Sunday,
July 22nd
Bryce Canyon - Grand Staircase-Escalante - Capitol Reef National Park -
Hanksville - Green River
12 - 24 - 95 - 24 - I-17
We set out pretty early to go see the park. We decided to do a hike and found one at the end of the park. It looked pretty simple; we thought it was about 4-5 miles. We quickly made lunch at a picnic table and then started the hike. It was a gorgeous hike. We started on top of the mountain and could see many of the orange rock mountaintops in the distance. We carried on walking, and walking and walking. We looked at the map and couldn't tell where we were on it. Nevertheless we continued to walk. About 2 hours into it, we were still descending (and the more we went down, the more we knew we had to go back up). To cut a long story short, it ended up being an 8.43-mile hike. I exhausted myself, had a dizzy spell and heard cars that weren't there! But I'm still very proud of the fact that I hiked that long! It was a gorgeous hike; we just weren't expecting such a long one.
We were beat. After a little rest we drove down to the other points along the way. The one point was spectacular. It was a cavern filled with orange hoodoos. Hoodoos are rock spires that have formed from erosion. Beautiful stuff but I have to admit that I was forcing myself to be enthusiastic due to my fatigue.
We left Bryce Canyon and head up north. At one point we came over a hill and there was spectacular scene in front of us, the Grand Staircase-Escalante. All kinds of rock hills in different colors spanned our view for miles.
About 60 miles later, the terrain changed again and we were back to green valleys, cattle ranges, deer and forests. I think this was Dixie National Forest. Another 60 or so miles and we were in Capitol Reef National Park. This was incredible. There were the strangest mountains all around us; each with its own mix of colors and shapes; everything from gray to pink to orange to brown. We hit this area around sunset, which of course made the colors look even more spectacular but the photos terrible. Next time I would definitely have spent more time there. It really blew us away.
It was getting dark and we were nowhere close to Canyonlands National Park (our next stop). So we stopped in Hanksville and had some dinner. We ate at a small little restaurant that was associated with the town campsite. It was a nice home cooked meal and we met a lovely Dutch couple and a Texan family.
That night, we made it to the Interstate and booked into a motel in Green River.
Monday,
July 23rd
Green River - Canyonlands National Park
I-70 - 191
In the morning we went for breakfast at a cute little diner overlooking Green River. An hour or so drive and we made it to Canyonlands. At first sight, it didn't look too interesting. I was so over canyons and beautiful rock formations that I guess I was getting a little jaded. But it was pretty impressive. Not as deep as the Grand Canyon but much more widespread.
We setup camp, James took a nap and I fussed around a bit. Later in the afternoon, we went down to a couple of the points; Grandview, Unpheaval Dome and a one close to our campsite for the sunset. We got there a little early and ended up chatting to a charming couple. They were originally from Boston but had retired in Sante Fe. We spoke politics, specifically President Bush and Ralph Nader (they were supporters). It's so nice to meet good, honest people like that.
Yet another incredible sunset followed that. We walked a little way from the lookout and sat on a rock cliff that overlooked a huge canyon. The clouds reflected the light in the most magnificent ways, there were storms off in the opposite direction and we were blessed with a rainbow.
Tuesday, July 24th
Canyonlands - Moab - Arches National Park - Monument Valley Navajo Tribal
Park
191 - 163
We visited one last lookout on our way out of the park. It was another view of the gorgeous formations of the canyon. From most of the lookouts you could see a dirt road that goes around the bottom of the canyon. It's a 4-wheel drive road and takes 2-3 days to do. Definitely seems like the best way to see it - next time!
From there, we drove down to Moab for breakfast. Moab was a cute little town. The main street was filled with tourist shops. By this time any sign of civilization was welcome. We had breakfast in a quaint restaurant. I have to say it was one of the best breakfasts I've had in years. Even the bacon tasted like the kind of bacon I used to get as a kid. After breakfast, I dragged James shopping. Didn't really buy anything but James did see a great hiking backpack that he liked.
We head back north a couple of miles to Arches National Park. We weren't that enthusiastic about it and just drove around the park. We got out at a couple of the lookouts. The color of the rocks was a brilliant red and the arches were really incredible, we were just full of beautiful things. (We should be so lucky.)
Oh and James got creative with the camera at one of the stops - he decided it would be a great idea to take a photo of me in the toilet. It doesn't end there - the toilets at these parks are often pit toilets. Pit toilets are basically a shack with a toilet over a big pit. It's really pretty gross. As I was saying, James thought it an even better idea to take a photo of the contents of the pit! One of the most disgusting photos I have ever seen. You won't find either photo on the site, but if you like the site of human feces, email us and we can pass it on…
After the park, we drove down to Monument Valley. We actually did it by mistake because I missed the turn off to Mesa Verde. I'm glad we did though. We got there just at sunset and of course this made it all the more impressive. You see those buttes a million times in movies, it's just so surreal when they're actually right in front of you.
We were a little worried that there wouldn't be anywhere to camp because Monument Valley is on an Indian Reservation but sure enough there was a little village with shops and lodging. The campsite was in between 2 buttes and was very basic. Our actual site was OK though, we could see out through the buttes to a section of Monument Valley. We also ended up having an interesting evening; sitting about the campfire, we had a heated discussion about the effects of magazines and the fashion industry on women.