I normally don't look at many pictures of a place when the landscape is why I'm going (I like to be surprised), but I did look at yours. Wonderful! It's a little less than a month until we leave and I can hardly wait! Thanks for posting the pictures!

Forgot to add - thanks for the recipes.

grendel,

I enjoyed the ride. I did the longer version. You might want to do the shorter one. The mules or horses are ultra ultra calm. It is really easy horse riding.

Thanks, utahtea! I've been in California for the past 5 nights visiting my parents, so I missed your posting initially. And thanks to your link, I saw your other thread too. You're too fun and a great sport!!

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Histo...lerHistory.htm

I have eaten each one of these, with the exception of the bird pudding.

I think I would have added Dumplings to the list as well, as they are basically a Whole fruit cobbler or pie.

My grandmother n law is German and still speaks in what she refers to as low german, so when I was introduced to her 20 years ago I got a lot of new ideas from her. She is a Mennonite and most of her nieghbors are amish. I'm not that crazy about their crusts. My GNL made a lot of cakes, but not many pies.

Spiro: Great trip report and pics. Can you elaborate a little more about Little Wildhorse Canyon and Goblin Valley?

We zipped through that area a few weeks ago and didn't have time to do much exploring.

Thanks.

Tom

www.toddshikingguide.com is a good website
www.climb-utah.com is also good

You will notice that of all the hikes listed on Todd's he gives 4.5 and 5 stars to The Great Gallery and Little Wildhorse. He rarely rates anything above a 4.

Also right nearby is Great Gallery/Horsehoe Canyon/Detached section of Canyonlands. This is where the pictographs/petroglyphs are and about a mile from the canyon where Aaron Ralston amputated his arm. He was found in Horseshoe Canyon. I did it on a previous trip.

Iv'e been to Goblin Valley twice. Late evening is best as the shadows are pretty awesome. There isn't really a trail anywhere there. You just ramble around. If you have kids, this is one of the few places that you can turn them loose and pretty much see them everywhere from a little cliff/picnic area. I would guess the entire area is just a few square miles. Its' pretty small.
Night sky there is incredible. You absolutely must come prepared with water and snacks. There is nothing there. The little electricity they do have it solar powered, so they don't even have vending machines.

Don't confuse Little Wildhorse with Wildhorse, btw. Little Wildhorse is just 10 or 15 minutes from Goblin Valley. The visitor center at Goblin Valley actually sells Little Wildhorse t-shirts. They can give you advice on it's location. Little Wildhorse can be crowded. The entrance is a bit tricky to find, but just follow the crowd. Their is a large parking lot at the trailhead, but getting into the canyon is a bit hard to find(not really). You can hike in for a bit and then turn around(we did this twice) or you can hike an entire loop for 8 miles. You do not want to be in this canyon if rain is anywhere in the area. This is part of the San Rafael Swell, btw.

Thanks Spiro and appreciate the great info. Look forward to putting it to some good use, perhaps next year.

And yes, Wildhorse is different than Little Wildhorse. There was another trip report - with good photos - of a couple who hiked up to the pictros/petros.

And we saw the night sky/stars at Bryce - and way out - away from civilization - the stars are very bright/amaszing.

Did you ever get to Antelope Canyon? That is also supposed to be beautiful.

I have not seen Antelope Canyon,Page, or The North Rim.
I'd like to see Rainbow Bridge. The only other major arch/bridge I haven't seen Mesa Arch(up close anyway)in Canyonlands.

I really really want to hike "The Wave" sometime in that area too. That would be #1 on my list.

I've been to Antelope Canyon. Very easy walk thru a small canyon. But if you go when the sun is high you get spectacular effects.

At the same time and only a short distance away is Horseshoe Bend. 3/4 mile hike with no shade but amazing views.

Mesa Arch is not a major arch. In fact it's fairly small. However, when you look thru the arch you're facing the Washerwoman.

Mesa Arch is probably the only arch you'll approach from the top rather than the bottom. It's a very short walk from the parking area.

Actually, though unique it's really not that much to look at though definitely worth the stop.

If I had to make a choice between Mesa Arch and Delicate Arch (Delicate Arch is a much longer hike) I'd go back to Delicate Arch twice before going to Mesa Arch once (well . . . .)

I thought Mesa Arch was "major", you see it in all the photos anyway. I didn't mean the size, just the ones that are well known.

Mesa Arch is very easy to get to. Right near the Canyonlands entrance.

Probably the reason you see so many photos of it is the view you get looking thru it. Also, since you approach it at the top, I've seen a photo of a guy running along the top. I don't think I'd do that. If you fall on the approach side it's not too bad. However, if you fall the other way it's a long way down.

Also, I think it's the only arch in Canyonlands. When you consider how close it is to Arches that's pretty amazing.

Still, if you're going to Canyonlands and/or Dead Horse Point (they're right next to each other) I would definitely stop there. It takes less than 15 minutes to get to the arch from the parking area.

It's strange approaching since it's straight in front of you and not up. You barely see it until you're right at it.

I've wondered how people get there for sunrise photos. It's not very clear walking. I guess a couple of flashlights.

Myer,

When is your Glacier Trip? I have reservations for next year at the end of July. I thought I would try it again. I'm going to Seattle/Olympic/Mt. Rainier/ San Juan Islands/North Cascades first of August.

spiro, I missed your report first time around but the good ones get topped eventually.
Great photos and it was nice to see snow on the hoodoos (I've only been to Bryce in July = 0 snow).

Love the comment about 0 mg fat being read as OMG! LOL

I'm off to Sedona this month so more of those red rocks for me!

spiro,

I'm going with my daughter early next month (Aug, 2012).

I originally had 2 nights at Many Glacier (Swiftcurrent) and 4 nights at Saint Mary Lake (Rising Sun) but she doesn't want to be away that long.

We compromised and I released the last two nights.

Right now the plan is a little too much for my aging body.

We should arrive before 5PM so maybe get something done the arrival day.

We have the boat ride booked at Many Glacier our first full day and then we'll do Grinnell Glacier.

For Many Glacier I'd also like to do at least part of Iceberg Lake (until forest cover obscures the views), Redrock Falls (the first part of Swiftcurrent Passas long as it's pretty level), Apikuni Falls (but the elevation gain may be too much for a short hike).

In the Logan Pass area Hidden Lake, part of Highline, something called Lunch Creek.

In Saint Mary's area Baring, St Mary & Virginia Falls.

Spend some time stopping at viewpoints along GTTS rd.

I'm not sure how much we'll get done and if we'll have extra time.

If we do we'll either go to the west side of GTTS Rd but there's construction there, Two Medicine (either Twin Falls or Upper Two Medicine Lake if the boat has room) or Aster Falls and Aster Park (very steep though short). Also, Running Eagle Falls near the entrance should be short.

Or, since we're arriving and leaving in Calgary we could plan on stopping in Waterton Lakes for a few hours.

We'll see how the last day goes.

Just came back from Provence & Paris with my wife. Something for all.

I'm starting to think of next year.

Yes, I had seen your post a few days ago. I hope they have GTSR cleaned up for you by your trip dates.
Surely your trip won't be like mine last year(I cancelled the whole thing at the airport-I've never done anything like that)

My wife and I are going to Seattle/Olympic NP end of the month. Then middle of Aug, my daughter and I are going to do Seattle/ Mt. Rainier/North Cascades/San Juan Islands.
Both trips we plan to just spend a day in Seattle. My daughter is going to start college this year. She has taken summer classes the past two years and a bit during the school year and will actually start as a sophmore.

I have reservations for the end of July next year for Glacier. I'm going with a kid(now 28 years old), that was our neighbor when he was younger that I spend a lot of time with(he went on a few trips with us even) in November to Guadalupe Mountains for backpacking. We will also hit Carlsbad Caverns(my 4th trip to Carlsbad).

I have been to Rocky Mountain National Park and Smoky Mountains a few times, but I might go back to one of those next year as it is within driving distance from us(probably backpacking).

We are also considering Everglades trip at Christmas Break(aren't you from Florida? have you done Everglades, Dry Tortugas, Biscayne, Keyes?) I have 200K AA miles and about 30K with SW. I hate the way AA does their miles as it will almost always cost me a full 50K for a round trip PP.

We've never been to Hawaii and are considering that. Mount Rushmore area looks interesting too. We did Alaska 4 years ago and would like to go back there sometime as well.

I think you should consider Lassen Volcano(very pretty and uncrowded, Redwoods National Park-also uncrowded, and Crater Lake). Oregon is probably our most memorable trip we've done. Although, my daughter does really want to go back to Yellowstone. Your daughter sounds like me-can only be gone for long weekend type trips.

My daughter doesn't want to be away because she's married and has an almost 6 year old.

Looks like you've got a full calender. That's good.

I may start looking into RMNP.

For a while last summer I had a couple of days in Seattle on our trip to Victoria & Vancouver. But we put in 5 days in Banff and dropped Seattle.

I'm going to try and convince my daughter and son-in-law to go on a very (1 1/2 days in and out of Grand Junction) short trip to Arches. He's a radiologist and has to put in for vacation a year ahead for prime times. He does get 3 days off every now and then so we could grab one of those and do it.

That would just be the three of us.

I'd like to get back to Yellowstone with the three of them and my wife. That would be good but I don't know how he could get enough time. Maybe we'll all go and leave him behind.

I've gone on a trip a couple of times with a friend from Toronto but he's having issues getting away. His wife promised he'd go next year.

I may look back at Banff (which I went to last year) but also add Jasper and maybe something else. Waterton Lakes is a bit out of the way but not too bad.

Yes, I live in South Florida (originally from the Great White North) but I haven't been anywhere around here.

AA air miles are getting me annoyed to the point that I may use up what I have and switch.

It becomes a battle of wills. They want you to spend more air miles to get inferior flights and I want to spend less air miles to get better flights.

I won on the Trip to Provence and Paris but only after they admitted that they had to cancel one of my flights and never told me until I called to get seat assignments. That was three months later and by then it was too late to make other arrangements.

We haven't been to Hawaii but it's a long, long flight. A couple of years ago I started to look into China and had a bit of an itinerary. Then looked at being on a plane that long and I started to lose interest. I don't know how people go to Australia.

We should really do this offline.