Floridafran

Hello again,

First - thanks, and thanks again, for all the generous help and advice. Fodorites are the best.

I have things finalized at last, and not a moment too so since we leave next Wednesday. However, last minute suggestions/comments are still welcome.

5/10 Arrive SLC 4:00PM, grab SUV, and drive until we get to Springville area where we'll eat and hit the Super Wal-Mart. Hope to avoid the worst of Salt Lake City's rush hour this way. Should our flight be delayed I have the locations of other Super Wal-Marts and places to eat so we could do that first and head south after the traffic clears. Overnight at the Best Western in Salina. (Not much to chose from.)

5/11 Up by dawn to drive to Moab. Balance of day in Arches.

5/12 and 5/13 Moab to see Arches and Canyonlands. We'll be up before dawn and out after sunset each day. Hope to secure tickets for Fiery Furnace ranger hike for one of these days. Have lodging at River Canyon Lodge (junior suite) for these 3 nights. (Thanks Sharondi)

5/14 Leave Moab early enough to arrive at Monument Valley before 4:30. We have an extended photo/sunset tour with Simpson's. (I spoke first with Richard and later with Harold and requested that Richard be our guide. Thanks to all who recommended them.)
Overnight at the San Juan Inn in Mexican Hat. Everything was booked. I like that this is on the river.

5/15 - Up early enough to be at MV by sunrise. After photos head for Grand Canyon - south rim. Hope to arrive early enough to get a little rim hiking in before we find a good spot for sunset photos. (I know some of you have made favorite spots, just have to fins those posts again.) Overnight at Yavapia Lodge.

5/16 - Up to photograph sunrise. Abit more easy hiking then head out toward Page. No set time to get there so suggetions of anything to do or see along the way appreciated. (We will stop at Cameron's either coming or going.)

5/17 - Have a split tour booked with Antelope Canyon Tours. We go out at 9:30, return at 11:00 then go out again with the 11:30 tour. This gives us some time in the canyon for morning shots as well as time for midday shots. We'll have a little less total time in the canyon but couldn't decide which type of photos we wanted to try for. Will have time after the tour to hike to Horseshoe Bend and just enjoy the scenery and relax.

5/18 - Hike to the Wave. I'm still trying to get a hnadle on exactly how long we should stay there and the best times for photographs. Have a couple of calls to make but anyone with firsthand knowledge, please jump in. We're willing to give it from dawn to dark if that's what we need to do.

All 3 of these nights we're staying at Dreamkatchers Bed and Breakfast in Big Water. I like that it's far enough outside Page to be quiet and secluded. This falls about the middle of our trip and will, in spite of the planned hikes, etc., be the most relaxing part. I'm looking forward to sitting in a hot tub under those star-filled skies.

5/19 - Head out after breakfast for Bryce. Since we have a 4X4 should we take the Cottonwood Road or is it not worth the extra time? Enjoy Bryce for the second time. Haven't decided where will hike this trip. Did Navajo/Queens Garden Loop and the rim trail from Bryce Point to Sunset point in '04. Suggestions welcome.

5/20 - After sunrise at Bryce, head for Torrey via Hwy 12.

5/21 - More of Capital Reef.

Both nights we'll stay at the Best Western In Torrey. I've asked for a upper floor room as someone here suggested.

I don't have a set plan for these 2 days because so much will depend on how often we stop along the way. Sometime I want to do the hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls and drive some of the scenic routes. Don't know how much we'll be able to do.

5/22 - Up early, as always, and see a bit more of CRNP before we head back to Salt Lake City. Depending on how early we get there we may go to Antelope Island State Park if for no other reason than I'd like to be able to wade in the lake. Who knows when I'll get back to SL. Want to see Temple Square at night. Other than that have nothing planned for this day. Overnight at the Shilo Inn.

Up fairly early to have a decent breakfast, return the rental and make 9:55 flight home. Talk about/relive trip for next however many hours until we finally hit our own beds again.

Ozarksbill

You have a nice trip planned...and good luck! We enjoyed a similar trip in Arizona-Utah in March. Wife had never seen GC. Also stayed Yavapai Lodge. We did more in Arizona but you are seeing things we didn't in Utah. But Zion and Arches great (snowed out of Bryce). It's a stunning part of the country as you will realize.

ozarksbill
(see Back from Arizona: a trip report)

Floridafran

Bill,

I read your report during my planning for this trip and made some notes I'll be taking with me. I can't recall if that was to have been your first trip to Bryce. If so, you need to go back another time - a little later in the Spring - to see it. It's one of my husband's favorite places. I'm not sure I have a favorite. They're all so amazing and beautiful, if different.

Fran

utahtea

Your plans sounds great! I have not done the Cottonwood Road because for the last 25 years we are always towing something or had the motorhome, but I'd really like to. http://www.americansouthwest.net/uta...nyon_road.html If you go, I'll want a trip report.

I'd recommend driving out a little on the Burr Trail out of Boulder, Utah. Go to where the switchbacks are...but I really don't recommend going into Notom...road is a long washboard ride. I'd double back to Boulder and go over the Mountains to Torrey.

Utahtea

highflyer

Hi FF

The Best Western at Torrey is a great place to stay! There are actually 2 blocks of rooms and I'd recommend you ask for the block furthest from the road which has great scenic views.

We booked a cheap rate via Expedia and were told we couldn't stay in that block because it was full (it definitely wasn't as the car park was virtually empty!).

The view from the hot tub is also lovely!

Have a great trip!

carlyshells

Hi FF - I am very excited for you! I'll be heading out to the Southwest next Thursday also, albeit a different part (4 Corners). You asked for a hike suggestion for Bryce, although you don't mention what level of hikers you are. The Peekaboo Trail was one of the most memorable hikes I've ever done but it is definitely somewhat intense. As a fellow avid photographer, it was really amazing for photos though. There is a lot of change in elevation during the hike but the vistas are just breathtaking. The Park Service lists it as a trail that hikers share w/ horseback riders, but we did not see one horse during the whole 5 mile loop. And honestly, I can not imagine a poor horse doing that trail.

Also, just a warning about Lower Calf Creek Falls - it is a VERY sandy trail, and although the falls are beautiful at the end of it, it is not much of a fun hike because you are trudging through sand for most of the 2 miles or so (OW) to get there.

Have a wonderful trip! Please post pics when you get back!

Floridafran

Utahtea,
I'll definitely do a trip report when we get back. As for the Cottonwood Road we'll decide once we get to that area and have a chance to ask about the condition it's in. From reading posts here I gather it can vary a lot. Also want to get a better handle on how long it might take. Don't want to lose too much of our Bryce time.

Got our DeLorme Gazeteers today and I've been trying to learn to use them. Still haven't quite figured out the Potash Road and Shafer(sp?)you've mentioned in other posts. Hope to before we leave.

highflyer,
Glad to hear the BW is a good choice. Thanks for the tip about the 2 blocks of rooms.

carlyshells,
Thanks for the comments about the Peekaboo in Bryce. How long did it take you, since like us you hike and shoot, and hike and shoot? Folks like us take a bit longer than those who are not quite so into photography.

As for the sand on the way to Calf Creek Falls. I'm blessed to live across the street from the Gulf of Mexico on Pensacola Beach. My therapy is walking in the sand for an hour or two every chance I get - at least a couple of times a week. Since I knew some of the hikes we might do on this trip were sandy I started doing part of my walking in the soft sand instead of at the water's edge. Plus, around here, just about anytime you get "off the beaten path" you're in sand. But thanks for the warning. If I did all my exercising on sidedwalks or in a gym, like some of my friends, I'd be in trouble on trails like that. But I do work out on a trradmill set on the steepest incline, also. Closest thing this flatlander can get to simulate hilly terrain. ;-)

I know we aren't going to be able to do and see everything I want to on this trip. Every time I read another trip report I see something else that I want to add. I finally decided to just stop worrying about it. We'll do what we can and what we can't will just give us one more reason to plan another trip to that gorgeous part of our country.

carlyshells

I honestly can't remember how long the Peekaboo hike took, but we definitely stopped a lot to take photos! If you do go for this hike, plan for it to be the only one you do on that day. You have to hike down to the end of either the Navajo or Queen's Garden trails first to get to the trailhead for Peekaboo, so you're essentially hiking a total of 7 or 8 miles. One plus is that a few miles into the Peekaboo hike, there is an outhouse in a grove of trees.

utahtea

The Potash Road http://www.milebymile.com/main/Unite...el_guides.html is Hwy 279 that goes west from hwy 191 just a little north of Moab. It the road on the north side of the Colorado River going west out of town. Kane Creek Road is on the other side of the river going west out of Moab. You will see it from the Potash Road. Hwy 128 is the only road going east along the Colorado River.

Here is a link to some info on the Shafer Trail http://4x4trailhunters.com/trail.php?id=33 and here is a good map: http://4x4trailhunters.com/picture.php?pictureID=773

Since I haven't done the Cottonwood Road, I don't know how much longer it will take, but I will tell you that the Cottonwood Road route from Big Waters to Bryce is only about 73 miles verse the 136 miles going though Kanab.

Road conditions and weather will make a bid difference on taking the Cottonwood Road. If it has just rained or looks like rain...I wouldn't take it. You are smart to check locally for conditions!

Utahtea

Floridafran

Carlyshells and Utahtea, thanks for the additional info.

I did finally locate Potash and Shafer, as well as Long Canyon in the DeLorme after going to the sites you posted Utahtea. Gave me a better idea exactly where to look in the Gazetteer.

I read ellen's, and karen's, and utahtea's accounts to my husband this evening. It didn't scare him off from maybe giving this a try. But that's another decision we'll make once we're there and see how much time we have.

I can hardly wait for Wednesday to get here, even though I still have tons to do yet. Mostly I need to find my favorite hiking hat and my other pair of zip-off pants. I told my business partner today that on Monday I'm giving him the files on the 4 houses we have under construction and my itinerary. But I also warned him that cell phone coverage is very iffy out there. Maybe that's one of the things that makes me like the SW so much. ;-)

Fran

utahtea

Have a great time. Looks like you are in for some really NICE weather!

Utahtea