With the pandemic in full swing, we were looking for ways to get outside while still being safe. We started hiking a lot locally, but in Texas, it’s either too hot or too flat to get to much of an elevation change.
When you live in an area that is only about 400ft above sea level, you have to do some serious prep to get ready to hike places where the average elevation is 5,790ft.
Treadmill with an incline, stair stepper, 10 + mile walks, whatever we could do, we did. We were still winded with the difference in oxygen levels, but it certainly helped prepare us.
Because we knew we were going to several National Parks, who's average entry fee was $50, we bought a National Park Pass. You can find them on the National Park Services website here. The annual pass is $80, which if you are planning on doing 2+ parks a year, is worth it. We ended up doing 5 National Parks and a National Monument on this trip, plus have another trip planned for later in the year, so the pass paid for itself several times over.
We planned to hike the week of March 6, 2021 as the weather in Arizona and Utah was mild and there wasn't a lot of rain or snow on the forecast.
Arizona
We flew into Phoenix, as that was cheaper for us. We had rented a 4x4 but there was a mix up with the rental car company so we ended up with a small SUV instead. This changed our plans a bit, as a lot of what we wanted to see was down unimproved roads.
Our first stop was Flagstaff, where we got the rest of the supplies for our trip and ventured out to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We got there in the late afternoon so the colors in the canyon were set off by the sun.
As it was close to nightfall when we got there, we didn't hike down into it. I feel like the Grand Canyon is a trip all into and of itself, and I plan to do that hike one day soon. This was enough to peak my interest for sure as the rock formation and peaks were just breathtaking.
The next day we set out North along Highway 89, through Bitter Springs to see the Old Navajo Bridge. The view down to the Colorado River speaks for itself.
The landscape all around was otherworldly. Arizona is home to many Native Tribes. We were fortunate to be able to see the beautiful land of the Hualapai, Hopi, Navajo, Apache, and Kaibab peoples. Seeing their beautiful traditional artwork and jewelry was one of the highlights of my trip. I am not artistic in anyway possible, and seeing the way they are able to connect with their environment and the art they create was extremely beautiful.
From there we continued West on 89A to the Vermillion Cliffs and the Old Cliff Dwellers Lodge.
While stopped at the Lodge, we made a new friend from Seattle named Gen, who we met up with again for some hiking tips when we made it to Utah. One of the things I love about driving and hiking trips is meeting other women along the way. We always look out for each other and it's nice to have someone to reach out to during your trip if you need help or assistance.
Utah
Kanarra Falls
When we made it to the town of Fredonia we went West on 389 through the Kaibab Reservation towards Colorado City. From there we took 59 until we got to Interstate 15, which we took to Kanarra Falls. Kanarraville is a small town, and the falls are tucked away and easy to miss, but they are 100% worth the drive and hike out to see them. Tickets are $12 and you need to purchase them before you get there. You can find them on the Kanarra Falls website here. The hike itself isn't to bad, it's about 3.8 miles roundtrip and takes about 2-4 hours depending on how quickly you hike.
There is a small parking lot and the attendants building and ticket window is small. I would advise buying tickets ahead of time and not jumping the fence. While we were there a group of teenagers jumped the fence to get into the hike because tickets were sold out that day. The sheriffs office was called and the group was escorted out of the area and charged with trespassing on Federal Property. That's way more expensive than buying that $12 ticket...
The hike starts off rocky with small trees, and you do cross the creek a few times. I would suggest waterproof sandals, and if it's cold Neoprene socks. I purchased these socks off of Amazon and wore them with my waterproff Keen hiking shoes. My feet were warm and dry the entire time.
The slot canyon leading up to the falls is worth the $12 entry price alone, but a short distance later you get to the lower falls. We went in March so there was still some ice encased on part of the stairs that leads to the upper falls. We didn't head to the upper falls because we are chicken and didn't want to fall off of the stairs, but if it's anything like the lower falls, it would be worth the trip when the stairs are open and not frozen over.
Our trip back down from the falls went rather quickly as the Sherriff's were still on the mountain so they gave us a drive back down! Of course I got stuck in the cage in the backseat on the way down, which has no door handles or locks so I had to be let out from the outside once we got down.
Zion National Park
That night we back tracked a bit down Interstate 15 to highway 17 and then highway 9 to get to Zion National Park. We got in town a little before 7pm so we went straight to Zion Outfitters to pick up our waterproof overalls, hiking boots, and a hiking stick. We had a reservation for our gear for the next day but they were nice enough to let us check it out that night. Our goal was to hike The Narrows starting at first light the next day, before Outfitters was open so this was extremely helpful.
As March is not the super busy season, we didn't have to ride the shuttle, we simply drove to the Narrows Parking lot around 6am. We were able to find a spot, but they fill up quickly once light breaks. If you are going during the busy season, plan ahead because you will have to buy passes for the Zion bus shuttle system, again, they fill up quickly.
We hiked about 4.5 miles up into the Narrows. I'm 5'3" and there were 2 places along the way where the water was up to my lower chest. The water was cold so I was extremely grateful for the waterproof overalls. We saw a lot of people without them, and they turned back not to far into the hike because they were freezing. The water was slow moving the day we were there, but make sure you check the water flow before you go. During the rainy season you are subject to flash floods, and fast moving water that can knock you down easily.
Around the 4.5 mile mark there is a small slot canyon off shoot to the right that I highly recommend walking through.
We also packed in (and out) a lunch that we ate around 9am perched on a rock in the sun out of the water. You use a lot of calories hiking through that water and a lot of it you are in the shadow of the canyon. It was nice to rest for a bit and get some sunlight to warm up.
We started around 7am and were done by 11am, towards the end I was grateful for the hiking stick from Outfitters. I had two plastic ones that would not have held up in the water, and the wooden one from Outfitters did the trick. We may or may not have had a 2nd lunch after getting out of the Narrows. We needed the rest break and the calories. We only had 1 day in Zion and after Narrows we were determined to hike to Angles Landing.
Everyone told us we were crazy...but we did it. It was a long day to say the least. If I had had another day, I would have done Angles Landing in the morning. The sun and wind at the top of the canyon was brutal, and again, this was in March. I can only imagine how it would be in the high point of the summer. Make sure you take at least 3 liters of water, you will need every drop, there are many signs along the way about sun stroke and dehydration. Listen to them, take lots of water.
The hike to Scouts/Angles landing is long, but the views are worth it. There are gentle switch backs, and brutal switch backs.
At one point you are in the open sun,
another you are against a cliff where the wind is so harsh wiping through the canyon you think you may fall off,
then you are in a calm wind free crevasse,
Just when you think you are done, you aren't and the terrain changes on you to some shaded steep switch backs.
Only at that point do you clear into the openness of Scouts Landing.
It was so gorgeous, but the wind was so bad that we didn't attempt Angles Landing. Someone had fallen off the day before and died so that also made us a little leery.
The next morning we woke up and ate at Oscar's Cafe with our friend Gen that we met while on the road in Arizona.
If you have the chance to eat at Oscars while you are in Zion, I highly recommend it.
From there we drove through the Zion-Mount Caramel Tunnel on highway 89 which was a cool bypass. On the other side of the tunnel you come across another beautiful part of Zion.
We didn't stop in Bryce Canyon as we had reservations elsewhere. From what we saw of Bryce it was pretty!
Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument
From Bryce we drove along 12 into Grand Staircase -Escalante National Monument. The bulk of GSE is off road so you should have a 4x4 vehicle. We had a little SUV so we stuck to the better of the dirt roads. It's not unmanageable on the better of those roads, just know you are driving slow and know when to turn around so you don't get stuck.
We went to the Devils Garden...
And managed to find a hidden slot canyon...
We were only in GSE for the day, during the late afternoon we drove towards Capital Reef National Park.
Capital Reef National Park
We didn't get to Capital Reef until dark as there was a high mountain road and some snow coming down while we were driving so we took it pretty slow. We didn't off road as the roads were rough and our SUV wasn't going to make it down them, so we stuck to highway 24. We saw the Fruita one room school house:
The Petroglyphs
Which look like space men to me.
Panorama Point
Did a little hiking on the Grand Wash,
and went to the Behunin Cabin....which held a family of 13...I still can't figure out what Tetris they had to do to get everyone asleep in there.
To be honest, Capital Reef was more driving than hiking. Once we finished our drive we headed out to Moab. We made it to Torrey and then took highway 24 over to Hanksvill, and highway 24 North to Interstate 70. We took 70 to 191 to get to Moab. We stayed in Moab for several days and went to Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, and Dead Horse State Park. The first day in town we stretched our legs, had some lunch and went to all of the cute little stores on Main Street (191).
Arches National Park
Our first day in Arches, we woke up early and got there during the dark to watch the sunrise through the North & South Window.
The main loop is good, but if you have time, do the Primitive Trail. You will get the view from the back side which is even more amazing.
I got a tattoo at the end of this hiking trip based off of this photo I took of the Turret Arch through the window of the South Arch from the Primitive Trail.
The same day we also did the Delicate Arch Viewpoint Trail, which was a tease and made us even more ready to do the Delicate Arch Trail.
The start of the Delicate Arch Trail starts off with Wolf Ranch. You can see the two log cabins they lived in, and there is a replica of where they housed their cattle.
There are also some Petroglyphs on the back side of the property.
From there the trail starts off relatively flat, then you hit a steep rock incline, my hiking poles came in handy this day as my legs were tired and sore. There are also several uneven places and rocks to climb over.
Eventually you start to wrap around to the right along side of the rock formation. You are very much along the edge of the cliff for the last part of the hike, so go slow and take it easy.
Once you get to the Arch, you have to climb over a rock ledge to get to the final view. The day we went there weren't to many people as it was cold, windy, and sprinkling, but it made for some fantastic photos!
Canyonlands National Park
After a nap and some lunch, we ventured out to Canyonlands National Park, which is a 40 minute drive from Moab. We started off at the Island in the Sky center, which has a lookout point.
Saw the canyon floor through Mesa Arch.
Caught the sights at the Grand Viewpoint .
This is my favorite photo from Canyonlands
Green River Overlook
Most of the roads down into the bottom of the canyon look like this, which is why we had to change up our plans...a little SUV isn't making it down these roads...
So we stuck to the paved roads because those roads are not for the faint of heart. If you zoom in, you can see a 4x4 truck in that photo coming up one of the switchbacks, and how small it looks. We watched that car for 30 minutes and they didn't reach the top of the canyon.
Arches Part 2
The next morning was a Friday and we were nearing the end of our time in Moab. We started the day back in Arches, doing the hike out to Landscape, Navajo, and Partition Arch.
The walk out to Landscape Arch is flat and easy, most people can make it out to this point. The sand does get a bit soft though, so if you use assistance to get around, you may need to use alternative means.
The trek out to Navajo and Partition Arch is a little more daunting. Don't let this picture fool you, this little strip of rock to get to Navajo and Partition is steep and gave me heart palpitations. We made it, but it took a lot of pep talk for one of us to get our butts in gear and over it.
Honestly going up it was more nerve wracking than going down it. Going down was a lot easier than up. It's really easy to get lost up there and go down the wrong rock crevasse when trying to make your way out, so pay attention to your landmarks, otherwise you may be doing twice the hiking.
We also stopped at the Park Avenue Overlook and saw the beautiful panorama that includes the Gossips, Sheep Rock, Tower of Babel and the Organ.
Dead Horse State Park
Dead Horse State Park was next on our list. To get there you take the same roads as you do to get to Canyonlands, but you branch off right before. It's a 40 minute drive from Moab. Honestly we only drove out there to see Thelma and Louise Point (where they drove off the cliff in the movie). It was more than worth it....
The view of the Colorado River was just WOW. I definitely want to go back and take a boat tour up the Colorado. I'm sure the view from the river up is just as crazy.
Moab
On our way back to Moab to pack, we drove North East along highway 128, which runs parallel to the Colorado River and the boarder of Arches National Park. There were some hikes that got you out to iconic rock formations that were in Westworld, John Carter, City Slickers, and a few others.
There is also a place called JJ's Mercantile that we stopped at which is a restaurant and shop. I would highly suggest it, they have some cute stuff in there.
Salt Lake City
Once we left Moab, we made our way to Salt Lake City. We scoped out the Salt Flats.
Stayed in the CUTEST AirBnb, where the owner let us play with her dogs...
And got tattoos (to remember our trip) and sushi burritos to celebrate my birthday (which was that day)!
10 days, 1,855 miles driven, and 64 miles hiked. It was a crazy beautiful ride and I am so SO glad we did it. It taught me a lot about myself and what I can push myself to do when my brain wants to quit.
Let me know if you have questions or ideas on how to make the blog better.
Until the next adventure!
-CA
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