After leaving Alstrom Point we made our way to our next stop in the town of Tropic. One of Kristi's clients has some property there, and invited us to stay on it. They said it was a stone's throw from Bryce Canyon (1/4). They weren't kidding. We drove through Red Canyon and took a short hike to some waterfalls, then passed Bryce and headed down the hill to Tropic. We ended up just camping in the driveway, in the snow. As the sun set on the colorful cliffs we had a little fire, then retreated to the van for dinner and beddy bye. Early the next morning we strolled a quarter mile to the end of the road, and we were there. The back door to Bryce Canyon. We took our dogs and were hiking in a foot of snow for about a mile until we soon realized we were on the Navajo Loop trail. Lucky for us we brought our crampons. The snow became packed ice and snow, but the pets were having a blast. We thought since they were having so much fun we'd complete the loop trail.
A fourteen year old Sheba Inu and a six month old Boston-Poodle trooped on. Although dogs were not permitted on the trail, we saw maybe half a dozen people, and luckily no Rangers. Finishing up we loaded back into the van and broke out the map to discover our next destination. We knew generally where we wanted to be, but had no idea where we'd be staying the night. That's the beauty of a camper van. No reservations, and no check in time.
