The rest of Utah and on to Arizona


It’s been almost two weeks since my last post.  We’ve been busy exploring the Big Five National Parks in southern Utah and a few State Parks.  Wifi accessibility has been spotty at best but we sure have been taking lots of photos!

This is Checkerboard Mesa on the way to Bryce Canyon.

The first of many arches. This one just on the road.

We stayed in Kodachrome Basin State Park, serene and full of wonderful spires and colors.  They even had a disc golf course and ice cream at the visitor’s center.

Bryce Canyon National Park was my favorite.  It was full of hoodoos which are rock spires that were formed by water over thousands of years.

This one is called Thor’s Hammer.

Capitol Reef NP got its name from this rock formation that is supposed to look like a capitol dome.  

This park has many kinds of fruit grown in orchards, remnant of the pioneer community in Fruita, settled in 1880. They are maintained today by the park staff.  The ground was lumpy and overgrown and the apples were scarce.  But we did find one special little apple.  

There is an historic little house that sells little pies and crumbles.  I like to think that they picked the fruit from these orchards, but I doubt it as most of the fruit was not in season now.  They were very yummy though and perfect for a picnic snack at the end of the road.

Capitol Reef has some wonderful ancient petroglyphs.

We had a sweet bike ride on the quiet roads around our campground.

At Goblin Valley State Park we took a short hike on the Little Wild Horse trail to a slot canyon.  I haven’t mentioned it yet but when we visited all these places this week they were having an extreme heat wave.  Temperatures were about 100 degrees and the sun was blazing.  At home I’d never go out when it’s so hot and sunny but it was hard to avoid it during our limited time available.

At Dead Horse Point State Park we drove through the desert landscape and canyons to see the overlook of the Colorado River below. 

Next on to Arches National Park with incredible rocky growths reaching up to monumental heights.  

We hiked to see Delicate Arch which is the iconic image on souvenirs.  
I liked Landscape Arch and we really liked the hike up to it.

Canyonlands NP was incredible.  The chasms in the earth were everywhere and they were huge.

The hike up to the Upheaval Dome was challenging and by the time I got up there I was spent.  Also,  I get weak in the knees all the way down to my toes near the precipices so I stay far back and worry about Steve getting closer to the edge even though he is not dangerously close.

Upheaval Dome may have been caused by a meteor
The hike up to Mesa Arch was not so difficult or scary.  I liked that one better.

We camped across from Monument Valley, a Navajo Tribal Park.  The dirt road inside the park would have been too difficult for Harvey to handle so we enjoyed it from a distance.

In Page, Arizona we went to the overlook at Horseshoe Bend, part of the Glen Canyon area.  

We signed up with a Navajo tour group, the only way people are allowed to enter, to see the Upper Antelope Canyon.  This slot canyon is the subject of many iconic photographs.  We took an incredibly bumpy ride in an open truck over rutted sand tracks for 20 minutes each way to reach this site which was only discovered by chance in 1931. Our tour guide showed us how to use our phone settings to get the optimum gold and orange colors of the sun beaming through the openings above.

…and now Harvey got a new problem. We’d been smelling a faint odor of gasoline and yesterday in Page it became more pronounced. Steve found a small drip of gasoline coming out of a connection and he tried so many fixes but nothing seemed to make a difference. After a fitful night of sleep last night, trying variations of fans and open windows we called the Dodge dealer in Flagstaff and they told us to bring it in this morning. Luckily the smells didn’t make us sick, or worse, and we made it to Flagstaff early today. They were able to perform diagnostics and found that there was a crack in the gas tank near that connection and ordered parts that should arrive tomorrow and they will be able to fix it. We had to cancel our two day stop at the quieter North Rim of the Grand Canyon but we still should be able to go to the more popular South Rim in a couple of days. We got a rental car and a hotel room in Flagstaff and are looking forward to a good night’s sleep tonight hoping that tomorrow Harvey will be fixed and all better.


14 responses to “The rest of Utah and on to Arizona”

  1. Really stupendous scenery, Debi! Your photos are great!!! You are definitely seeing such extraordinary sites. I envy of your experiences! Enjoy–stay safe–hello to Steve and keep trucking’!

  2. OMG! Your pictures and your trip are so awesome. You are really packing a lot in on this trip. Many of the places being on our wish list. Enjoy. Hope Harvey is fixed and you are able to successfully continue on with your trip. Thanks for sharing. Safe travels.

  3. Wow! Such amazing photos and such an incredible journey! I too love Bryce Canyon. Glad Harvey is on the mend. I wonder what’s next!

  4. This is the best section of your trip! (Although I think I’m repeating myself as I have been saying that with each section you have sent) Bryce and the slot canyons, Arches and ice cream – it is getting harder and harder to pick the best. Thanks for sharing.

  5. Wow, what an adventure, love all the photos! We did not get to see much of the national parks when we visited in 2013, the year the government couldn’t settle a budget and closed things down. The state parks were pretty good, glad you got to include several. Hope the weather cools for you soon, without snow!

  6. So many beautiful places! I’m sorry to hear Harvey has another problem. Hope you will get to the South rim, even if it means delaying your departure from the area. The Grand Canyon is too magnificent to miss!

  7. Great adventoand wonderful rock formations! Steve’s beard truly make him a mountain man. Glad Harvey got fixed.

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