Utah National Parks AND Yellowstone

Old Feb 15th, 2016, 10:57 AM
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Utah National Parks AND Yellowstone

Last year, so many people on this forum helped me plan a trip through Utah. Thanks to one and all! On our return, the holidays were almost upon us and I just lost track of things. So, no trip report.. apologies. But lately, a few posters have asked questions who could have benefited from a trip report, so I’m going to put down some quick notes. If anybody would like any more detailed information, please don’t hesitate.

The weather was unseasonably warm practically throughout our trip. I wished I had taken the advice offered and packed at least one pair of shorts, particularly in Moab (there were none to be had there in October). Despite all the planning, we still went awry a few times and I’ll endeavor to point them out so you can go on to make your own unique blunders.

10/2/15 – Getting There

We flew into Salt Lake City airport on a late-arriving flight. Stayed the night at the Airport Doubletree that we booked via Priceline. As it turned out, it was a good thing, since they stuck us with a huge van (they were out of the SUV-type we reserved) and we had to return the next morning to trade it out.

10/3-8/2015 - Yellowstone

Made our way to Yellowstone, where we stayed 5 nights in our timeshare at West Yellowstone. Here is where we committed an error in judging our route. We are familiar with the drive and had all day, so decided to go over Teton Pass, into Grand Teton Natl Park, to our destination. This was a very long day. Weather settled in as we went over the pass, and we endured a dreary rainy drive all the way. We arrived exhausted and oh-so-happy to collapse in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine.

The park was absolutely swarming with Asian tourists. This surprised us, since we had been accustomed to the place being relatively empty at this time of year. As it turns out, there has been a boom in Chinese tourism, who are drawn to the unspoiled natural beauty and clean air of our national parks. It was Golden week, so we were immersed in selfie sticks and groups of people who seemed to be competing for death-by-bison or elk while posing with the wildlife.
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Old Feb 15th, 2016, 11:03 AM
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10/9-10/2015 - Bryce

Another very long day. From West Yellowstone, we drove all the way to Panguitch, Utah. We did get off the main highway south of SLC and drove through some very scenic areas, but it really didn’t impact our drive time appreciably. In Panguitch, we stayed at the Red Brick Inn B&B. It was the town’s original hospital, and was a real treat. From the chickens in the back yard, we enjoyed fresh eggs in the morning. Given that there really isn’t a lot to be found in the town, this was the best meal of the day.

The next day was spent at Bryce. I had booked us on a ½ day horseback ride down into the park, and this was an absolute highlight of our trip. On our first visit some years ago, we hiked down (in July’s heat) and then endured that steep trip back to the top. Horse/mule was the way to go. It’s a trip with some twists and turns, including a very step section in a slot canyon. By the time we got back I was convinced that I would be permanently crippled. Still I managed to get off my steed and hobble away without assistance, so I count that as a triumph.

10/11 – North Rim, Grand Canyon

DH wanted to see the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, since we were so close. I had also booked another ½ day mule trip down into the canyon (part-way). We no way, not even part way. Still nursing our saddle sores, we cancelled that and basically just enjoyed the view. Too sore to do any hiking, plus the altitude was giving DH some difficulty breathing. Dinner was really nice, with a table right at the window to watch the sun set. (Note: advance reservations are a must). The rooms themselves are separate from the lodge and very minimal. Aside from the glorious view of the night sky (the milky way was amazing), this was not our favorite part of the trip.

10/12 – Kanab and Zion

Backtracking, we got to Kanab in time for a bite to eat at Nedra’s Café. It’s been around awhile, and I really did enjoy the food. http://www.nedrascafe.com/html/about.html I understand that, back in the day, movie celebrities and crews frequented the place.

Along the way, we passed Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and stopped in. If you are in the area, it is a very worthwhile visit. We weren’t able to get in on a tour due to timing, but it is a beautiful place with a nice gift shop. We also gassed up at a station where the inside was built into the rock itself – that was quite a sight, once you go in. http://bestfriends.org/sanctuary/vis...utah-sanctuary

At any rate, we wanted to soak up a bit of the movie making history in Kanab and so spent some time at the Little Hollywood Movie Museum. We had a lot of day left, and Zion was close. It wasn’t on our itinerary this time, but I am so glad we gave it a few hours. We came across a sizable group of bighorn sheep. Apparently it was mating season… Suffice it to say that DH had to include a video on our vacation DVD.

The park was really crowded. Finally we were able to get a parking space at the Vistor's Center, but it took awhile. We only browsed the gift shop and didn't get on the shuttle, as there were just too many people and too little time.

We stayed the night at the Canyons Lodge in Kanab, which was comfortable and affordable. Cute. http://www.canyonslodge.com/
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Old Feb 15th, 2016, 11:17 AM
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10/13 – Scenic Highway 12 and on to Capital Reef

We spent this day on Scenic Highway 12 and were rewarded with a journey through unique and unspoiled country. We did stop at the Grand Staircase-Escalante Visitor Center, but were not prepared for any side road trips or hikes. Some planning is necessary, and you mustn’t expect gas stations, cell service, or reliable GPS. Travel speed averages 40 mph according to the brochure. http://www.scenicbyway12.com/

We rolled into Torrey mid-afternoon and checked into Austin’s Chuckwagon Lodge. First, I will say that while it is nothing upscale, it is clean and well-maintained. The rooms are large and set back from the main road amidst (cottonwood?) trees, and altogether comfortable. This was a good choice. One memorable sight was the Halloween display at the entrance to their on-site deli – it was a man bent over looking into the window (made up like a scarecrow), and his pants were down showing his pumpkin “moons.” Hilarious.

Since we were right at Capital Reef Natl Park, we drove in and spent a couple of hours gaping at the rock formations. Later, we stopped in at Café Diablo for dinner http://cafediablo.net/ More upscale than most of the restaurants we had enjoyed along the way. (I still liked Nedra’s better, though.)
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Old Feb 15th, 2016, 12:01 PM
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10/14 - Capital Reef, Goblin Valley, and on to Moab

Back to Capital Reef this morning. Since the road we were taking goes all the way through the park, this was not a detour. We enjoyed spending some non-intense time, browsed the gift shop, bought pastries made from the apples growing right in the park, and again ogling the rocks. There are numerous deer living in the apple orchards, what a good life. Had we more time, this park strikes me as a secret treasure. Would have liked to do some more exploring and a hike or two.

On to Moab, but first we took time to visit Goblin Valley State Park. Remember the sci fi spoof, “Galaxy Quest?” You’ll recognize the scenery with the enormous rock creature. Here again, our plans fell a bit short. Not knowing what to expect with both Capital Reef and Goblin Valley, we treated them more or less as a “drive by” and did not allot enough time. We may return to do these justice.

This was a hot day, and we were sweating in Goblin Valley. By the time we got to Moab, we tried to find shorts – but as mentioned earlier, it was a fruitless search. It did cool down a bit on subsequent days, though, and the rains began as we left Moab a few days later.

Moab in October… for those wanting to avoid crowds, check to see when the Utah Education Association break is scheduled in October. Avoid those days. As luck would have it, our trip overlapped that event and so we milled around with a zillion other people in town and in Arches.

Our home for this part of the trip was the Red Cliffs Lodge. https://redcliffslodge.com/ It’s outside town by about 20 minutes (for which we were glad), amidst glorious landscape and on the Colorado River, on Hwy 128. What a pretty place. It’s the original White ranch, site of many movie filmings, home to the Moab Movie Museum and Castle Creek Winery (yay!). There is a nice restaurant on site as well. We enjoyed sitting on our patio with a glass of wine, looking at the river and watching the sun set behind the bluff.
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Old Feb 15th, 2016, 12:07 PM
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(Sorry, misspelled Capitol Reef)
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Old Feb 15th, 2016, 12:30 PM
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10/14-17 – Arches, Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point

Our excursion for today was jetboat tour on the Colorado River. We booked this and the next day’s jeep rental through the Moab Adventure Center. This was a 3-hour, occasionally high-speed, fun trip. The pilot did stop many times in places for us to take pictures. He kept up a commentary on various sights, rock formation, movie film trivia, etc. We stopped to look up at Dead Horse Point (Thelma and Louise drove off here), giving us some factoids about how that was done. (We subsequently drove up and looked down from there.)

There was one doofus on the trip who just HAD to bring his drone along. He tried to convince the pilot to let him fly the drone along side and to stop/back track for him to reclaim it. The entire boat said “NO!” The pilot also pointed out that he could not fly it inside the park boundary (we went into Canyonlands). At the half-way point, we all got out to stretch for a bit. Drone guy sent his toy up and out, and wouldn’t return to the boat when we were all reboarded, forcing us to wait or leave him behind. Somebody on the tour had seen him the previous day in Arches, flying his drone there as well despite being told not to.

Anyway. The day after, we picked up the jeep and drove the Shafer Trail, to Musselman Arch, and generally all around. We did have a GoPro, so were able to put the best parts on our vacation DVD. We are not into extreme sports, and so for us this was pretty adventuresome. On the way back, we passed some people along the road, teaching rock climbing to a group of children. It was great to see little girls scrambling around like pros.

We spent the rest of our time in Arches and Canyonlands, mostly touring and a couple of shorter hikes. There is a lot of information on other threads about this, so I won't go into much detail. Also, we took a loop off Hwy 128 that took us up over the mountain, onto (unexpectedly) unpaved road, and eventually down south of town. We ran into cattle, as they were being herded down the mountain. A storm was coming in, and snow was at last on the way.
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Old Feb 15th, 2016, 12:46 PM
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10/18-19 – Back to Salt Lake City and the Family History Center

The drive back to Salt Lake City was about 4 hours windshield time plus a couple of stops for gas and to stretch. The weather did catch up with us, rain and rapidly lowering temps. Once in Salt Lake City, it subsided to just a light dreary rain. We stayed at a Homewood Suites for two nights.

On the day we were in SLC, we went to the Family History Center and were able to do some great research. It is an impressively..complete…collection, and the docents generous with their time. Some background – prior to this trip, we did have our DNA analyzed by Ancestry.Com and started building our family tree. This allowed us to do some deep digging in their microfiche files (not everything is online). We also met up with a coworker, who was able to walk us through some sights in Temple Square. Not to see the pipe organ, unfortunately, as that was temporarily closed off to us.

And that just about wraps it up. Again, thank you to everybody who was so generous with your advice, both on my planning thread and your trip reports.
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Old Feb 15th, 2016, 12:53 PM
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This sounds like a great trip. We were in the Moab area the week before you and enjoyed great weather.

Thanks for the report.
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Old Feb 15th, 2016, 03:30 PM
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Great report! So did you all abandon the drone guy or wait for him?

Lee Ann
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Old Feb 15th, 2016, 03:39 PM
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What a fantastic trip! Thanks for the report. We really love Capitol Reef - very colorful and scenic. Unique geologically and historically. Quiet, uncrowded and some great hiking. Goblins is fun too but always so hot.
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Old Feb 15th, 2016, 03:44 PM
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We took a vote to leave the drone guy. Everybody but one voted to strand his butt. I have learned that the captain's vote is the one that counts. Something about needing his job..
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Old Feb 15th, 2016, 05:31 PM
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I went through the Utah parks during the same week. I hadn't been there for about 25 years ... and I can't wait to go back. Good thing I did remember to pack the shorts. I found out about the school holiday on the way down from Angels Landing in Zion, when one of the many families on the trail filled me in.
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Old Feb 16th, 2016, 03:10 PM
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Thanks for your report! We're currently planning a 3 week road trip to return to Yellowstone in either the early spring or late fall (we've previously been in winter) so this is very helpful and timely information.
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Old Feb 17th, 2016, 04:02 AM
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Spring would be interesting. We've only been in fall land winter. We found that West Yellowstone has sprouted a few Chinese restaurants since our last visit (largely catering to Asian tour groups), so there are more food choices. The KFC is gone though, which meant we couldn't take a bucket of chicken into the park for picnics.

They were nearing completion on the road rebuilding between Norris and Mammoth, so that part should be easier. Have a good trip!
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Old Feb 17th, 2016, 05:49 AM
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My main interest in going in spring is for the baby animals but fall would be beautiful and better for hiking I imagine. I'm torn. Thanks for the road update and the reminder to avoid the first week of October!
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Old Feb 21st, 2016, 02:54 PM
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sludick-- Going to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion was one of the highlights of my adolescence. I'm glad you got to enjoy these three gems recently! Great report!
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