3/29/18 Bryce Canyon - We welcomed the Lakes to Utah, actually on the evening of the 28th. As usual the day started fairly early and was filled with hiking and sightseeing. Of course we just had to hike the Queens Garden and Navajo trail, 2.9 miles with a 600 ft elevation gain over .7 miles. Sue & Alan not really knowing what they were getting themselves into happily agreed. The last half mile of the trail has 20 switch backs!

Sights along the Queens Garden trail

          Sue attending to a struggling pine. The trees grow in unbelievably harsh spots.

Still early into the hike and everyone was still smiling.

 The distances here are hard to gauge. The picture below is from a 1/8 to 1/4 mile away.

                                            The trail is narrow at times with steep drop-offs.

Trail leads through a doorway cut into the stone.

              A little rest spot near the bottom of the canyon. Actually this was a pretty big overhang.

Lunch spot at the bottom on a log.

The Queens Garden trail intersects with the Navajo trail at the bottom of the canyon and almost immediately heads uphill.The trail quickly narrows and in some places is only 8 feet  or so wide.

A little hard to see there are two bridges from one side of the opening to the other.

                   And the switch backs start! 20 switchbacks in all to the top of the ridge at 8900 feet.