GC, Zion, LV - Trip Report
Oct 26th, 2004, 01:21 PM
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GC, Zion, LV - Trip Report
Just returned from a wonderful vacation in Grand Canyon, Zion and Vegas. Thanks for all the wonderful tips and advice that I got from experience fodorites! It certainly helped me on this trip! Hopefully, this trip report will be useful to some one planning a similar trip (and hopefully, the long winded report wont discourage anyone! ;-)).
We started from San Diego on the 16th of October to GC, AZ. The distance is about 540 miles and we covered it in approx. 10 hours. Took many stops on the way and drove at a leisurely pace. We had reservations at the Yavapai Lodge in the GC village. I was a little iffy about this place coz I had read from some previous fodorite's posts that this place was noisy and not as nice as the others. Well, I couldn?t get into Kachina or any of the other lodges, so settled for Yavapai. In retrospect, it was a real nice place - very quiet and remote. We got a room far away from the market place and we liked it. Managed to wake up early enough the next morning to go catch sunrise at the Yavapai observation point. Words cannot describe how beautiful the sight is! It was chilly and windy but totally worth it! The winds got worse as the day went on but we managed to do a west rim tour via the shuttle buses. According to me, this is far more reasonable than paying $12 for the tour. The shuttle buses are free and run from one point to another at a frequency of 10-12 min. We didnt catch a spectacular sunset due to the approaching west coast storm.
This was not my first time to GC anyway, so I thought I didnt miss much. The next morning, I jogged to Mather point around sunrise. Again, fabulous! Dined at Bright Angel Lodge dining room and it was pretty nice - got some good veggie burgers!
Started out for zion (with lot of rain predicted in the forecast) on 18th morning. Took some more picturesque shots of the canyon on the way. I made my DH stop several times on the way for pictures, much to his annoyance!
We reached the eastern entrance of Zion in about 4-5 hours. I was waiting to see why everyone loves Zion so much more than GC... And when I entered the park I knew! As we entered the Mt. Carmel tunnel I waited with bated breath to see what lay on the other side. And I was not disappointed! It was absolutely awesome to see those red mountains. My DH loved the drive (now he wants to get a porche and drive through there again!!! ;-)) We were lucky to miss most of the rain. We reached Flanigan's at about 5 pm. Again, we were thrilled with the accomodations! (I used the fodorites recommendation on this one). Had dinner at the Spotted Dog Cafe and loved the food as well. The next morning we woke up to a cloudy day but not too much rain. We took the park shuttle from the stop in front of Flanigan's (again, the shuttle service is free with the park entrance fee of $20/car). We changed the shuttle bus at the park visitor center. Hiked the very easy Pa'rus trail that starts at the visitor center. Got some amazing views and a very peaceful and leisurely stroll. My parents also recommended the short movie shown at the Human History Museum at the park. We skipped it but visited all the shuttle stops, walked the Riverwalk trail at the temple of Sinawava but missed the Narrows! (Dont miss this if possible). Hiked up to the upper emerald pools, middle and lower emerald pools. At this point it started raining. It was a pretty amazing experience to hike in the rain, watch the entire valley in a completely different light! The next day we hiked the hidden canyon trail and walked up to the Weeping Rock! I dont have words to describe the experience but for a short distance while hiking up to the hidden canyon the trail goes around the edge of a cliff and there are no railings or any chains to hold on to - here my DH was ahead of me and as he stood at the edge in the rain, a wave of pure fear filled my heart! It passed and I was glad we chose to go to the Canyon and finish the hike. The park brochure categorizes this hike as "strenuous" but its not. Its simply difficult because of the height and the lack of paved trails. but its fun nevertheles. We wanted to hike up Angel's Landing as well but could not because of the rain - it made the River Virgin look pretty mean and nasty! We had plans to drive to Bryce but didnt do it because of the rains. Heard a lot of amazing things about Bryce, so will have to make another trip to Utah to capture more memorable moments!
Left for Vegas the next day. Not much to say for Vegas... been there several times, gone through all the casinos. The only thing we did different this time was to go for "Mystere" - a show by Cirque Du Soleil at Treasure Island. We did this primarily for my parents who are visiting from out of town. I had seen another show by Cirque but this was very very good! We had excellent seats - I had booked online and we thoroughly enjoyed the show. For my parents, this was the highlight of their trip! 2 days in Vegas and then we drove back to SD. I would have loved to see 'O' at Bellagio but couldnt get tickets at a decent price.
We started from San Diego on the 16th of October to GC, AZ. The distance is about 540 miles and we covered it in approx. 10 hours. Took many stops on the way and drove at a leisurely pace. We had reservations at the Yavapai Lodge in the GC village. I was a little iffy about this place coz I had read from some previous fodorite's posts that this place was noisy and not as nice as the others. Well, I couldn?t get into Kachina or any of the other lodges, so settled for Yavapai. In retrospect, it was a real nice place - very quiet and remote. We got a room far away from the market place and we liked it. Managed to wake up early enough the next morning to go catch sunrise at the Yavapai observation point. Words cannot describe how beautiful the sight is! It was chilly and windy but totally worth it! The winds got worse as the day went on but we managed to do a west rim tour via the shuttle buses. According to me, this is far more reasonable than paying $12 for the tour. The shuttle buses are free and run from one point to another at a frequency of 10-12 min. We didnt catch a spectacular sunset due to the approaching west coast storm.
This was not my first time to GC anyway, so I thought I didnt miss much. The next morning, I jogged to Mather point around sunrise. Again, fabulous! Dined at Bright Angel Lodge dining room and it was pretty nice - got some good veggie burgers! Started out for zion (with lot of rain predicted in the forecast) on 18th morning. Took some more picturesque shots of the canyon on the way. I made my DH stop several times on the way for pictures, much to his annoyance!
We reached the eastern entrance of Zion in about 4-5 hours. I was waiting to see why everyone loves Zion so much more than GC... And when I entered the park I knew! As we entered the Mt. Carmel tunnel I waited with bated breath to see what lay on the other side. And I was not disappointed! It was absolutely awesome to see those red mountains. My DH loved the drive (now he wants to get a porche and drive through there again!!! ;-)) We were lucky to miss most of the rain. We reached Flanigan's at about 5 pm. Again, we were thrilled with the accomodations! (I used the fodorites recommendation on this one). Had dinner at the Spotted Dog Cafe and loved the food as well. The next morning we woke up to a cloudy day but not too much rain. We took the park shuttle from the stop in front of Flanigan's (again, the shuttle service is free with the park entrance fee of $20/car). We changed the shuttle bus at the park visitor center. Hiked the very easy Pa'rus trail that starts at the visitor center. Got some amazing views and a very peaceful and leisurely stroll. My parents also recommended the short movie shown at the Human History Museum at the park. We skipped it but visited all the shuttle stops, walked the Riverwalk trail at the temple of Sinawava but missed the Narrows! (Dont miss this if possible). Hiked up to the upper emerald pools, middle and lower emerald pools. At this point it started raining. It was a pretty amazing experience to hike in the rain, watch the entire valley in a completely different light! The next day we hiked the hidden canyon trail and walked up to the Weeping Rock! I dont have words to describe the experience but for a short distance while hiking up to the hidden canyon the trail goes around the edge of a cliff and there are no railings or any chains to hold on to - here my DH was ahead of me and as he stood at the edge in the rain, a wave of pure fear filled my heart! It passed and I was glad we chose to go to the Canyon and finish the hike. The park brochure categorizes this hike as "strenuous" but its not. Its simply difficult because of the height and the lack of paved trails. but its fun nevertheles. We wanted to hike up Angel's Landing as well but could not because of the rain - it made the River Virgin look pretty mean and nasty! We had plans to drive to Bryce but didnt do it because of the rains. Heard a lot of amazing things about Bryce, so will have to make another trip to Utah to capture more memorable moments!Left for Vegas the next day. Not much to say for Vegas... been there several times, gone through all the casinos. The only thing we did different this time was to go for "Mystere" - a show by Cirque Du Soleil at Treasure Island. We did this primarily for my parents who are visiting from out of town. I had seen another show by Cirque but this was very very good! We had excellent seats - I had booked online and we thoroughly enjoyed the show. For my parents, this was the highlight of their trip! 2 days in Vegas and then we drove back to SD. I would have loved to see 'O' at Bellagio but couldnt get tickets at a decent price.
Oct 26th, 2004, 03:30 PM
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I preceeded you at Zion and Bryce by one week. Please go back for Bryce. Don't miss it next time. It was amazing. Maybe you had less crowds than we did at Zion w/the rain? We had big crowds, esp. on the Emerald Pools (which unfortunately are not emerald, and really aren't pools to speak of at this time of year). We also loved Flanigans- if you didn't try the spa there, suggest doing so next time, it is wonderful. Also suggest going 45 min to Kolob Canyon section of Zion. Much less crowded and we thought the scenery was even better than the regular part of the park, esp. the 5 mile Taylor Creek trail- absolutely awesome, a "10" in my hiking journal.
Oct 26th, 2004, 03:32 PM
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Isn't it just bizarre to end up in Vegas after several days in the great outdoors? I think we would have enjoyed Vegas more if we hadn't been communing w/nature for 5 days prior to going there for the first time. It was sensory overload. Next time we will start from Salt Lake City I think.
Oct 27th, 2004, 12:43 PM
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The plus of having rains when we were at Zion was that the "pools" were really pools and we got to see many many waterfalls... from almost every peak in the canyon!
Will definitely go back! and try to do the mule ride in Bryce next time! Will check back on this message board for more tips! ;-)
Will definitely go back! and try to do the mule ride in Bryce next time! Will check back on this message board for more tips! ;-)
Oct 27th, 2004, 09:54 PM
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Enjoyed your report, especially as we old Aussies are doing a similar trip in March. We are in our sixties and fairly fit, just a bit slow - do you think we would/could get to the Emerald Pools etc in Zion?
We love the great outdoors, and the splendour of Utah, but also find a fascination in Vegas. We don't gamble, just enjoy the escapism. Have found the cheap casinos in Primm a good place to stay for a few days, to see both Vegas and the fascinating Mojave Desert.
We love the great outdoors, and the splendour of Utah, but also find a fascination in Vegas. We don't gamble, just enjoy the escapism. Have found the cheap casinos in Primm a good place to stay for a few days, to see both Vegas and the fascinating Mojave Desert.
