Eric thinks each of the three national parks we have visited deserve their own post. And in true Eric fashion, he MAY be right. However, I will give you the highlights of each and you'll need to get out and see them for yourself. They really are spectacular and these are only three of the nearly 170 parks in our great nation. Truly amazing.
Zion: Utah's first National Park
In true wandering fashion, we have no reservations for our time in Zion but luck shined on us once again as Watchman campground in the park had one space available for each night of our stay.
They did a really good job of connecting the town of Springdale to the park with a pedestrian bridge over the Virgin River right at our campground. Of course we had to explore some but not walk too far for Eric. A delicious spicy cucumber margarita at the Whiptail Grill was just the ticket to take in our surroundings before we watched the sun set on the canyon walls
The next day we hiked 4 miles to the Emerald Pools. The water wasn't as green as we expected but the hike was amazing
Eric was looking for his prize beer at the Zion Lodge
But he loves me enough to take the bus to the end of the line and walk 2 more miles to see The Narrows before sunset. He may not have been the best company on that walk from Temple of Sinawava to The Narrows but still grateful he came along with me
And of course the scenery was beautiful!
Bryce Canyon National Park; Land of Hoodoos
This park was not our list for this trip. The 8,000+ elevation drives the temperature down while we were looking to stay warm! As we were discussing where to go next over lunch in Kanab, Eric says "it's only an hour and a half drive, let's see Bryce". SO GLAD WE DID!
Beautiful afternoon drive
North Campground in the park was first come, first serve and the only campground still open but we found one just as the sun and the temperature were going down
It was only 19 degrees when we woke bringing us to the decision to drive the park rim before our hike. Each stop was just as breathtaking as the last.
So what exactly is a Hoodoo? There are lots of detailed explanations but basically
Hoodoos are pillars of rock, typically between 5 and 150 feet high. The combination of the lake bottom rocks in Bryce and plate tectonic interactions that uplifted Bryce’s rocks to the perfect elevation for the forces of nature to create Bryce’s hoodoos.
We wanted to see them up close, so we hiked the Navajo loop and Queen's Garden trail. Only 3 miles that day 😉 but 320 ft down from the canyon rim
Grand Canyon; it's big!!
Not to be confused with Letchworth, 'the Grand Canyon of the East'. Do you see the resemblance??
Although there are many beautiful dispersed camping areas near Grand Canyon, we opted to try our luck as walk-ins at Desert View campground on the South Rim after hours. They have a very analog system of a paper tag for each open site. Take the tag for the site you want, come back and pay in the AM.
Happy to settle in with our fire for the night just over a mile from the rim.
We took glimpses of the canyon as we drove in from the east but we didn't stop to gawk since the sun was already down. The next day at sunrise at the rim we realized just HOW BIG this canyon was!
Even had an elk try to follow us back to our site. They are much bigger up close!!
The remainder of our day at the Grand Canyon was spent peering out at the landscape from different vantage points. We both agreed that an excursion, mule ride or raft trip will be included in our next visit 😊. Here's just a few additional pictures from that day
Our country has such wonderful resources that are protected within these parks. Each park we visited was clean and well maintained. I hope we have the opportunity to visit many more in future wanders!
See you on the road
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