Saw Some Stuff

On May 28 – June 4, 2021, Ian and I had an amazing trip traveling through Utah, visiting various national parks, monuments, and even went skydiving! Each hike and location we visited kept getting better and better. I can definitely admit that we were blown away by Utah.

Moab – Delicate Arch
We drove to Utah from Denver, after staying in Colorado for a couple weeks. We started our adventure in Moab, which really took us by surprise. It’s a cute little town surrounded by enormous mesas and beautiful canyons. We were in awe the entire drive into Moab, especially driving on road 1 28. I highly recommend taking this road at some point for anyone visiting Moab.

Our first day in Moab, we arrived later in the day and went straight to Arches National Park to do the Delicate Arch trail. The hike was moderate and about 3 miles round trip, but with a steep uphill climb. There is a 629ft elevation gain on this trail. Once you arrive at the top, the views of the Arch and surrounding areas are magnificent. We went during sunset and the sky was beautiful and made the experience even better. The only downside is this area has become so popular, that there was a huge crowd by the arch and, unfortunately, I think it is always like that. We literally had to line up to take a picture by the arch. Either way, it was still worth it. Next time we’re in Moab, we’ll probably visit the less popular arches and trails to avoid the big crowds.

On our drive to Delicate Arch trail head we also saw the La Sal Mountain Viewpoint and Balanced Rock on our way. These are super quick stops. We got dinner at Sultan, a Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Moab, which was really good.

Moab – Skydiving
The following day in Moab we had to wake up fairly early, because we planned to ……jump out of a plane! I have been wanting to go skydiving for a long time and this seemed like the perfect opportunity with such amazing views in Utah. We found a skydiving place called Skydive Moab. They are highly rated and have good prices. Weirdly, Ian and I, didn’t feel nearly as nervous as we thought we would – instead very excited. The little airplane ride up to the top was probably the scariest part, because there was no turning back at that point!

I feel like the experience was more of an out-of-body experience and I basically let the professional skydiver I was attached to for the tandem jump do all the work and throw my body out of the plan. Free falling out of a sky is a crazy experience and floating when the parachute drops really makes you feel like you’re flying. It was so much fun and I would do it again. However, getting a video of the experience was a mistake. I watched the video once and will never watch it again because I never want to see my face flapping violently in the breeze again (not cute).

Moab – Fisher Towers
After our skydiving experience, our next stop in Moab was Fisher Towers. This hike was super cool, but again a moderate and more difficult hike in the summer heat because of all the uphill elevation gains. Ian and I quickly realized, there aren’t really “easy” hikes in Utah. Even the moderate level hikes are on the harder side, especially in summer. So it’s good to be mentally prepared for that. This trail was really beautiful and had unique rock formations. Being inside the giant canyon walls on this hike makes you feel minuscule. This trail was not very crowded at all, which was nice. We accidentally took a wrong turn in the very beginning and had to back track, but when we eventually found the trail, the rest was well marked and easy to follow. Over all, this was a really cool hike!

Moab – Dead Horse Point

After Fisher Towers, we drove to Dead Horse Point State Park and did a quick loop around the trail. This is a pretty quick stop/walk that you can drive right up to and park your car. The view was absolutely stunning and picturesque. It reminded me of a mix of the Grand Canyon and Horse Shoe Bend.

After a long day of jumping out of planes and magnificent views, we went out to dinner to 98 Center in Moab. We ate outside and had a cool view of mesas surrounding us. The food there was delicious!

The next morning we got breakfast at Jailhouse Cafe in Moab and went to some shops around the town. Moab is a really awesome little town and had some cool murals and painted signs everywhere. Ian and I definitely plan to be back here and will probably try to do some kayaking around the Colorado River or ATV rides next time.

Little Wild Horse Canyon

After breakfast, it was time to start driving to our next location and start making our way South West. Our next stop was Little Wild Horse Canyon. This hike was super cool! Probably one of our favs, although hard to tell because all the hikes were so amazing and different in their own way. Little Wild Horse was cool because as you walk through, the canyons start getting more and more narrow throughout. In some parts you had to walk sideways to fit through, which is a little scary, especially being claustrophobic. It reminded me a lot of the Antelope Canyons in Page, Arizona. This hike was nice because it was pretty empty and we felt like we were completely on our own most of the time. Ian and I had so much fun walking through, climbing over and under rocks, and attempting to scale the wall. We ended up doing 4 miles out and back. Luckily, this hike was fairly easy and flat, other than climbing over some rocks here and there. Since it’s a slot canyon, we were told to be cautious about any rain on the radar because if there is a flash flood it can be extremely dangerous in such narrow canyons.

Goblin Valley

Next stop we went to Goblin Valley State Park, which was not too far from Little Wild Horse. This was super cool, as well. Definitely would recommend this park, especially because it’s an easy walk through the area. It kind of feels like you’re on mars with some crazy “goblin” looking landforms. I see how it got its name. It kind of looks like a playground made out of weird rock formations.

Also, after we left here I mentioned to Ian that Goblin Valley reminded me of Galaxy Quest, a movie with Tim Allen where they go to another planet and encounter some scary little aliens with razor sharp teeth (I hadn’t seen that movie in years but that part was burned into my memory) and, sure enough, that exact part of the movie was filmed there.

 Scenic Byway 12

Next, we were on our way to Bryce Canyon! We took the scenic Byway 12 road there and I highly recommend it! It was stunning views through mountains with amazing scenery. We stopped on the side of the road so many times to admire the views. Along the way we also made a quick stop to view some ancient petroglyphs that were carved into the side of the mountain. They’re kind of hard to see in the photos, but you can find them in the very center.

Exhausted and feeling loopy we finally made it to our hotel in Tropic, near Bryce Canyon, around midnight. At least it’s beautiful driving through Utah, so it makes driving not so bad.

Bryce Canyon

The next day, we headed to Bryce Canyon. This was amazing and I have never seen anything like this in my life. Bryce is covered in “Hoodoos”, which are really tall cone-shape type rock formations. The colors in Bryce are a beautiful, bright coral color. We did the Wall Street and Queens Garden 3.2 loop hike, which was one of the shorter hikes. We started at the Wall Street side because it is a lot steeper on this side and I definitely wouldn’t want to end the hike coming up that way. Other than the steeper beginning and ends of this trail, the rest of the trail was fairly flatter and not too hard of a hike. Hiking through Bryce Canyon kind of felt like we were on a different planet and we kept saying we felt like we were in “Star Wars” lol.

After hiking this trail, we made a couple more scenic view point stops in Bryce Canyon at Lower and Middle Inspiration Points and Yovimpa and Rainbow Points.

After Bryce, we headed back to our hotel in Tropic and went to dinner to a little place across the street next to a camp site. It was half outdoor and kind of looked like an open barn and with some live blues music. The food was okay, but it was a cool little place to have some drinks and chill!

Zion

The next day, we were off to Zion! We kept saying each hike we did kept getting better and Zion definitely met that expectation. The drive into Zion is AMAZING. I would say this was the coolest drive we did, but again each area was so amazing and different in their own way– so it’s hard to say which one was my favorite. Zion definitely made us feel like we were in Jurassic Park and we listened to the soundtrack while driving through because how can you not.

We stayed in a little cabin at  Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort in Orderville right outside of Zion. We would of stayed in Zion, but everywhere was completely booked up. The drive into Zion from there was about 20-30 min depending on traffic. Once we arrived into Zion National Park, the elevation is slightly lower inside the high canyon walls and it was super hot, in the 100’s. We took it easy this first day in Zion because we had been doing so much hiking and had two of the hardest hikes ahead of us.

We got dinner at the Spotted Dog Cafe, which was a little on the pricier side, but amazing food! Apparently it get’s booked up for weeks, but someone told us to go wait in line right before it opened at 5pm. We did that and got first come first serve seating immediately and had a really cool view on their patio outside. After dinner, we stopped at this shop that had artwork created by different Native American artists. It was really cool and we ended up buying a lot from there. They had anything from hand woven wall hangings to intricate painted wood animal sculptures. We then headed back to our resort to hang out in the hot tub.

Zion – The Narrows

The following day we did the Narrows hike in Zion. This hike was incredible. We hiked a little over 4 miles total out and back. The farther you go out the better it gets. We wanted to go longer, but needed to save our energy for the next day. The entire hike you walk in water through super tall narrow canyon walls. The water starts out about ankle deep and got to my hips at one point. I think the water height varies depending on the time of year. I believe the water in early June was on the lower side, but either way we expected to get wet.

We had to prepare for this hike before hand with some proper gear. It’s definitely good to have quick-dry hiking clothes and a camelback water bladder. We bought neoprene socks to wear with our hiking boots because the water is freezing. We also bought walking sticks, which is a must. It’s difficult to walk because the entire hike is covered in slippery rocks and you’re constantly maneuvering around them. Ian and I wore our own hiking shoes, but you can rent canyoneering boots, neoprene socks, walking sticks and other gear from Zion Outfitters downtown.

The only downside to Zion’s popular hikes is that it’s extremely crowded. The entire first part of the Narrows was packed with people and we had to go out at least 2 miles to get to a place where there weren’t many people. Also, because it’s so crowded, they no longer allow any cars to drive to this area of the park and you have to take a shuttle to get there. Ian and I ended up booking the semi private shuttle service ahead of time to get there and back (for $45), instead of taking the free shuttle bus. It was definitely worth it because the lines to wait for the free bus was probably 2 hours. I also recommend going as early as possible because of the crowds. I think we took the second earliest shuttle at 8am. By the time we got done with the hike around 1pm, the crowd had tripled.

Over all, besides the crowds, the Narrows hike is absolutely amazing and so worth it!

Zion – The Subway

The final day of our trip we did the Subway hike. This was definitely the coolest, but hardest hike I have ever done. This one was for real like Jurassic Park! In order to do this hike you have to apply for a lottery to get a permit. We both applied a few months in advance. Luckily, I won the lottery and got a permit for two people! After talking to some locals, we realize how lucky we were to get a permit. They said the Subway is one of those once in a lifetime opportunities that a lot of people in Utah dream to go on! Since the permits are limited for each day, we barely saw anyone on this hike. If we didn’t get the permit, we were going to do Angel’s Landing.

We definitely had a lot of preparation to do for the Subway, including mentally preparing ourselves. Unfortunately, the day we went was 102 degrees. Not ideal for this hike, but we had to suck it up. We both brought as much water as we could in our camelbacks and it still wasn’t enough. We did the bottom up route, which is about 9 miles out and back. Although, my Fitbit said almost 12 miles probably because of all the scrambling around rocks we had to do. The other route is the top down and involves repelling down waterfalls to get into the canyon. The hike in the very beginning and end was an extremely steep climb down the side of the mountain to get to the creek at the bottom.

Once we got to the bottom of the mountain inside the creek, we were in the thick of Zion wilderness. The trail was…well basically no trail and it was not marked at all. We were following footprints and trying to find rocks that had sand on them, indicating someone had stepped there. The entire trail was scrambling over rocks, walking through the river, and maneuvering around large boulders. We found real dinosaur tracks all over a large slab of rock that had been preserved. Insane! *cue the Jurassic Park theme song*

Finally after 4 miles, we got to the best part of the hike and it was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. It was like a little oasis inside giant canyon walls. There were pools of bright blue water and waterfalls trickling everywhere. We walked through shallow waterfalls to reach this spot and of course jumped into the freezing cold water holes, which felt amazing on the scorching hot day.

We spent about an hour hanging out in this little oasis, ate some lunch and had fun exploring this area all to ourselves. It was getting hotter, so we geared up and it was time to endure the hike back. It was slightly(?) easier on the way back because we at least had somewhat of an idea of where to go. We took a little bit of a different route this time and saw a fresh dead elk carcass right on the trail that is now forever burned into my memory. It looked like the elk fell down from the top of the canyon. Poor guy.

Once we were about 2 miles away from the end of the trail, Ian ran out of water. This is when it started to get kind of scary. I knew I was also nearing the end of my water so I was trying as hard as I could to save it, but it was HOT. We finally reached the point at the bottom of the mountain where we had to climb back up. This was insanely difficult. Exhausted, dripping sweat and feeling loopy from dehydration, we definitely had to take a lot of breaks and I of course ran out of water half way up. We finally reached the top and made our way back to the parking lot. It felt like it took forever to get back, but arriving back to my car was probably one of the happiest moments of my life. Lessen here is don’t do this hike in the summer.

Absolutely AMAZING hike, but probably once in a lifetime. We drove straight to the nearest gas station and chugged so many waters. Next stop, margaritas and celebrate not dying of dehydration or getting lost!!! We found a Mexican restaurant near downtown Zion and it was time for lots of food and dranks.

Zion – Observation Point

After dinner, we headed back to our cabin at the ranch resort. I don’t know how we did it after such a long day (it was probably the Margaritas), but we made one more stop and did a 1 mile hike to Observation Point in Zion. It was a really cool scenic view of Zion at the top. I was so exhausted at this point I barely took any pictures.

Monument Valley

The next day Ian and I packed up and started our long drive back to Detroit. We made a few extra stops in Utah along the way at Monument Valley, Forrest Gump point, Mexican Hat, Valley of the Gods, and Gooseneck State Park. We split the drive up into 3 days, staying overnight in Parachute, CO and Des Moines, IA, so it wasn’t horribly brutal, only semi-brutal.

And that wraps up our Utah trip. Good times. UNTIL NEXT TIME.