track.jpg?rlkey=jnw5odwhgunhwfr946zfw40z3&dl=0>

What really helped me was I finally invested in a good set of walking
sticks before we left, and after figuring out how to use them properly,
I think they really saved my ass. Going downhill they are a tremendous
help keeping the knees from getting overburdened. Wife still coddled
me, but at least I made it and she was able to go. Bryce was the main
place we wanted to go to, and after the two days there, we had our fill.
Lots of Mule deer in the park, coming right up to the edge of the
canyons. They must see a lot of people cause they allow you to get
pretty close.

At the end of the day I was spent. Knee swelled up and was done. Went
back to the campsite, had two Tylenol, one Meloxicam, cooked burgers for
dinner and enjoyed a nice fire talking with the wife.

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mfu69403zpid5c7k3osq2/Fire.JPG?rlkey=eyo3qog6ttgq6tbzre5w3ojxq&dl=0>

By the time I was ready to crash for the night, knee swelling had gone
down and I was feeling much better. For the next day we planned another off-road adventure, but a little more challenging this time. We were
not disappointed!

sticks
--
Better Days Ahead!
Darwinism Is Junk Science!!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

sticks wrote:

After a day off from hiking, it was back to Bryce Canyon for a second
day.  In years past, we would have gone out more in the hard to access
areas and hiked something more difficult, but the knee precluded that
line of attack.  Still, the hike we did was a good days work.  The
hike was called Fairyland Loop.  Again, you get to see all the hoodoos
and rock colors Bryce is known for, but you're close to everything at
the park headquarters, and not alone out in the rugged areas.  In
these pics you can make out the trail in spots and see the grades are manageable.

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1i5qvu9a5kbyjr14klale/Hike1.JPG?rlkey=2kvgi4q2yc5cxiw73oe24vjpn&dl=0>

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/yalvkv97xladvjstkj2d8/Hike2.JPG?rlkey=dyhdfgbhcjombdmy8nuzby871&dl=0>

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/oqnmyvngwszn8uqkucazh/Hike3.JPG?rlkey=z3e5sm9u1ynm4rjgfnlz3sckv&dl=0>

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/bquijmxfgxuvo449jp4pg/Hike4.JPG?rlkey=fomtlecmgbew3zrwn9jw4edhk&dl=0>

This hike ended up being 7.94 miles and we took almost 5 1/2 hours to
do it.  5 years ago we would have done this hike in half the time or better.  Oh well, with almost 1300 feet of ascent, you do get a
workout on this trail.  Being longer and having more climbing, there
were far less people on this hike.  We probably only saw another dozen people on the hike, and we enjoyed the quiet immensely.  Temps were
again in the low 80's and to be honest, it was hot.  Lots of water,
several breaks, a few bites of protein bars and we did just fine for a
couple of old farts.

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/stiqaip7y0trurh1f3xv2/Fairyland-Loop-Track.jpg?rlkey=jnw5odwhgunhwfr946zfw40z3&dl=0>

What really helped me was I finally invested in a good set of walking
sticks before we left, and after figuring out how to use them
properly, I think they really saved my ass.  Going downhill they are a tremendous help keeping the knees from getting overburdened.  Wife
still coddled me, but at least I made it and she was able to go.
Bryce was the main place we wanted to go to, and after the two days
there, we had our fill.  Lots of Mule deer in the park, coming right
up to the edge of the canyons.  They must see a lot of people cause
they allow you to get pretty close.

At the end of the day I was spent.  Knee swelled up and was done.
Went back to the campsite, had two Tylenol, one Meloxicam, cooked
burgers for dinner and enjoyed a nice fire talking with the wife.

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mfu69403zpid5c7k3osq2/Fire.JPG?rlkey=eyo3qog6ttgq6tbzre5w3ojxq&dl=0>

By the time I was ready to crash for the night, knee swelling had gone
down and I was feeling much better.  For the next day we planned
another off-road adventure, but a little more challenging this time.
We were not disappointed!

sticks

Your pics make me want to do Utah all over again. I'm gonna stop
looking at them.

--
bill
Theory don't mean squat if it don't work.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 5/6/2025 9:45 PM, bfh wrote:

Your pics make me want to do Utah all over again. I'm gonna stop looking
at them.

When you were telling us you just go out and spot a location, I was
having a bit of difficulty imagining how it would work. After going
into so many of these areas and seeing people doing it, what you were
saying all made sense. I still am a bit leery of leaving everything
completely unattended like that. Maybe if I teach the wife how to drive
the Bronco good enough, and my knees get so bad I can't hike with her,
she'll just let me hang out at the site drinking beer and keeping the
fire going??


--
Darwinism Is Junk Science!!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

sticks wrote:

On 5/6/2025 9:45 PM, bfh wrote:

Your pics make me want to do Utah all over again. I'm gonna stop
looking at them.

When you were telling us you just go out and spot a location, I was
having a bit of difficulty imagining how it would work.  After going
into so many of these areas and seeing people doing it, what you were
saying all made sense.  I still am a bit leery of leaving everything completely unattended like that.  Maybe if I teach the wife how to
drive the Bronco good enough, and my knees get so bad I can't hike
with her, she'll just let me hang out at the site drinking beer and
keeping the fire going??

Sounds like a plan.

--
bill
Theory don't mean squat if it don't work.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)