This is a more general followup to my previous Rt 12 thread.

Preamble
I've been to southern Utah twice before, I plan a lot, I'm in pretty good shape and while I don't do difficult things, I'm pretty much non-stop.

A couple of weeks ago my daughter (married with a 3 1/2 year old) asked me if I'd like to go on a hiking/photography trip with her. Since her husband and daughter would be staying home, she doesn't want to be away for more than 3 days (4 nights). Also, she doesn't want to leave too early so she can see her daughter before we leave.

After much pushing and pulling this is what I'd like to try and do.
This trip would be somewhere in the first half of September. Probably a couple of days after Labor Day.

Day 0
Arrive in LV and immediately leave for Escalante (since we can't see anything that day, we might as well drive to the farthest place.

Day 1
Get an early start (by 8AM) and go to Lower Calf Creek Falls, drive some of the wild/scenic parts of Rt 12 if we haven't done it between Escalant and Calf Creek Falls.

Skip Devil's Garden Escalant (too bad).

Depending upon the time go to Willis Creek and then Bryce Canyon for Navajo Loop/Queens Garden and see sunset. If it will be too late, bypass Willis Creek and go right to Bryce. Go to Natural Bridge as it's the only viewpoint that really different.

Day 2
Sunrise at Bryce Point (rises 7AM). Get an early start (8AM). If we haven't gone to Willis Creek, go there.

Then drive to Page (3 hours) if I think we could get there by 1-1:30 when the sun is high to go to Antelope Canyon and then Horseshoe Bend. On the way back to Zion go to Wire Pass Slot Canyon. If it will be too late, skip Page and just go to Wire Pass as it's closer.

Depending on the time, hike Canyon Overlook on the way into Zion and/or walk Riverside Walk.

Day 3
Start with hiking Angel's Landing to Scout Lookout (that's far enough) and do some combination of Riverside Walk, Emerald Pools and/or Canyon Overlook that we hadn't done the day before. We have no interest in doing the Narrows and hiking in water with or without our cameras.

I know it's 3 full days but what I like is the flexibility to either skip some things or move them from one day to another.

In the past I always managed to get to everything I wanted to see with planning and long days rather than rushing. But I'm older.

Any comments?

As a photographer, that looks like a very busy schedule to me. If she does nothing but landscapes, trees, and plants and is not too concerned about the quality of light, I suppose it's possible. If she is concerned about the light's quality or if she does wildlife photography, I think you need to plan for more time at fewer places.

dwooden,

We expect to live with what we have. We realize we're squeezing things into a short period of time.

Actually, we're casual photographers. Hobbyists.

My daughter described it as a hiking/photography trip.

I would not want to miss Antelope Canyon if I were interested in photography and I know that mid day is supposed to be the best time but we were there in the mid afternoon, 3 ish and I thought it was spectacular. You can see a couple of my pictures taken there at www.flickr.com/photos/emalloy2009/sets in the 2008 set.

Have a great trip, that is a fantastic thing to be doing with your daughter.

emalloy,
It's good to see that the light is still very good in Antelope Canyon a bit later in the day. However, the photo of Horseshoe Bend has the sun in your eyes. I was there three years ago and it was absolutely amazing.

No sooner did I buy the plane tickets that I noticed on the Zion web site that there will be major construction this summer/autumn in the area of the switchbacks near the east entrance. That could cause a bit of a problem.

Myer,

I seem to recall from a previous post that you've been to Calf Creek Falls before but I don't know what time of year that was. We went in mid-May and it that was one hot walk. I don't know if it will be any cooler by early September, but just thought I'd bring up the possibility that the temperature might be a factor.

Sounds like a great trip with your daughter. Enjoy.

Myer,

If you are worried about getting hung up in Zion construction, look into going up to Cedar City on i 15 and then across on 14 to 89, it is a bit longer but if there is a long delay in Zion, you may be ahead of the game. You also will be going faster on 15 and won't have the entrance delay in Zion also.

Floridafan,
Yes, I've been to Lower Calf Creek Falls (2008). It was in mid-May and it was hot, hot that day. About 95 degrees and little shade until the Falls.

The next day we were in Bryce Canyon NP and it was snowing and 37 degrees.

The reason I'm making this trip so aggressive is that I've been to most of these places (haven't tried even part of Angel's Landing and haven't been to Wire Pass) and can put together an efficient itinerary.

I don't remember how much time I spent at each place though.

emalloy,
If we get to Page and Antelope Canyon we'll probably loop to the south and go into Zion thru the Hurricane west side. Too bad because I was hoping to do Canyon Overlook on the way in if it was early enough.

Since it's at the east entrance I don't see how we could do it without getting stuck in traffic.

Maybe there won't be traffic by then in mid-September. Or maybe I can dream and they'll be ahead of schedule and completed the construction.

I was