South Rim Grand Canyon - Wednesday, October 7 2015

South Rim Grand Canyon:
The South Rim is the more well known and heavily visited section of this iconic National Park.  Over
four million visitors from around the world visit the park each year.  The traffic was heavy and there were many people on the trails and overlooks.
Highlights:
The Rim Trail:  The Rim Trail stretches along 13 miles of the canyon.  Much of it is paved and wide with little elevation gain, making it an easy and popular trail.  Best of all, Maddie was allowed to join us for a morning walk through the Grand Canyon Village National Historic Landmark District.  It is home to the grand El Tovar Hotel and the Bright Angel Lodge, both built in the early 1900s.
Bright Angel Trail:  This trail descends 4,500 feet in 7.8 miles to the Colorado River.  It is Grand Canyon's most heavily used trail.  We hiked about 1.5 miles roundtrip - with the downhill portion much more enjoyable than the uphill climb!

View of Canyon & CO River

Desert View Watchtower:             This is one

'Upper tunnel' - Bright Angel Trail

of several structures in the park, including the El Tovar Hotel, that were designed by Mary Colter.  Using native stones to the area, her designs were heavily influenced by American Indian architecture and art.

Desert View Watchtower

North Rim Grand Canyon - Tuesday, October 6, 2015

North Rim Grand Canyon:
Although only 10 miles as the raven flies from the South Rim, the North Rim offers a very different visitor experience.  It too has awe inspiring views, but with a slower pace.  Unfortunately for us, the views were limited due to heavy clouds that descended into the canyon.

Highlights:

Grand Canyon Lodge

Point Imperial: This is the highest viewpoint in the park at 8803 feet.  It was engulfed in cloud cover.

Bright Angel Point Trail

Grand Canyon Lodge & Bright Angel Point Trail:  The historic Grand Canyon Lodge has a wonderful back porch for viewing the canyon.  One can only imagine how wonderful it would be to enjoy cocktails there at sunset.  Unfortunately we experienced it in the rain & clouds.  Bright Angel Point Trail is a 0.5 mile roundtrip trail leading from the lodge to a couple of rock overhangs.

Point Imperial in the clouds

Bryce Canyon National Park - Monday, Oct. 5, 2015

Natural Bridge Overlook

Looking down on the Hoodoo from Rim Trail

Trail:  Bryce Canyon Scenic Drive
Distance:  18 mile one way
Difficulty:  Easy & paved
Time:  1 hour
Scenic Overlook:  Natural Bridge


Hike:  Rim Trail
Distance:  1.0 - 11.0 mile (we did a small portion)
Difficulty:  Easy
Time:  1 hour
Bryce Canyon National Park is part of the larger Colorado Plateau.  We were mesmerized by the kaleidoscope of colorful (orange) rock layers and formations known as Hoodoo's.  From the Rim Trail we were able to look down upon the impressive canyon of them.  Even in the rain, it was an amazing site!
There are many scenic overlooks along the Bryce Canyon Scenic Drive, unfortunately we only had time for a select few.  It rained off & on throughout our tour. 

Zion National Park - Monday, Oct. 5, 2105

Canyon Overlook Trail

View from Canyon Overlook

Road:  Zion Mt. Carmel Hwy
Distance:  12 miles
Difficulty: Easy & Paved

Hike:   Canyon Overlook
Distance:  1.0 miles
Elevation Gain:  63 feet
Difficulty:  Moderate
Hike time:  45 minutes, round trip

The Zion Mt. Carmel Hwy is a 12-mile Scenic Hwy that connects the South & East entrances to Zion.
The road travels up steep switchbacks and through the historic Zion - Mt. Carmel Tunnel.  This tunnel is 1.1 mile long and was finished in 1930.  It's purpose was to provide direct access to both Bryce National Park & the Grand Canyon from Zion.  It was built too narrow & tall for today's RVs to pass side by side.  Often traffic is forced to flow from one direction at a time, causing long lines to form.

The Canyon Overlook Trail has long drop-offs, mostly fenced.  It is a rocky and uneven shelf trail that ends at a viewpoint of Pine Creek Canyon and lower Zion Canyon. 

Capital Reef National Park - Sunday, October 4, 2015

Trail Name:  Capital Reef Scenic Drive
Total Mileage:  24 miles round trip
Difficulty: Very easy
Hike:  Capital Gorge - 2 mile round trip
Total Time:  2.5 hours - 1.5 hours for hike

Capital Gorge canyon hike

Captial Reef Scenic Drive

The 16-mile round trip Scenic Drive is a narrow paved road that goes along Capital Reef's colorful  towering cliffs.  The Capital Gorge hike passes through a deep canyon with historic inscriptions, which leads to a short switchback trail to three waterpockets.

Notom Road to Burr Trail - Capital Reef National Par - Sunday, October 4, 2015

Trail Name:  Notom Road to Burr Trail
Total Mileage:  50 miles
Difficulty Rating:  Easy
Total Time:  2 hour

This trail traveled through both Capital Reef National Park and private land.  The washboard Notom Road ran next to the Waterpocket Fold, a giant buckle in the earth's crust that stretches across south-central Utah. It was not very distinguishable from the road and we found this part of the trail rather disappointing.
The Burr Trail started with a dramatic climb with many switchbacks and took us into more interesting

View from Burr Trail

terrain.

Switchbacks on Burr Trail

 

Schaefer Switchbacks, Potash Road - Canyonlands National Park - Moab - Oct. 3, 2015

Trail name:  Shafer Switchbacks, Potash Road

Thelma & Louise Point

Starting point:  Canyonlands Natonal Park
Finishing point:  Moab
Difficulty:  Easy - but with narrow steep switchbacks
Distance:  18.5 miles
Time:  3 hours

The most challenging and exciting part of this trip were the Shafer Switchbacks.  This steep, narrow ledge road demanded Charlie's undivided attention, but provided me with amazing views of the Canyon & the La Sal Mountains beyond.
Within walking distance of the Potash Road is Thelma and Louise Point.  *The surprise ending to this movie when Thelma & Louise  decide to 'end it all' & drive their car off this cliff.   It is a memorable moment in the movie & even more dramatic to see the real thing.

The Shafer Switchbacks