Oh, the Places You’ll Go

My close friend pointed out to me one day that our life reminded her of a book she once read.

“You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So… get on your way!”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

How appropriate, especially when travelling out west in this stunningly beautiful country of ours.  We had tried to travel to Utah’s National Parks last summer as my previous posts told, but we had to change our plans and didn’t make it.  Now that I’m here, all I can say is “Wow!” and I can’t tell you how many times I have said that in the last month.

So after our visit to the Grand Canyon, we headed north to Zion National Park, in Utah.  We stayed at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park near Kanab for 5 nights.  The park itself was pretty unique in that we were surrounded by, you guessed it, pink sand dunes and best of all, it was only a short drive to Zion which enabled us to make a couple of day trips into the park. Parking is a premium so you need to arrive early to get a spot.

Zion National Park was incredible.  The park is pretty crowded and you need to arrive early to get a parking spot. Parts of the park are only accessible by shuttle bus but there was a lot to explore and the views were amazing.  One of my favorite hikes was down alongside the river surrounded by the colorful rock cliffs which was also a lot less crowded.  We also did a short hike to a small waterfall, which as Ray can attest to, I hate to miss any of the waterfalls wherever we are at.

Ray did go for a hike without me one day, the reason being that the steep switchback trail with sharp drop offs was too much for me to consider.  I still have some fear of heights in spite of all the steep rims we have been on lately.  Plus there was a sign warning hikers that 7 people have died on this trail, so that’s enough warning for me, thank you.  I just turned around and told him to take lots of pictures and be safe.

Ray’s hike photos, almost like being there!

Bighorn Sheep on the side of this mountain and the views just don’t stop

What a great start to the Utah National Parks.  Worth the wait!

And now on to the next park, Bryce Canyon National Park.  One unexpected pleasure of this leg of our trip was the campground we stayed at here.   We checked the weather forecast and it was really cold with snow expected at the campground in Bryce so we took our chance on a first come sight at nearby Kodachrome Basin State Park and totally lucked out.  This campground was one of our favorites since we started our adventures.

All taken from inside Kodachrome Basin State Park!

And Bryce Canyon National Park was not what I expected either.  I had no clue what a hoodoo was (a column or pinnacle of weathered rock, for those like me who had never heard it before) but after visiting this park, I got to see what I believe to be some of the most stunning hoodoos imaginable from the rim looking down as well as hiking thru the canyon looking up.  The hoodoos were just amazing!  Sometimes we would just stop and look around and wonder, where are we? I even earned an award for my hike through the hoodoos.

View from scenic overlooks on drive thru Bryce Canyon National Park.

        And then our hike down in the hoodoos (and my award)!

And while at our campground someone recommended a nearby slot canyon hike, another phrase I was not familiar with.  I just knew they said it was beautiful and we should not miss it, so off we went to explore.  Wow, now I know I love slot canyons as well as hoodoos!  Although it was a scary 5 mile narrow gravel road drive to get there and then signs warning that we could die from flash floods on the hike, it was worth it.  So cool!

 

Middle shot is from the drive down the gravel road after the hike!

On the way to our next stop which was Capital Reef National Park, we drove along beautiful scenic Highway 12 and stopped to have lunch with this view out our RV kitchen window.

Even though all the parks are basically rock formations and compositions of varying types, I am really struck by how unique each National Park in Utah was,  We spent several days at Capital Reef and got to hike some amazing trails.  I just have to share some of the views and hiking trails we experienced.  I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

After three amazing national parks in Utah that were all so unique, we were so looking forward to exploring  both Canyonlands and Arches National Parks in the weeks to come!