Yay!! After two years, it's finally time for another big trip! Some things were still not fully open because of COVID, but the National Parks were opening up! We decided to make it grand and visit 'The Mighty Five' of Utah!
Our drive west was sprinkled with rainfall and sunshine. We saw a double rainbow near the Missouri-Kansas border. We also saw a semi-truck engulfed in flames in Kansas. We could see the black smoke for miles before we could see what was happening. We stopped in Denver for the first night of the drive. The second night we stopped not too far outside of Las Vegas. Too bad everything there was still shut down! We stopped at Black Dragon Canyon. We also drove past New Harmony, Utah!
Our first park was Zion. Unfortunately this park was only partially open, so we were only able to do part of the drive. The mountains were breathtaking! I didn't have a panic attack on these mountains, even though the roads were just as treacherous as Pike's Peak. The smashed penny machine was inside the closed portion of the park, but I was able to get one online. I'm very hopefully we can return and complete the rest of the park.
Park #2 was Bryce Canyon. This is a smaller park, but we were not prepared for the beauty of this park! The hoodoos and window formations were so unique. The red rocks along the skyline were so beautiful! Our pictures cannot bring this park justice. We did some hiking on some trails I had researched. I kept thinking it was longer than I expected, and after our descent and many switchbacks, I realized we had accidentally crossed onto the wrong trail. This was a moderate trail, and our midwestern lungs were definitely not prepared for this elevated hike! It was also 96 degrees out (very unusual for this park), so that didn't help our hike! I think this was Evan's favorite park!
On the way out of the park, we drove Highway 12. This road is called "the most scenic road in the US". This highway has one large switchback and lots of areas of skinny roadways and drop-offs. I definitely put my mask over my eyes for this part as Evan kept laughing and saying "THIS IS CRAZY!" I had to yell at him that he wasn't helping my anxiety. Haha!
We drove close to the next stop and stayed the night at The Broken Spur, a western themed motel that even had covered wagons to sleep in! Thankfully we decided to stay in a regular room, because the temperature plummeted that night! I was so excited with this beautiful hilltop motel.
Park #3 was Capitol Reef. We didn't do much at this park. We drove through along the road to see the large canyon walls. There was also some orchards and old farmhouses that we saw along the drive. The next stop was a surprise for Evan! I followed directions I found online to take us out onto dirt roads that almost looked non-existent. We drove and hiked until we reached our destination: dinosaur footprints! Evan was so excited!
Park #4 was Canyonlands. This park is so big, we only did Islands in the Sky area. While here, it started sleeting! Evan didn't listen when I told him to pack warm clothes, so we had to buy a sweatshirt in the giftshop so he didn't freeze. We did some hiking to Mesa Arch, a 27 foot wide arch that beautifully frames the views below. Be mindful if you take photos here! Right behind the arch is a 1200 foot drop off a cliff! Also, walking on the arch is NOT permitted!
We drove into Moab to stay for the night. The next morning we went to Hole-N'-the-Rock. A couple started building this home themselves in the side of a mountain. This was such a unique home! Their burial site was outside of the home as well. There was a petting zoo that we went through here too. There were many eccentric things located on the property that we enjoyed!
Park #5 was Arches. We walked several trails in this park. We walked to the lower views of Delicate Arch, the iconic symbol for Utah. We knew the trail to the arch was more moderate, so we didn't attempt it. We also walked to Double Arch. This area was so much bigger than we expected! We also saw North Window, Balanced Rock, Park Avenue, and many other formations. We also walked through the grasslands to a trail that took us through sandstone walls as we walked through sand to Sand Stone Arch. This was such a unique spot!
As we set out to head home, we noticed a snow storm rolling into Denver. We decided to take the south route home and stay the night in Albuquerque with family to avoid the snow. Even by doing this, we had to drive through some fat, fluffy snow! We spent the night playing games with the family before we headed out bright and early the next morning for our drive home. We ended up seeing 44 states while playing the license plate game on this trip!
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