Pictures from our Utah trip
 

Message: of September '03. I'd like to thank utahtea for all the advice he provides...he (?) has Utah all figured out. I also found Max Bertola's site very helpful.

http://www.so-utah.com/

Withour further ado, here's the link to my pictures. Sorry, I haven't gotten around to labeling them all but I hope you enjoy them. I'm already trying to figure out when I'll be able to get back to Utah. There's so much left to explore.

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/utah_03

Again thanks for all the help.

Great pictures, Paul! Particularly loved the instrument-player against the sky in several photos--I can almost see him dancing and hear him play...

Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing.

BTW Utahtea is a female. Here'a a post from awhile back where some regulars posted personl info! Thought you might like more info on a really great fodorite.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34421309

Hers is about the 5th or 6th one down.

Thanks Suzie.
I'm a little surprised that utahtea is a grandmother but amazed that she lives in San Francisco and not Utah! I can understand her "addiction" to Utah though. utahtea isn't just a Fodorite though. She's responding to posts on all kinds of forums about Utah travel. I think the Utah tourism bureau should send her a check. She's their best ambassador.

bookhall,
The little Kokopelli that I silhouetted against the sky so many time was at the top of a little weathervane at the Valley of the Gods B&B. What a great place that is...if you like being in the middle of nowhere like I do that is.
Thanks for your kind words...I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures.

Really great photos Peter. Thanks for letting us enjoy them.

peterboy,

I LOVED ((L)) seeing ALL your pictures! I can't wait to get back to some of those places with my digital camera!

I'm glad I could be of help. As you have been told, I'm a "she". ;)

To show off a little, I did an itinerary of your trip based on your wonderful pictures ;;)

Zion Canyon and then checkerboard Mesa, Red Canyon, Bryce (hiked the combination Navajo - Queens Garden Loop) BTW, you had the same kind of weather we had on the hike when we did it in August! Scenic Hwy 12 but you didn't go over Boulder Mountain until the next day, Capitol Reef and did the short petroglyph trail, Goblin State Park, Sego Canyon. Were you driving down Hwy 128 with the lights of the night Colorado River Cruise on the walls of the canyon? Arches (you hiked to Landscape Arch and beyond) You went to the overlook for Delicate Arch. You drove Hwy 128 out to Castle Valley (I think you must have spent the night out there on Hwy 128) Newspaper Rock State Park. The Gooseneck. You saw a flashflood. Mule Canyon Ruins, Natural Bridges National Monument, Valley of the Gods, Monument Valley at sunset and then the next day and then back to Zion and did the Riverside Walk.

How did I do?

Utahtea

You hit it almost 100% We stayed 2 night in Moab not on 128...we just liked the drive after dinner and yes, we stumbled on the light truck. That was a tourist attraction that we found amusing.
The flash flood day was amazing. It prevented us from making it into thw southern section of Canyonlands. It washed out lots of sections of the Moki Dugway. We stayed at the Valley of the Gods B&B for 2 nights. The afternoon of the rain (2" in one afternoon...a lot for the desert)we were watching waterfalls come off the dugway. Our intention was to cross Lake Powell at Bulfrog and go back to Boulder on the Burr trail but so many roads were washed out that we decided to stick to the highways and went back to Zion through northern Arizona. Next time the Burr Trail and the Great Gallery I hope. We also hiked the Watchman Trail and the Emerald Pools Trails in Zion but the battery went dead on my camera (great gift idea). Next time Angel's Landing.

Thanks again for all the tips utahtea. The trip was better for them for sure.

Oh yes, we hike the Navajo/Peek-a-boo trails at Bryce. We were also going to do the Queen's Garden Trail but the rumbling thunderstoms were making us a little nervous so we came out. Down in the canyon, we could hear the thunder getting closer but couldn't see where the storm was. Since the trail at the bottom of the trail going to the bottom of the canyon had been washed away by a storm a couple of days earlier we decided to let caution be our guide. It was only when we made it back to the rim that we could see that the storm was over a different part of the canyon. Oh well, something else to look forward to when we return.

OK, that explains that little hole I didn't remember seeing. When we started the hike there wasn't hardly a cloud in the sky but by the time we hit the bottom of the Navajo loop there were big dark clouds and we could hear thunder. Those clouds stayed to the north of us. By the time we were coming up the Queen's Garden there was another batch of dark clouds approaching us. We were not only hearing the thunder but seeing the lightning. Not much we could do but get out of the canyon as fast as we could. We hit the rim and maded it to the little store as it started to POUR! I love listening to thunder roll down the canyon....but NOT when I'm in the canyon!!!!

Utahtea

TTT,

I thought theses were so good that I'd give it one more go around!

;)

Utahtea