The Amazing Utah Parks Part 2

I finished my whirlwind trip through Utah, five parks in nine days! It was a great time, a trip full of firsts for me. I hiked in a desert, I snowshoed, and I hiked one of the most infamous hikes in the world.

After Moab, I was ready to keep going west. Utah is one of those states where there is vast amounts of wide open space. So just driving was an experience to itself. On my way from Moab to Bryce Canyon, I took I-70 for a little, which was my first time driving on an interstate with a speed limit of 80, which was really neat. But, I was only on the interstate for a little before getting back on the back roads, which is how I have done most of the driving on the trip. Since Utah is so wide open, I was driving on the highway for hours without seeing one building or more than two other cars. It was a pretty unique and somewhat exhilarating experience being so free from society like that, but also kind of freaky when I would start to think about what would I do if I were to break down or something? So driving was good overall, but I would also get pretty happy when I would reach my destinations and be around other people.

Capitol Reef

Capitol Reef is a small National Park on the way to Bryce Canyon. It's a little known park but not any less beautiful. Capitol Reef is unique because it protects the natural landscape but also preserves the historic settlements that once were there. The Fremont Native American culture first made the area home, evidenced by many petroglyphs on the canyon walls. Then, a group of Mormon settlers established a settlement, called Fruita, due to the fertile land fed by the Fremont River. Most of the buildings of Fruita, such as the schoolhouse and a workshop, are in good condition and provide a neat look back at life in the area at that time. What's neat about Fruita is that almost all the families that lived there had thriving fruit orchards. The orchards are still in the park and maintained by park staff. During harvest time, visitors can pick and eat all of the fruit. Unfortunately, it was not harvest while I was visiting but I did walk through some orchards and hiked along the Fremont River and up in the canyon. I also did a traditional Utah desert canyon hike to a natural bridge called Hickman Bridge. It was an arch, similar to those a Arches NP, but it is formed from a different type of sandstone so it didn't have that red rock color. I didn't stay at Capitol Reef too long, it was a stop on my way to Bryce Canyon, but I hope to visit again and try some of the fresh fruit.

Bryce Canyon

When I arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park, it was a winter wonderland! I was so excited to see tons of snow. I love the look of snow covered pine trees, so relaxing. Bryce Canyon is again in the Utah high desert, but there is a much bigger variety of plant life. It's a full pine forest also with fir, juniper, spruce, and aspen trees. So after being in desert landscapes with just cacti and shrubs, I was excited to be among trees again, especially snow covered trees. Bryce Canyon is home to the largest collection of "hoodoos" in the world. Hoodoos are rock formations in the shape of towers and spires. They are mainly formed from the freezing and thawing of water that seeps into the cracks of the canyon. The hoodoos stick out of the already dramatic canyon creating a beautiful landscape. The hoodoos and canyon were also dusted with snow, which made the scene even more pretty. While I was visiting, I drove the park road and stopped at all of the overlooks to view the vast canyon. Then, I met up for a ranger guided snowshoe walk. This walk was so fun! It was my first time snowshoeing and Ranger Hector was an awesome guide. He spoke about the trees and how they have adapted to living in the rocky landscape. He also told us a lot about the Native Americans that lived there and showed us a Native American campfire game. The Native Americans were very wise about living with the land and knew they should be appreciative of land and all things on it, living or dead, which was a good lesson. We're all (people, animals, plants) a part of the Earth's story and need to work together to live on it. After, the snowshoeing, I kept driving to the overlooks to marvel at the canyon, it was great. I would have done more hiking but one negative of snow is that it makes everything muddy and slippery.

Zion

The final park in Utah is Zion. I was just driving on another deserted highway in southwest Utah when all of a sudden I was in this beautiful colorful canyon driving along a river. Then I drove through a crazy, long tunnel and down a very windy road all through the canyon with gorgeous views across the park. I camped at this park so I drove to my campsite and set up camp at the bottom of the canyon with beautiful views all around. The next day, I was ready to hike and explore. I first went to the famed West Rim Trail to Angels Landing, but there were Park Rangers at the start of the trail saying it was closed. Then I overheard mumbles of "search and rescue" between hikers and the Rangers and I thought "Uh oh, not good." So I went on the Kayenta Trail to the emerald pools instead, kind of happy I didn't have to do Angels Landing because I was pretty nervous about it. The Kayenta Trail offered really pretty overlooks of Zion Canyon as it twisted and turned towards these really peaceful waterfalls. I got to the middle and upper emerald pools which were these little pockets in the caverns where water from the waterfalls was collecting. The water flowing over the pebbles and sandstone was very calming. The rest of the afternoon I just wandered around the park and was so impressed with the variety of the landscape. It was so colorful with the sandstone canyon and the river and waterfalls and all of the different plants. I also started thinking about Angels Landing and how I shouldn't miss out on my opportunity to do it. It's an amazing hike and I didn't want to wimp out.

Angels Landing via West Rim Trail is a strenuous 5 mile hike up to the top of a 1488 foot tall rock formation named Angels Landing. The last 0.5 mile runs along the spine of the rock on a skinny trail. This is up 1000+ feet in the air on a trail that gets down to 2 feet wide. On some of the path there are chains that provide some peace of mind, and then the rest of the trail is up to you. So I decided the next morning I would get up early and beat the crowd and hike to the top. I was ready to go in the morning and started hiking up up up. The entire trail to Scout's Lookout, which is the overlook before the scary chain part of the trail, is uphill. Then I got to Walter's Wiggles, which is 21 switchbacks at a steep grade. So even the trail up to the scary part is very exhausting and strenuous. That's probably why I decided to keep going onto Angels Landing, my mind was clouded with exhaustion. But then I got to Scout's Lookout and took a second to look around, but not too long, I wanted to keep the momentum going. So I set off on the chain section. Luckily the weather was good and there weren't many people on the trail so I was fully focused. I kept moving one foot in front of the other tried not to let my mind wander. I stopped frequently to catch my breath and these moments were the scariest. When I stopped, I would look around and see how high I was and get a little freaked. But I kept going and finally made it to the top. The view at the end was so worth it. I got a 360 degree view of the beautiful Zion Canyon, it was amazing. I took some time to rest, enjoy, and chat with some fellow hikers and then I wanted to head back down to the ground. Going down was a little harder, there were many points I kind of had to crab walk my way down the slippery rocks. This hike was the most physically and mentally challenging thing I have ever done but I am so glad I did it. The sense of accomplishment at the top, and at the bottom, is so good, I felt like a super hero. Lots of other hikers congratulated me on my way back down to bottom, it was just the best experience. After Angels Landing, I relaxed a little and headed down to the Temple of Sinawava area. Here, I walked along the river just enjoying nature. I saw a group of Mule Deer grazing, I saw climbers on the canyon walls, and lots of birds. I walked until I got to the beginning of the Narrows, another well known hike, and I sat and relaxed for a while there. Overall, I was so impressed with Zion. It's so colorful and beautiful and there are such a variety of hikes there. It was so fun!

So, Utah is an amazing and interesting place. There are so many different things to do and see. My trips to the parks focused on hiking, but there are a lot of other activities to do. There are 4WD trails, bike trails, lots of people were climbing, there's horseback riding, all sorts of things. Due to their isolated locations, the Utah parks are also amazing for stargazing, I always took time to look up at the sky at the end of the day. It was a great leg of the trip!

To see pictures of my adventures, visit the gallery.