Mike in Chi

Hi all

Looks like we will be meeting up with friends in Vegas in August, then heading back to Wyo via Utah Nat'l Parks.

We're interested in Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Canyonlands and Arches followed by Flaming Gorge and then north. We'll do some car sightseeing, photo ops and some short hikes (I know Bryce and Zion will be hellish hot).

Not sure we can squeeze them all in. Interested in your impressions and experiences. If you were to cut out one or two, which one(s) would it be?

TIA

JPP

Bryce Canyon March 1996 ... I'm driving from Seattle to Atlanta to work contract on the F-22 and decide to take the 'Southern Route' .. stop in at Bryce Canyon to spend the night and see an 'A' board in the lobby of the hotel advertising 'Sunrise Bi-Plane Rides' .. heh ... so at 4a.m., I was being strapped into the front cockpit hole of a 1930's open cropduster with a down jacket, ski hat and goggles and gloves .... and for the next two hours had one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Highly recommend it .. if he asks if you'd like to do a 'roll' say yes ... and bring a change of underwear ...

chsu74

Moab, UT near the Canyonlands and Arches National Park is one of my favorite spots in the US. I went mountain biking there over Spring break during college in '94 IIRCC. Rt 666 splits these two parks and it is where they filmed Natural Born Killers. One of the coolest geological formations you can see represented standing on the Arches side is the continental plate going underneath the Canyonlands side. Ski boat rides on the Colorado River... It is just a really cool place.

hoggel

Ya, hot. But highway 12 is one of my favorites. It was backdrop for Road and Track's Enzo review (pic 12-15 and 17-19) a few years ago behind Richard Losee's storied car. I would love to get some video of a nice car and the sound driving through Head of the Rocks. The Hogback is amazing too. Hike to Calf Creek Falls.

I enjoy dinner at the Hell's Backbone Grill and overnight at the Boulder Mountain Lodge.

A quick trip to the end of the pavement on the Burr Trail provides a beautiful view of the Canyonlands and Henry Mountains. But there is also some incredible views from the highway if you are short of time in that area.

Of course Zion and Bryce NPs are not to be missed. So much to see!

Mike in Chi

Much appreciated, guys!

That sounds wonderful. If I wasn't hooked on racing, I'd have a pilots license. I love old planes, but I think I might be on my own on this one. But if it leaves that early, I could have my fun before they are even up!
Sounds like we should be able to see that, as Arches is our friends' first choice.

Thanks for the reccos Hoggel. We'll try to book the lodge and have dinner at Hell's Backbone (great name -- may have to get the t-shirt), as well as do the hike.

Thanks much guys for helping put together the itinerary!

g_murray

The DSW (desert south west) is my absolute friggin' favorite part of the country.

I remember the missus and I moseying around Bryce (humming a famous George Thorogood song (which I 'modified') "Hoodoo you love..." :-)
...then doing Zion and just feeling SO small and insigificant ...but so much in awe.
Everywhere you look or turn-around ...it's a postcard.

Two years ago we flew out to SLC, then rented a car and drove down to Moab.
Canyonlands is breath-taking. You have to be 'adventurous' and be 'somewhat fit' in order to REALLY enjoy the ins-n-outs.

In Canyonlands, the NPS do several 'trips' where they literally 'evaluate' the people that show up and without pointing fingers clearly state that - based on the body composition of some of the people in line - that they should NOT go on this trip. Said people got the message and stepped back.

The NPS were NOT being harsh or discriminatory because when we DID go on the trip, we realized that if said people had gone - they would NOT have been able to do the physical aspects (climb thru' holes, shuffle (with your back against one wall and your feet against another wall) across crevasse's, etc. etc.

Just be careful and wear GOOD HIKING boots or some sneakers with 'knobbly bits' on the bottom - for grip - because the rock surface(s) are VERY smooth in certain areas and you may literally slide down!

Trust me, you will take a bazillion photos ...and every one of them will be a friggin' postcard.

OK, after RE-reading what I've typed ...I wanna go back again!!!

Gerry

ryeske944

Would highly recommend the hikes to Delicate Arch in Arches and Angel's Landing in Zion. Not to be missed on that stretch (I did the same trip back in '06).

Mike in Chi

Great stuff, Gerry. Thanks!

Have you visited the Northern Rockies? Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, The Winds and up into Montana. Gorgeous as well. Hard to take a bad photo here as well.


Thanks Ryeske! Down on the list for each park.

to all you guys. Thanks for the info

g_murray

<quote>
Great stuff, Gerry. Thanks!

Have you visited the Northern Rockies? Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, The Winds and up into Montana. Gorgeous as well. Hard to take a bad photo here as well.
</quote>

Ha! ALL (already) on the to-do list!

G.

hoggel

Jackson is gorgeous. I love to put a change of underwear in my pocket on a friday afternoon and head east on I-80. I turn north on 189, try to set the land speed record between Kemmerer and Fontenelle Reservoir, and stay overnight in Pinedale. As early in the morning as the night before will allow, I head on down the Hoback to Jackson. Spend the day/night in the Jackson area. After breakfast on Sunday morning I go back down 89 to Thayne. Then east on 34 to Soda Springs. Try to stay awake from there home.

I grew up in the Flathead Valley (MT). Left when I was 17 and travelled around the world a bit. When I went back a few years later I looked up and thought ... Wow! This place is beautiful. I'd lived there 17 years and never really seen it. I love coming over Ravalli Hill into the valley and looking up at the Mission Mountains.

A couple weeks ago I went to Choteau to a cousin's funeral. It was another WOW moment as I drove up though the Sun River area in the early morning light. I sometimes forget how parts of this country are still so empty and beautiful. Check out the top of this Augusta CC website. At the church there were probably 200 cowboy hats on the shelf in the coat room. People came to the funeral on their horses. The casket was taken from the church to the cemetery in a buckboard pulled by a pair of roan horses.

It seems I only get back to Montana for funerals. Here's a pic I took when I walked out the back door of the church at my father's funeral in 2002.

JPP

Nice story and beautiful imagery and picture .. I can relate to this .. but I remember thinking I was REALLY lucky to be growing up where I did on the rural coast of Northern Ca out in the middle of nowhere. I think I knew it was one of the most beautiful places and it was in danger of being changed forever ..

Mike in Chi

Just completed the trip last week. Toured with another couple, friends from college.

Guys thank you so much for all the advice!!!! Hoggel -- we stayed at Boulder Mountain Lodge and ate dinner and breakfast at Hell's Backbone Grill. Yum. Bought the coffee mug

Did some of the hikes you guys mentioned, but a couple were rated too strenuous for the delicate flowers we married.

We did Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Arches and Canyonlands. Deadhorse Point, Grand Staircase and Flaming Gorge. JPP, Bryce really blew me away. Compares to the Tetons for visual splendor. I didn't see any biplane rides advertised.

The scenery is absolutely stunning. And each park is unique. Roads are really fun... I was thinking I have to do this in the 993 some time over two weeks.

Love to go back and spend 3 days at each park.

Thanks again for all the help