Back in February, I received a text message from Erika, my niece, asking if I wanted to join her on a camping trip through Utah’s National Parks. It took me about it a minute to say “Yes”.
Erika was graduating from the University of Alabama and planning to drive through Utah on her way home. We coordinated schedules and found that we had 6 days to drive from Phoenix to Salt Lake City, visiting 5 National Parks: Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches. She also wanted to tuck in Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, a sunset, a sunrise hike, and star gazing.
We set an aggressive schedule which involved early mornings, cold breakfast, afternoon drives, and late night dinners over the camp stove. Erika arrived in Phoenix 3 days before me, staying with Becca, her cousin, my niece. The two of them shopped, cooked, and repackaged the car so I could arrive with all our camping gear. Quite a feat, thanks Becca for helping make this trip possible.
Erika arrived at the airport just as I stepped out on to the curb, duffle bags in tow. We were off. First stop was Horseshoe Bend then Antelope Canyon. We were scheduled on the last tour of the day for Antelope Canyon. Our stop at Horseshoe Bend was going to be a quick one.
Horseshoe Bend is on the Arizona / Utah boarder. It gets its name from the horseshoe shaped bend in the Colorado river. We only had 30 minutes to hike the mile plus trail but we decided to go for it anyway. This high paced hike set the tone of our trip. The view was well worth the speedy run/walk through the sand. We were able to spend 10 minutes enjoying the view and soaking up the environment.
Off to Antelope Canyon. We had reservations on the last tour of the day which turns out to be the best. You can only visit the canyon via a park ranger. We quickly saw why this is the most photographed canyon in the United States.
After the canyon tour, we enjoyed dinner at a restaurant near by and then were off to Zion. We had hoped to be there by 9pm but when we cross the border into Utah, we lost an hour. Estimated arrival time changed to 10pm.
The time pasted quickly. Erika and I never seem to run out of things to talk about. With the GPS saying we had 20 minutes to go, we past the sign saying “Entering Zion National Park”. I told Erika “the sign was wrong. My GPS says we aren’t there yet”.
After a quick debate, we realized we were entering the park from the west not the main entrance. We turned around and were able to get a camping spot at the trading post at the west entrance. We quickly set up the tent. Set a 6am alarm. We needed to be on the move by 6:30 in order to hike Zion and move to Bryce before night fall.
The morning drive through Zion was breathtaking. With no one else on the road we were able to enjoy the views and even stop in the tunnel for a quick picture out the tunnel window.
Our morning hiking goal was Angel’s Landing, 5 miles round trip with 1,500 feet of elevation gain. The kicker is the last 500 feet, exposed, slick rock. There was mounted chains to aid people in not falling off the mountain. With rain in the forecast, we quickly headed for the top.
Did I mention that Erika was a collegiate swimmer? She hikes the same speed whether going up, down, or on the flats. I spent most of the trip working on my breathing techniques.
Angel’s Landing did not disappoint. The chained climbing was a hoot. Made a little more interesting by the fact the we were hiking in sneakers.
The views from the top were fabulous and Zion quickly won a spot in our hearts as a true wonder of the world.
We spent 20 minutes on the summit taking pictures and enjoying a snack before we headed down. The rains held out until we were about half way down.
The rains stayed with us the rest of the day but didn’t really hold us back. We really wanted to hike the Narrows next. A 10 mile hike up the Virgin river which runs through the slot canyon that is Zion. But the hike was closed due to the river still running too high. The Riverwalk was open which is a 1 mile walk on a path that leads to the Narrows hike.
We took the tram to the end of the canyon. The canyon walls go straight up for 2000 feet. On a dry weather day, we would have seen climbers on the walls. We did see one group in a portaledge. Stuck there until the rock dries out.
Not ready to leave Zion yet, we took the recommendation of a fellow tourist and hiked to the Emerald Pools which end in this beautiful amphitheater. When we returned to the tram stop, we decided it was time to get out of our wet clothes and head to Bryce.
We arrived Bryce in the sunshine around 5pm. Setup the tent, hung out our clothes to dry, and took a break in our camp chairs before breaking out the camp stove for dinner.
Not sure which came first, finishing dinner or the snow. We weren’t quit prepared for snow. Nor the cold temps. Our low that night would be 21 degrees. We head for the lodge to get out of the weather along with 100 other people.
We visited with strangers before Erika had the brilliant idea of putting all our bedding in the car and driving to all the scenic lookouts. Bryce is most photographed with snow.
We loaded up the sleeping bags, pillows, and luckily, Erika had a few blankets from school. Then headed off in the car to explore Bryce via the roads. Bryce is full of rock structures called “hoodoos”. They are red, pink, and white in color. Very beautiful in the snow.
When we returned to the tent, we put on all our clothes and jumped in the tent with our warm sleeping bags. We wanted to hike the 10 mile Fairyland Loop the next day but had a 6 hour drive to Canyonlands. We ended up agreeing to a 6am alarm. (I didn’t have the heart to tell Erika, I don’t get up before 7). Morning came and to our surprise we didn’t freeze to death.
We quickly loaded everything into the car and drove around to the scenic overlooks again enjoying the car heater. Bryce was spectacular with the morning sun and the fresh snow.
When 8am came, we decided we had to start hiking even though it was only 23 degrees. We put on everything we had with us using Sylvia’s wool socks for gloves and headed out.
For some reason, we had the trail all to ourselves. As the trail drops into the canyon, you quickly get an appreciation for how tall the hoodoos are. They rise in clusters like mushrooms.
By the time we reached the valley floor, we were able to remove 3 layers of clothing and completed the loop comfort.
Off to Canyonlands with a quick stop in Capital Reef. It was only a 30 minutes detour and we could drive right through it. Nothing overly noteworthy at Capital Reef except the very strange eroding rocks.
Canyonlands has two parts: Island in the sky and the Needles. Our goal for the night was the Needles which meant driving through Moab, our home for the last 2 nights of this trip. Traveling south for an hour and then west for another 45 minutes. Canyonlands is a huge park. Talk about feeling like your in the middle of no where.
We had a quick camp stove dinner and then settled in for the night. We had hoped for some star gazing but none was to be had. We considered ourselves lucky that we didn’t get any rain. Everything around us was dark with clouds.
We awoke to a 5:30 alarm so we might see sunrise in the Needles. Our hike was to be a 12 mile loop through the Needles and Chester Park but we were having way too much fun in the Needles climbing on rocks, slipping through slots, and route finding using cairns (something new for Erika).
We ended up combining multiple trails in the Needles to complete our 12 mile loop. We only took one wrong turn down a drainage. When we retreated to the trail, Erika built her first cairn so others wouldn’t make the same mistake we did. Jim would have been proud.
Though Zion and Bryce were beautiful, we loved the hiking in Canyonlands. Very adventurous.
We headed back to our tent, packed up and were off to Moab where we setup the tent for one last time. Off to get gas and a few things at the store. To my surprise, Moab has a Starbucks. Boy, did I need some caffeine.
Caffeined up, it was time to check in at Arches which is only a mile outside of Moab. We wanted to get a permit to go into the Fiery Furnace.
If you have scene the movie, 48 hours, the true story takes place here. It is about a hiker who falls into a slot canyon and has to cut his hand off to get free and survive. After attending the mandatory briefing, we were given a permit for the next day.
Since Erika still had not scene her sunset, we decided to hike around Arches for the rest off the day and have dinner in the park (have camp stove, will travel). We headed up to view some of the Arches and just chill in the sunshine. Finally, we were in shorts and teeshirts.
The ranger told us to try the Windows for sunset so we headed that way and setup dinner in a pull out near Balancing Rock. Jim quickly named us the “E & E cafe”.
There were too many clouds on the horizon to get a good sunset but we did get some color on the Windows.
The next day, we set out for another attempt at a sunrise hike. Erika did promise me an afternoon nap so I was all in.
With a 5am alarm and a 1 mile hiking recommendation from the ranger, we were sure we could do it. We didn’t account for night road construction at the entrance to the park which meant a 10 minute delay or the fact that the hike in was up a hill. So 2 miles and 800 feet later, we arrived at the Delicate Arch just as the sunrise hikers we leaving. We missed it. Oh well.
We spent almost an hour enjoying the beauty of the arch. This is the most visited landmark in Utah and we had it all to ourselves. Pretty amazing.
Next, we headed off to the Fiery Furnace, a labyrinth of rock walls creating slots and canyons. This was suppose to be a 2 mile hike taking an hour and a half. At the gate, we went straight instead of going right as instructed and the adventure began.
To our defense, their were people in front of us but the were just going out to take pictures. We simply followed them out of the parking lot and just kept on hiking. This is what happens when you get up at 5am.
We quickly realized we were going the wrong due to arrows pointing the other way but we naively thought it was a loop. We entered the labyrinth and immediately found a slot to climb up and through.
Later, once we had experienced the difficulty of the labyrinth, we decided the tourist were down in the lower corner, full of dead ends, so they couldn’t hurt themselves.
Our hour and a half tour quickly turned into a 5 plus hour adventure of climbing up, over, and through rock formations. Finding our share of dead ends and having to back track.
I only got stuck in one slot. It was very narrow and had a one foot step at the narrowest part.
Erika being young and flexible was able to rotate her hip and get her leg through. I, on the other hand, am old and my hips don’t work like they used to. I had to step down and then hop to get out. Erika has it all on video. I am sure it is going to end up on YouTube under “things you shouldn’t be doing after the age of 30”.
Erika got quit good at finding passways under chock stones and other areas that looked impassable.
Having missed our nap, we stopped and picked up a caffeinated beverage and a 6 pack of raspberry colors. We were off to Canyonlands – Island in the Sky. It was exactly that. We drove for almost an hour down a plateau stopping to view Mesa Arch which looked down on the valley floor.
The plateau continued to narrow until we finally reached the end. A place called “Grand View” and that it was. The plateau walls dropped 2000 feet on 3 sides.
We gathered up our cooking supplies, the 6 pack, and blankets for star gazing. Tonight was our only clear night of the entire trip.
We took a mile plus walk along the rim of the plateau wall to a place called Grand View Point. A high rock bluff. 360 views.
Erika was giddy.
After the sunset most people left, so it was time to break out the camp stove. The “E & E Cafe” prepared it’s final meal of the trip. One hiker joined us for star gazing. He had never seen anyone make nachos on a camp stove. I told him he needed to meet Brooke, my daughter, who can make nachos anywhere.
After several hours of star gazing, we headed back to the parking lot. To our surprise, a star party had been set up. Five telescopes and tons of glow in the dark traffic cones. Erika declared the evening one of her top 5. It was pretty spectacular.
With one day left to catch a sunrise, we set the alarm for 4:45. We headed back to Windows to sit in our spot and watch the sunrise. It completed the trip.
We were back in bed by 7am. Slept until 9. Then packed up and headed to Salt Lake City to drop me at the airport.
Truly a trip neither of us will ever forget.
Trip summary: 6 days, 5 national parks, 67 miles hiked, 23 hours driven, 1 sunrise, 1 sunset, and 1 night with a million stars
