Utah Rocks!

Once we heard that our cousins were leaving Salt Lake City, we figured it was time for us to visit! So on August 25, we flew off to Utah. After spending a night in the suburbs of SLC, we picked up a rental RV, stocked it full of provisions at a local Wal-Mart, and headed south to Zion.

It didn’t take us long to realize we weren’t in Boston anymore. Utah’s landscape is so much different than what we’re used to. Just driving down the highway through Provo along the Wasatch Mountains showed us we were in for something unique to us.  Little did we know we were truly on the the trail to enlightenment. We’d soon learn all about “The Geologic Story of Utah”…

A few hours later, we rolled into Zion National Park. With only a little struggle, we backed our home on wheels into a comfy site at Watchman Campground and settled near the Virgin River with cliff views and a rising near-full moon.

On Sunday morning, we set off early for a ride on the Zion Shuttle and a hike up Angel’s Landing. Our first views of the West Rim cliff left us wondering how a trail could possibly ascend such a face. But, as we approached, the switchbacks became apparent and we slowly made our way up into Refrigerator Canyon. Emerging at Scout Lookout, the views across the steep and narrow trail to the summit were enough to turn back most of the party but John, perhaps the most acrophobic of the bunch, soldiered on to the top for the striking 360 degree views.

Later that day there were some thundershowers which, while they prevented us from taking a hike into Zion Narrows, did allow us to see some striking waterfalls that are present only after significant rains.

On Monday morning, we were on the road again through the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel – a 1.1 mile dark hole through the canyon wall that requires traffic to be stopped in one direction so that RV’s can travel down the middle of the lane to garner sufficient height clearance.

After a scenic drive to the northeast, including a stop at Red Canyon in Dixie National Forest, we arrived that afternoon at Bryce Canyon National Park and undertook an inverted hike into the hoodoos down the Queen’s Garden Trail and back up the Navajo Trail. Washed by a thunderstorm before returning to our campsite, we barbecued some chicken and then took in the sunset from Bryce Point before spending a quiet night at Bryce’s North Campground.

On Tuesday morning, it was on to Capitol Reef National Park. Here we picked peaches, apples, and plums in the historic Fruita orchards and viewed the ancient petroglyphs before taking a hot hike to the fabulous Hickman Bridge.

Wednesday we moved on to Canyonlands National Park – which we’re pretty sure was actually created by Hollywood as a set for western movies. The views from the Island in the Sky down into the Colorado and Green River Canyons were breathtaking. Yet still, by the end of the day, we found ourselves thinking “ho hum, another beautiful view into another beautiful canyon” and overlooking an overlook or two. We took a short hike to Mesa Arch where we saw ravens and evidence of many sheep and rabbits.

After spending the night in Moab, on Thursday we set off to raft the Colorado River through Westwater Canyon. After a tour of downtown Cisco, we launched our rafts down the river where we saw golden and bald eagles, jumping fish, and canyon swallow nests, enjoyed a relaxing lunch on the riverside, survived the class III and IV rapids, swam in the river, and had a grand time.

We returned to Moab on the Colorado River Highway past the Fisher Towers, retrieved our mobile mansion, and entered Arches National Park. Our campsite at Devil’s Garden was spectacular – within a stroll of Skyline Arch, mule deer, and bunnies. We’d spend Friday morning exploring Arches’ many arches before heading back toward civilization. Our last RV night was spent outside of Provo along the Provo River where we watched beaver at work.

(Note corny matching “Utah Rocks!” T-shirts!)

Saturday morning it was back to Salt Lake City where we’d trade in our RV for a non-residential vehicle. We explored Temple Square and spent a night on the town in downtown SLC – though we wondered where all the people had gone.

We found many of them when we spent Sunday exploring Park City – the 2002 Olympic venue. We visited the Park Silly Market on the historic Main Street, rode the Alpine Slide, and went to Utah Olympic Park where we enjoyed the museum and watched both freestylists practicing their aerials into a swimming pool and then, after a thunderstorm that ended with a double rainbow, the first competitive round of the Women’s International Ski Jumping Festival on the 90 meter jump!

Sadly, it was all too soon that we had to return home to work, school, and all the other things that go with life. But boy, we had fun while it lasted!!!