Photo: Red Earth and Hoodoos near Rainbow Pt

This was my final route in Bryce Canyon National Park. It started where I left off the other day. I went down the Connector Trail to rejoin the Under the Rim Trail.

The terrain was similar to the previous day. I walked through canyon with ups and downs and lots of trees. There were views of the rim above and also some interesting canyons and rock formations that I could see from a high point. It was pretty easy to follow the trail, though every now and then washed out sections had cairns to help guide the route.

I bumped into a group of backpackers who had done an overnighter and they were going to Rainbow Point as well. We leap-frogged over each other all day.

The trail passed under Natural Bridge, but couldn't see this feature because of the tree cover. All day long we went up and down with some level trail. There was a running creek in Ponderosa Canyon but it was very silty water.

The final couple of miles were a steady up...we had to gain about 1,000 feet of elevation. The route goes around the dramatic cliffs over a wooded ridge. The group passed me here; I was slow on the hills. It was steep in sections, but mainly it was relentless. Near the top you negotiated a knife edge ridge and the wind was very strong. I was really glad to reach the top. Yeti was waiting in the car for me and we headed back to Cannoville RV, stopping at Rustler's in Tropic for a great meal.