Southern Utah trip report
Nov 30th, 2004, 03:34 AM
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We're sorry it has taken us so long to finish this trip report. We sure hope someone out there is still reading it. We had a fantastic trip and want to thank all of you who provided advice and information. We've been busy planning our winter trip!
Day 9 (its actually Day 10 of our vacation but the 9th FULL day).
Up at 6am, out by 7am. We have our longest drive today. Waited for a table at the Jailhouse Café for about 10 mins. Food was just okay. Coffee was bad. Stopped at Mondo Cafe for the good stuff, filled our gas tank and headed south. Had to stop at the Hole in the Rock house on Rte 191. Weird place. There’s a petting zoo, store, strange, but interesting sculptures – a great place to browse around. We didn’t go in the house but we kinda wish we had. It’s a funky bit of roadside Americana. Next time we’ll check out inside the cave/house as well.
The drive was nice – red rocks, snow capped peaks. We drove through Mexican Hat and could see the beautiful Valley of the Gods. Last year, we stayed at the Valley of the Gods B&B and had a great time hanging out there during the monsoon rains. Highly recommend the place. Stopped at the trading stands near Monument Valley and bought some jewelry. Peter ordered some corn stew at a stand there since he’s such a corn fan but it had mutton in it too and he was less than thrilled but ate it out of politeness.
We skipped Page and headed toward Tuba City instead. Checked out the Navajo trading post. Peter had been there many years ago with his family in the 1960s so that was fun for him. We stopped at another trading post on the way out of Tuba City. Interesting jewlery but it is sad to see that the nicest items are the ones in the pawn area.
We also stopped at the Navajo Bridge. A good pit stop with nice displays and rest rooms as well as the amazing bridge. We made it to Jacob Lake and stopped at the store for provisions (ie: beer). Then we started the final leg of our drive to the North Rim. The road from Jacob Lake to the Lodge runs through meadows and Kaibab Forest. The Kaibab is mix of tall aspen, fir, Ponderosa Pine and shrubby maples and oaks that are more of a ground cover…very different from home. To top it all off, the aspen were in peak fall color. So different from the landscape of Moab where we had been that morning.. On last year’s trip, our plans changed due to all the rain and we drove to the North Rim foolishly thinking we might get a room. Not a chance. The road has seemed unbelievably long and tiresome then. Not now. It was so nice to know you had a room waiting at the end. The aspens were blazing yellow in the bright late afternoon sun! What a treat!
It took a while to check in and we were in the motel units which are located quite a long way from the lodge. The room was small but fine. I’d certainly try to get a cabin next time but, hey, we’re at the Grand Canyon! We threw our stuff in the room and rushed to the rim to watch the sunset. Then realized we still had an extra hour. We forgot that Arizona doesn’t do the daylight savings time thing. So, we walked out to Bright Angel Point. It is an easy trail with great views but along some severe edges. Fortunately there are guardrails in all the right places. Checked out the lodge, watched the lovely sunset and hung around til our 8 pm dinner reservations. A bottle of wine, bruschetta appetizer with smoked trout, soft cheese and fresh salsa. Very good. Peter ordered a spicy meatloaf dish, I ordered the flatiron steak tenderloin. Then we switched entrees because mine was too rare. We both enjoyed our meals. It was much better than we expected from Xanterra who manages the concessions at the lodge. After dinner, we waddled around to walk off some of our dinner, then headed back to the room for an early sleep. We were excited about hiking the next day!
Day 10 (actually 11)
Up really early to watch sunrise and found decent coffee at the little place next to the lodge that’s a bar by night, coffee shop by day. It opens at 6 AM for those of you who need their coffee early and strong. We grabbed some standard Xanterra-fare sandwiches from the deli to take on our hike. We drove out to the Widforss Trail and just had to stop to photograph the dramatic aspens! Wow! The Widforss Trail is a ten mile out-and-back through the forest with plenty of wonderful stops at the rim along the way. What a great hike! Easy walk with a few up and down stretches but mostly level. There was lots of fire damage in the woods. We weren’t sure if it was prescribed burns. We’d been warned before this trip that there were burns taking place that were causing the views of the canyon to be severely diminished but luckily there were no fires while we were there. We saw very few people on this hike. Met a very nice guy from Seattle who grew up in Syracuse. Small world. We had lunch and then turned around and started back. We heard thunder in the distance and picked up the pace a bit. It took us 4 hours to hike in, only 1 1/2 hours to hike out. Yes, we take a lot of pictures. You can see them at www.pbase.com/peterb and http://www.pbase.com/peterb/sharons_utah
After the hike, we drove out to Cape Royal Point and walked out to all the overlooks. At our last scenic overlook of the last day of our trip there was someone playing a saxophone. We couldn’t tell exactly where the sound was coming from since it was echoing all around the canyon. I know this sounds all romantic and everything but there is just one problem…the sax player sucked!! I mean awful!! We had a good giggle and enjoyed the view while we wished for a better horn section.
We headed back to our room to pack our stuff and get showered for dinner. We missed the sunset so we checked out the gift shop and then found a comfy couch in the lodge’s sunroom and hung out. We were starving and happily we were seated early. It was our last night of vacation – how sad. We tried the fried ravioli appetizer…it was okay. Had some good salads and Peter thoroughly enjoyed a filet mignon wrapped in bacon with gorgonzola. Pretty decadent! I had some creamy pasta with salmon – pretty good. A nice bottle of wine. We were pretty tired after dinner but walked around a little and then retired to our tiny room to finish packing our stuff. We had to drive all the way back to Las Vegas in the morning.
Our final day was an early one. Grabbed some coffee and snacks and hit the road. Last year, we spent our last night in Springdale…only a 2 ½ hour drive to Vegas. From the North Rim, it was about 5 hrs driving rapidly and without much stopping. We made good time but hit some construction outside of Vegas. We brought our trusty Jeep Liberty back to Alamo and hopped the shuttle to the airport. We are not fans of Vegas and use it only as a cheap and convenient destination for trips to Utah and Arizona. We find it much easier to just hang out at the airport than drive around trying to find a place to eat lunch. Sadly, we ended up eating fast food in the airport again this year. We have to learn to buy lunch and plane snacks ahead of time. Everything went smoothly and we arrived back in Albany before midnight.
What a great vacation! Southern Utah is a beautiful and magical place. The landscape just thrills us! It somehow makes you feel so alive and yet so peaceful. It’s challenging and exciting and humbling. We are so awed by the beauty of southern Utah and we want to insure that these amazing places remain protected public lands. Check out www.suwa.org for lots of great information. This group is doing some great work protecting these awesome places for us. We had a perfect trip and we can’t wait to return. Not sure when it will be but we will return.
Day 9 (its actually Day 10 of our vacation but the 9th FULL day).
Up at 6am, out by 7am. We have our longest drive today. Waited for a table at the Jailhouse Café for about 10 mins. Food was just okay. Coffee was bad. Stopped at Mondo Cafe for the good stuff, filled our gas tank and headed south. Had to stop at the Hole in the Rock house on Rte 191. Weird place. There’s a petting zoo, store, strange, but interesting sculptures – a great place to browse around. We didn’t go in the house but we kinda wish we had. It’s a funky bit of roadside Americana. Next time we’ll check out inside the cave/house as well.
The drive was nice – red rocks, snow capped peaks. We drove through Mexican Hat and could see the beautiful Valley of the Gods. Last year, we stayed at the Valley of the Gods B&B and had a great time hanging out there during the monsoon rains. Highly recommend the place. Stopped at the trading stands near Monument Valley and bought some jewelry. Peter ordered some corn stew at a stand there since he’s such a corn fan but it had mutton in it too and he was less than thrilled but ate it out of politeness.
We skipped Page and headed toward Tuba City instead. Checked out the Navajo trading post. Peter had been there many years ago with his family in the 1960s so that was fun for him. We stopped at another trading post on the way out of Tuba City. Interesting jewlery but it is sad to see that the nicest items are the ones in the pawn area.
We also stopped at the Navajo Bridge. A good pit stop with nice displays and rest rooms as well as the amazing bridge. We made it to Jacob Lake and stopped at the store for provisions (ie: beer). Then we started the final leg of our drive to the North Rim. The road from Jacob Lake to the Lodge runs through meadows and Kaibab Forest. The Kaibab is mix of tall aspen, fir, Ponderosa Pine and shrubby maples and oaks that are more of a ground cover…very different from home. To top it all off, the aspen were in peak fall color. So different from the landscape of Moab where we had been that morning.. On last year’s trip, our plans changed due to all the rain and we drove to the North Rim foolishly thinking we might get a room. Not a chance. The road has seemed unbelievably long and tiresome then. Not now. It was so nice to know you had a room waiting at the end. The aspens were blazing yellow in the bright late afternoon sun! What a treat!
It took a while to check in and we were in the motel units which are located quite a long way from the lodge. The room was small but fine. I’d certainly try to get a cabin next time but, hey, we’re at the Grand Canyon! We threw our stuff in the room and rushed to the rim to watch the sunset. Then realized we still had an extra hour. We forgot that Arizona doesn’t do the daylight savings time thing. So, we walked out to Bright Angel Point. It is an easy trail with great views but along some severe edges. Fortunately there are guardrails in all the right places. Checked out the lodge, watched the lovely sunset and hung around til our 8 pm dinner reservations. A bottle of wine, bruschetta appetizer with smoked trout, soft cheese and fresh salsa. Very good. Peter ordered a spicy meatloaf dish, I ordered the flatiron steak tenderloin. Then we switched entrees because mine was too rare. We both enjoyed our meals. It was much better than we expected from Xanterra who manages the concessions at the lodge. After dinner, we waddled around to walk off some of our dinner, then headed back to the room for an early sleep. We were excited about hiking the next day!
Day 10 (actually 11)
Up really early to watch sunrise and found decent coffee at the little place next to the lodge that’s a bar by night, coffee shop by day. It opens at 6 AM for those of you who need their coffee early and strong. We grabbed some standard Xanterra-fare sandwiches from the deli to take on our hike. We drove out to the Widforss Trail and just had to stop to photograph the dramatic aspens! Wow! The Widforss Trail is a ten mile out-and-back through the forest with plenty of wonderful stops at the rim along the way. What a great hike! Easy walk with a few up and down stretches but mostly level. There was lots of fire damage in the woods. We weren’t sure if it was prescribed burns. We’d been warned before this trip that there were burns taking place that were causing the views of the canyon to be severely diminished but luckily there were no fires while we were there. We saw very few people on this hike. Met a very nice guy from Seattle who grew up in Syracuse. Small world. We had lunch and then turned around and started back. We heard thunder in the distance and picked up the pace a bit. It took us 4 hours to hike in, only 1 1/2 hours to hike out. Yes, we take a lot of pictures. You can see them at www.pbase.com/peterb and http://www.pbase.com/peterb/sharons_utah
After the hike, we drove out to Cape Royal Point and walked out to all the overlooks. At our last scenic overlook of the last day of our trip there was someone playing a saxophone. We couldn’t tell exactly where the sound was coming from since it was echoing all around the canyon. I know this sounds all romantic and everything but there is just one problem…the sax player sucked!! I mean awful!! We had a good giggle and enjoyed the view while we wished for a better horn section.
We headed back to our room to pack our stuff and get showered for dinner. We missed the sunset so we checked out the gift shop and then found a comfy couch in the lodge’s sunroom and hung out. We were starving and happily we were seated early. It was our last night of vacation – how sad. We tried the fried ravioli appetizer…it was okay. Had some good salads and Peter thoroughly enjoyed a filet mignon wrapped in bacon with gorgonzola. Pretty decadent! I had some creamy pasta with salmon – pretty good. A nice bottle of wine. We were pretty tired after dinner but walked around a little and then retired to our tiny room to finish packing our stuff. We had to drive all the way back to Las Vegas in the morning.
Our final day was an early one. Grabbed some coffee and snacks and hit the road. Last year, we spent our last night in Springdale…only a 2 ½ hour drive to Vegas. From the North Rim, it was about 5 hrs driving rapidly and without much stopping. We made good time but hit some construction outside of Vegas. We brought our trusty Jeep Liberty back to Alamo and hopped the shuttle to the airport. We are not fans of Vegas and use it only as a cheap and convenient destination for trips to Utah and Arizona. We find it much easier to just hang out at the airport than drive around trying to find a place to eat lunch. Sadly, we ended up eating fast food in the airport again this year. We have to learn to buy lunch and plane snacks ahead of time. Everything went smoothly and we arrived back in Albany before midnight.
What a great vacation! Southern Utah is a beautiful and magical place. The landscape just thrills us! It somehow makes you feel so alive and yet so peaceful. It’s challenging and exciting and humbling. We are so awed by the beauty of southern Utah and we want to insure that these amazing places remain protected public lands. Check out www.suwa.org for lots of great information. This group is doing some great work protecting these awesome places for us. We had a perfect trip and we can’t wait to return. Not sure when it will be but we will return.
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