Happy New Year all! Tears, jeers and cheers to a year that was very challenging in some ways but also very fruitful and lifegiving in many other ways. Thanking God He brought me through it all.
So last post, I teased a trip to Florida’s National Parks over Christmas… Psych! As it turns out, Christmas is a very popular time to go to Florida, and the ferry to Dry Tortugas NP was completely sold out that entire week, meaning my options were either rent a seaplane to get there or skip it. I figured it would be kind of silly to go all the way there without visiting all of the parks, so I started looking at other options.
As it turns out, a friend I met in some previous travels (I’ll refer to him as Jake to protect his privacy) was from Utah, and when I mentioned my dilemma to him, he proposed a trip to Utah’s National Parks and offered to be my host/travel partner. I was initially pretty hesitant, what with the cooler temperatures and shorter daylight hours, but I was soon won over by the prospect of not having to deal with a rental car, the chance of visiting five parks, and getting to spend more time with my friend.
I ended up flying out to Las Vegas on Christmas Day (Friday) because flights were super cheap (and how cool to say you spent Christmas in Vegas!). After a nice Christmas morning with family, Mom drove me to the airport and saw me off. I was pretty amused that this was my first sight after deplaning. Good ol’ Vegas.
Jake picked me up from the airport, and we brainstormed ways to kill time before the show I had booked for that evening. We ended up deciding on The Mob Museum – I had seen ads for it in the airport, and to my surprise they were open on Christmas Day!
It was pretty neat to get some quick Vegas history. Highlights included displays on Vegas in the ’50s, Al Capone’s revolver, and tapes from when the FBI bugged some local mob bosses. Would recommend, though not for kids or for the very sensitive.
Next up, we had tickets to The Rat Pack is Back, a tribute show to the Rat Pack featuring look-a-likes/sound-a-likes for Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis, Jr. I’m a pretty big Sinatra fan, so I had a great time.
This is a lousy picture, but all three of them are on stage here.
Afterwards, we decided to walk along the Strip. Not every day you get to see the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower!
We also meandered in and out of buildings, but they mostly just had gambling. Unfortunately, due to COVID, we couldn’t stand and watch at any of the tables, but it was still interesting.
We had been planning on walking to the famous sign, but quickly abandoned that idea when we saw how far it was and drove instead.
It was getting late at this point, so we headed for St. George, Utah, our base for the trip. Despite a tire blowout, we made it there safely.
And then we were up early Saturday morning to pack for Zion! Our original schedule had us spending the day around St. George and heading out for all the parks the next day, but due to impending weather and the tire blowout we shifted plans and decided to go to Zion first.
We hit the road, took a shuttle, and hit the West Rim Trail. Note that if you’re planning to visit Zion during the busy season, you won’t be allowed to drive your car back into the canyon. Your only options to get to the trailhead are to reserve shuttle tickets or walk several miles along the road – would not recommend the latter.
Here’s a map to follow along if you’d like!
Temperatures were in the low 30s when we started, so we were pretty bundled up! The sun was shining, though, so it wasn’t long before we shed some layers. The views were certainly gorgeous.
We took our time going up – it had been a long time since I had backpacked, and it had been a short night.
Not gonna lie, those inclines were pretty steep! These were called Walter’s Wiggles.
We stopped for a snack at a good view of Angel’s Landing. This is the most famous hike in the park for good reason, and I was really excited about checking it off. We still had quite a ways to go before our campsite, though, so we saved that for the way back down.
As we kept going up and further into the canyon, it was interesting how the rock changed from red to white. Still really pretty, and much fewer crowds to boot!
We finally made it up to the top of the rim and to our campsite, #1. Our plan was to quickly set up camp, refill water, pack up supplies for dinner, and hike around the rim to campsite #4 and watch the sunset and eat dinner. We hit a bit of a hiccup when we discovered our water source was more akin to a mudhole than a spring, and our filter clogged. It’s amazing how much you take clean water for granted until you’re faced with tantalizing puddles like these!
We rushed to pack up and get over to the other side of the rim, but I made it probably a few hundred feet before I realized that I was too tired to make the trek. Jake was extremely gracious and settled for dinner at the campsite. I’d say we still had a pretty great view!
After making a delicious dinner, we hit the hay early and slept in a bit on Sunday. Feeling more rested, we decided to reattempt our hike to campsite #4 and have breakfast there. It was a pretty great view – though we could have done without the wind. Brrrr.
After we had nearly frozen our butts off, we hiked back, packed up camp, and attempted to filter water once more before descending. No luck, so we resorted to boiling snow.
And we were off! We had a freaky moment while descending: Jake was a ways behind me when all of a sudden I heard him yell. I looked up to see a deer come barreling down the side of the mountain towards me. Thank goodness it stopped! We stood off for a minute or so, then it ran past me on the trail. A minute later, a second one came bounding by. Kind of a close call! This was the best picture I got.
The rest of the way to Angel’s Landing was relatively uneventful. I was super glad that Jake had brought crampons – they made a huge difference on icy patches.
When we got to Angel’s Landing, we stowed our packs away and set out to climb. We were rushing because we had gotten down later than anticipated: the last shuttle back to the parking lot left at 5:15, and we were not about to walk back on the road if we could help it.
It was absolutely beautiful.
Note: if you are terrified of heights, this is not the hike for you. I felt pretty safe the whole time, especially with the chain to grab hold of, but this was definitely not a walk in the park. For most of the hike I looked more like the below picture than the above pictures.
Can’t beat that 360 view from the top though!
We couldn’t spend too much time reveling in the view, however, for fear of missing our shuttle, so we scrambled back down, grabbed our packs and hit the trail again.
We made it, thank goodness!
And we got the classic sign picture on the way out. I may have been just a little cold.
After that, we had the trip back to St. George and a well-deserved stop at In-N-Out for a burger, animal fries, and shake. I didn’t realize they had In-N-Outs that far outside of Cali, so I was stoked!
Later that night, Jake and I did some trip planning. We had originally planned on working our way out to the National Parks and then driving back, but due to weather we decided to go to the furthest park first (Canyonlands) and work our way back instead. There was snow coming in the next day, and we weren’t sure how clear I-70 was going to be, so we decided to go further south into Arizona, which would add a couple hours to the drive but hopefully insure we didn’t get stuck in the snow.
Monday morning, we went mountain biking right outside of St. George. I think it’s safe to say that I’m too cautious to fully enjoy it, particularly the downhill. I’ll try nearly anything once, though, and I’m glad I did!
Afterwards, we hit the road for Canyonlands about mid-afternoon and settled in for a long drive.
Unfortunately we still hit snow, which turned an 8 hour drive into a 10+ hour drive. Thankfully we made it there safely, even if it we did roll in at 3 in the morning!
On the upside, when it wasn’t snowing, the moon was really bright, and Jake got some really neat long-exposure shots around Monument Valley. If you look closely, you can see the star trails.
Canyonlands is massive and is split into three districts: the Needles, the Island in the Sky, and the Maze. That first night, we set up camp in the Squaw Flats Campground in the Needles District and zonked out. Squaw Flats was really a neat campground – the sites were super spread out and tucked back in along the rocks.
We slept in a good bit Tuesday morning, then decided to try to make it to Druid Arch. The problem is, it was about 14 miles round trip on rocky terrain, and we were getting a late start. It wasn’t long before we realized we wouldn’t make it without having to hike back hours in the dark. I was not a huge fan of that, so we decided to just hike as long as we wanted and enjoy ourselves before turning around.
The “trails” here were very different than anything I was used to. For the most part, we were climbing over rocks with rarely any well-worn path in sight. I was really confused for the first half hour just how Jake knew where to go. When I finally asked, he pointed out the cairns, or stacks of rocks, marking the way. I felt pretty silly.
Things started off cloudy, but then the sun came out, and it got really nice.
Overall, it was just a really good day. We almost made it to Chesler Park, but decided that between the fading daylight and the final ascent to get there, it just wasn’t worth it. So after taking a snack break, we just meandered back the same way we came.
And I was so glad we headed back when we did, because we stumbled on a gorgeous sunset.
Everything was just so pink and beautiful… We sat there for probably half an hour, just soaking it in and taking pictures.
But oh, it got better: the moon came up.
Jake was gracious enough to let me play with his camera for a bit, so I got these… I was so happy with how they turned out!
And then we stayed until dark, and Jake got this one. That’s the moon, believe it or not. That boy is talented with a camera.
Thankfully it wasn’t too much further back to the campsite. We cooked up a nice dinner, then curled up in our sleeping bags and read a few National Park Rangers stories before hitting the hay.
Wednesday morning, both of us woke up and realized that we were having trouble breathing. Jake quickly deduced that the moisture in our breath had condensed and frozen over the vents in the tent, restricting air flow. We threw open the tent door and gulped in the cold morning air. Can’t say I’ve had that one happen before!
Oh, but the frost that morning was so beautiful. It probably stood 3/4 inch high on top of the car…
…and it totally covered some of the plants.
We packed up camp and headed out for the Island in the Sky District.
To get there, though, we had to go through Moab, so we stopped and got lunch at a Mexican place. I got to try deep fried ice cream for the first time!
After that, we continued on to the Island in the Sky District, or iSky.
Definitely a different – and more crowded – vibe, but still really pretty. All of the hikes we did were super short – I think the longest was a mile round-trip. Below are views from near the visitor center, Mesa Arch, and the hike to Grand View Point.
We definitely spent the most time at Grand View Point, where we caught a great sunset, even though we had to share it with a few more people than the one the day before.
We didn’t dally too long, though, because we were absolutely freezing. Thankfully, we had decided to get a hotel in Moab that night – we figured it would give us the chance to warm up, get good sleep, get clean, and hopefully dry out our gear so we could get back to camping the next night. (Of course, we didn’t camp for the rest of the trip… We should have known it would be too hard to go back to a tent and sleeping bag after a warm, dry bed!)
On Thursday, we headed out for Arches National Park, which was very close to Moab. Arches was considerably smaller than Canyonlands and Zion, but still incredibly scenic.
We first hiked to Delicate Arch, the most famous arch in the park. It was about 3 miles round-trip, and pretty icy, but so worth it.
We hung out here for a good while, just soaking in the views. I even had enough cell service to video call some friends, which was pretty neat.
Next we drove out to the Broken Arch/Sand Dune Arch trailhead and hiked to both arches. We were in a pretty goofy/giddy mood, just enjoying the beautiful scenery and having fun.
Our next adventure was driving over to Double Arch. We took our time, though, just enjoying the view.
And here it is!
Of course, we had to stay for sunset, and it did not disappoint! Jake got this stunner just down the road from Double Arch.
After it was finally too dark to see much of anything, we headed out of the park, though not before a sign picture.
We headed back to Moab, grabbed a letterbox, got McDonald’s for a New Year’s Eve feast, then started towards Capitol Reef. We decided it would be easiest (and most comfortable) to just grab a motel room again, so we got one in the tiny town of Bicknell, about half an hour away from Capital Reef.
We did stay up to see the new year in, but otherwise it was a pretty uneventful New Year’s Eve. We were okay with that, though – I don’t think our bodies could have handled too much excitement!
Friday, New Year’s Day, we packed up and drove to Capitol Reef.
Capital Reef was massive and beautiful, though lightly trafficked compared to the other parks. It had a cute historic town called Fruita, which had some small orchards that you can apparently pick from for free during the season.
Capitol Reef actually reminded me a good bit of North Cascades out in Washington – I think it was the small-historic-town-surrounded-by-towering-rock vibe.
Unfortunately, the locally famous pie shop was closed for the season, so we resorted to yogurt for breakfast instead. Unfortunately, my yogurt “just happened” to be pointed towards Jake when I opened it, and it kind of exploded on him… Hehe, whoops. In my defense, he opened his on me first!
After we were done goofing off, we started our hike to Navajo Knobs, about a ten-miler RT. The number of people we encountered was a fraction of the people at Arches the day before, and the views were spectacular nearly the whole time. It’s hard to say just how long it took because we really took our time, but we probably got to the end in about three hours or so.
The top of this knob was our vantage point…
…from which we got these views.
It was absolutely stunning.
We sat up there for probably 45 minutes, soaking in the views and sunshine. I was a pretty happy hiker.
We finally dragged ourselves down, as it was getting kinda late, and put the crampons on to help us go faster on the ice patches.
We ran into these guys on the way down, which was cool! I had never seen a bighorn in the wild.
We made it probably halfway back before we lost daylight and had to break out the headlamp. We trudged on a little more before stopping for a break to look at the stars. I don’t have a picture, but geesh, they were incredible! It was to the point that I couldn’t pick out the classic constellations anymore, there were so many stars. One of the best stargazing sessions I’ve ever had.
Despite my efforts to tough it out, the cold got to me, so we begrudgingly turned on the headlamp again and continued down. We made it back to the trailhead and drove across the park (it’s really thin!) to find some letterboxes.
At this point, we were both pretty hungry, so we headed back to Bicknell to grab a late supper. Bicknell is known for its curry pizza place – apparently it was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives – and Jake is a huge fan. We got half honey curry and half butter chicken on the pizza. The butter chicken was alright, but the honey curry was pretty darn good, especially after a long day of hiking.
After we couldn’t eat anymore, we made tracks for Bryce Canyon, the last of the five parks. We rolled in late but safe to our motel in Bryce Canyon. It was just a really good day – a great way to start off the new year!
Of the three hotels/motels we stayed in, this one, Ruby’s Inn, was the nicest. We even got a complimentary breakfast the next morning!
After we packed up, I got a picture by the sign…
…we found a final letterbox…
…and then we were off!
Bryce is definitely a smaller park, more comparable to Arches. It’s well known for its hoodoos, or thin rock spires. We spent most of the day in the Amphitheater area, which has some of the most popular hikes and viewpoints of the park.
We parked close to Sunset Point and enjoyed the view from the rim…
…and then hiked down into the canyon on the Navajo loop trail.
The combination of the red/orange rock, deep blue sky, white snow, and bright sunshine was just magnificent. Gotta love those hoodoos!
We still had a few hours of daylight by the time we had hiked to Sunrise Point on the Queens Garden trail, so we decided to hike over to Tower Bridge on the Fairyland Loop Trail, about four miles RT. It was way less crowded over here, which was nice.
After that, we hiked back up to the Rim to catch the sunset, and it didn’t disappoint. Credit for this one goes to Jake!
We also enjoyed the little snowman family someone had made.
Before we knew it, we were headed back for St. George. It was a pretty uneventful evening, filled with mostly resting and unpacking/repacking.
Sunday was my final day in Utah, so I packed up, and we headed back for Vegas. Of course, we squeezed in one more adventure activity before I left: rappelling!
Despite a bit of a nervewracking mishap my first go-around, it was still pretty fun, enough to do a second round. It was a good final adventure.
After that, Jake drove me the rest of the way to Vegas and dropped me off at the airport, and I flew back to Indiana.
Some final thoughts before I close:
Some of you may be wondering about Jake! We’re just friends – Utah is quite a ways from Indiana after all. I’m very grateful, though, that he was willing to show me around Utah for ten days! We shared many good laughs, moments, and sunsets. I know I wouldn’t have seen nearly as much (or probably enjoyed it as much) as I did if he hadn’t been with me. It’s also really nice to have someone who can take photos of you, someone to split the driving with, someone to provide extra body heat in the tent, etc.
That said, I still definitely think there is beauty to solo travel (namely meeting other people!), so I’ll probably try to do a little bit this upcoming year.
Finally, I would highly recommend seeing Utah’s National Parks in winter. I’m sure they’re beautiful all times of the year, but the snow just really made them pop. It would have been ideal if it had been just a little warmer out so we could have camped a little more, but at least during the day, as long as you layer up, you should be fine! Also would recommend bringing along a pair of crampons or micro-spikes to navigate the ice – this was the first time I’ve ever used them, but there were several times I was really glad I had them.
Alright y’all, that’s it! I have no idea where the next trip will be, but I have lots of ideas… Until then, happy trails!
Ray of Sunshine Travel 