For yet another early morning, everyone slowly assembled back into the bus after a long sleep and a large breakfast. Nothing felt more tiring yet exciting than riding on the bus for a day of hiking. After one of the longest bus rides of the entire trip, a whole hour and a half, we arrived at Bryce Canyon. Stepping out of the bus we were hit with a frigid cold wind; who would’ve known that in the middle of Utah it would be freezing cold? Even more of a surprise — we found piles of snow all around our hike. Looking out along the side of the canyon there was a beautiful landscape, one that stretched across the horizon. Starting our hike on Sunset Point, we took a long descent into the canyon taking in the views. At the very bottom, our energetic guide, Ryan, showed us the massive pillars in the canyon called Hoodoos. After what felt like hours of hiking through the beautiful Bryce Canyon, we finished our hike looking at the Queens Garden, a grouping of Hoodoos. Finally, after a treacherous hike uphill we made it back to the top of the canyon marking the end to our hike.
After hiking in Bryce Canyon, we took a quick bus ride to a spot where we ate lunch and then took a 30 minute hike. This hike was on a snowy path that was 8,500 feet above sea level. We were slipping and sliding as we walked, but the view at the mountains peek was definitely worth our pants and shoes getting a little wet. We could see up to 60 miles from where we were standing. The view was truly incredible. After taking a few pictures and taking in the view, we hiked back to our bus. As we hiked back, we stopped for a quick snow ball fight. After this hike, which was about a mile, we went back on the bus and started driving toward the sand dunes.
After a long day of hiking we visited the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. First, we needed to reach the top of the hill, and we did so with a long uphill battle. Our calves were definitely burning after this experience. Once we reached the top, we all enjoyed sledding, snowboarding, and rolling down the tall sand dunes. We shared many funny moments including Michael rolling over Julia, half of the students falling on the snowboard, Vanya doing stunts, and more. We all enjoyed this experience even though sand got everywhere.
