The Wow Factor! Our National Parks Tour

"Worshipping" at the Cathedral of Rocks, Bryce Canyon

After a very nice stay in our home State and City (Oregon/Eugene) in May of this year, we hit the road again in early June, this time with old friends and new 5^th Wheeling cohorts, Connie and Addison, our destination the National Parks of Southern Utah and Colorado.  Lanie and I had been to several of the more notable Utah parks at various times over the years; but this was a more thorough tour, Park by Park, of the Natural Beauty in these states.  It took us three days to travel about 1,000 miles from our pushing off point in Bend to our first stop way down in the far Southern reaches of Utah at Zion.  

Zion Canyon towers over our RV Park in Springdale, UT

We had reservations for several nights at an RV park just outside Zion in the touristy town of Springdale.  Here, the mighty canyon carved over centuries by the Virgin River was in full view right from our campsites.  If you’ve been to Zion before, you know of its grandeur; if not I’ll briefly explain.  In a word, it is a place of towering cliffs looming over the Virgin River valley.  At various times during the 2 days we spent there, we hiked up some of the Canyon trails for spectacular views of the surrounding country and even biked down the 7 miles long canyon road a couple times; all in all a very enjoyable visit.

Biking down Zion Canyon

Sweeping canyon view inside Zion

But soon we were hitching up and heading about 150 miles North and a little East to Bryce Canyon City just outside Park Number two, Bryce Canyon. 

Getting up close and personal with the Hoodoos

 This was a 3^rd or 4^th trip for Lanie and I (but a first for Connie and Addison); even given our previous visits, Lanie and I, and our friends, were awestruck yet again by the sheer beauty of the red/orange “hoodoos” of Bryce.  We’d never before actually hiked into and through the canyons; but we sure did this time, and the up close and personal views of the Hoodoos were absolutely stunning.

The Oregon Gang at the edge of Bryce Canyon

"Ant People" hiking through the massive Hoodoos in Bryce

 After a couple days here, we were off again, on another Northeasterly jaunt to Capitol Reef National Park, staying at an RV Park in the town of Torrey several miles outside of the park entrance.  This was the same park Lanie and I had stayed at during a 30^th anniversary RV trip in 2011; and we remembered well the spectacular views of the red rock cliffs right from our RV site. 

 

Red Rock views from our Campground in Torrey UT

If I might say so myself, Capitol Reef is kind of an under- appreciated/somewhat unknown park in Utah in comparison to the much more widely known Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches and Canyonlands (more of the latter two in a bit).  As an example, fellow tourists we met in Zion and Bryce, several of them foreign travelers visiting our GREAT Country, invariably mentioned Zion, Bryce, Arches and Canyonlands on their travel itineraries; but seldom poor under-appreciated Capitol Reef.  

Hickman Natural Bridge, Capitol Reef

We first learned about Capitol Reef from Lanie’s folks, who were long-distance RV travelers in their retirement years. And we’d stopped at the park, on her parents’ recommendation, way back in the Fall of 1981 on what, for us, was a delayed honeymoon trip after our marriage that summer.  Then, we didn’t have the big honkin’ 5^th wheel, our camping vehicle a Datsun King Cab with cab-high canopy (our sleeping quarters).  But, despite the “primitive” conditions… by today’s standards… we had a great time then, again 30 years later on our anniversary trip, and now as we approached anniversary #35.  

 

Young Guys guarding the Canyon

Capitol Reef is different from both Zion and Bryce, yet incorporates some of the grandeur of each of those two landmark parks, with some extremely narrow canyons thrown in for good measure. In a hike down one of those narrow canyons, we encountered a flock of wild sheep, including 4 babies who stood watching us from a rise in the canyon; and on that same hike we could look up and see only a sliver of sky through the narrow canyon walls; STUNNING is about all I can say about that.  And yes, 35 years, and 3 visits later, it remains one of our all-time favorite parks.

Hiking through the narrow canyons of Capitol Reef

Double Arches

Arches Everywhere

Connie and Addison left for Oregon after Capitol Reef, while Lanie and I headed further East to Moab, Utah, gateway to the two nearby Parks, Arches and Canyonlands.  We’d been to Arches before, but not Canyonlands; and enjoyed both on this visit.  Canyonlands has big, deep canyons (as one might expect given its name), while Arches boasts literally hundreds of arched “hole in the rock” views.  

 

Canyonlands

And Again

All in all, Utah boasts some of the most spectacular natural beauty we have ever seen; and we left awed all over again by the Natural Splendor of the Parks in Utah.

We left then, for our home away from home in Tempe, AZ… sorta!  But first we headed toward the 4 corners area  of SE Utah, SW Colarado, NW New Mexico, and NE Arizona (think I got that right).  Our last stop on the Great National Park tour was Mesa Verde in Colorado.  This was another park, probably unappreciated in comparison to Zion, Bryce, et all, which Lanie’s folks had told us about.  

 

These ruins date to 600 AD, or thereabouts

And it was totally different than the Utah parks in that there were few Red Rocks, and not-all-that spectacular big sweeping canyons.  Instead you climbed up a big, green (at least this early in the late spring/early summer) Mesa to some wonderful views of ancient Native American ruins dating back to about 600 AD, as I recall.  Most of these were tucked tight into sheer cliffs, the better, presumably to protect the Native peoples from attacks by adversaries.   Stunning really to behold.

 

More Native American Ruins at Mesa Verde

Okay, we were done, for now, by this point, needing to get back to Tempe for a re-roofing job at our modest little townhome.  Given that temps reached 122 while we were in Arizona, we didn’t stay long.