No problem...I just started at the end and backed through them.

I was amused by picture #305 with the Delormwe Utah Atlas reflected in the windshield. Classic!

Thanks for the trip report - what fun! We've seen the Bighorn in that same spot too, Spiro.

Part 3

Day 4
The next morning I woke up and saw the sunrise on the cliffs that my room overlooked. I went to breakfast at the Chimney Rock Restaurant and got some pretty good french toast. I needed to get an early start and was in the car by 8:30. I found Goblin Valley State Park and followed the road off of the highway. The park was great and it was awesome how you can walk and climb all over the "goblins". After about an hour and a half there I was in the car again and looking for lunch. I found it at Green River and went to some tavern that looked pretty sketchy. The food was good and cheap but I would not want to be there after dark. By 2 pm I was looking for Copper Ridge dinosaur tracks but only realized that I had passed them about 15 minutes too late. It is quite difficult consulting a map and to drive in a straight line at the same time. Since I now had more time to kill I went to Canyonlands National Park and took some photos of Merrimack and Monitor Butte and the view of Mesa Arch and Island in the Sky. I got to the Moab Valley Inn around 4:30 and my room was big and comfortable. The pool was nice and I even got some tanning in! For dinner I went to the BluPig, which had very good barbecue and I had the two meat sampler, smoked turkey and buffalo wings with sweet potato fries, which was a bit expensive but one of the better dinners of the trip. I had taken to liking going to bed at 9:30 and again fell asleep with no problem.

Day 5
Breakfast was at the hotel continental breakfast, which had many offerings of mediocre quality, was okay and nutritious. The plan for the day was Devil's Garden and lunch in the park and Dead Horse Point SP for a sunset. I arrived at the trailhead around 8:30am and was in awe of the arches that were visible in the first 15 minutes. Pine tree and Tunnel arch were cool but nothing compared to what was later on. Landscape arch looked a lot smaller than 300 feet and my favorite one was double-o. I walked all the way to dark angel where I had a snack and a chat with a few people from Australia. I was walking back when I saw a deer crossing the slickrock trail and even managed a few pictures before it ran into the bushes. A lot more people were coming up the trail by the time I finished and I was glad to be a pretty early riser. Lunch was at the picnic area near Balanced Rock, and I was getting a bad blister on my right big toe, and could not walk much further. The afternoon was at the hotel, reading, and watching some TV. Dinner was at the Moab Brewery, which had a few good beers and some good calamari and soup. For sunset it was off to Dead Horse Point, but with my luck it had become cloudy in the last 2 hours. When I arrived, there was no sunset and it was not as good as I had expected. When I came back to my room, I devoured the remaining half of the strawberry rhubarb pie from the Gifford House.

More on Arches tomorrow

Great report! I look forward to seeing your pictures when I have a little more time.

I'm headed to Zion and Bryce in four weeks and can't wait. I hope the weather in Bryce warms up a bit by then!!

Glad you got to walk in Devil's Garden, the Arches are really amazing. I'm enjoying reliving some of our past adventures.

d,

So happy to read your report. You really moved along, but you got a good sampling!

Emerald Pools - you may have been going up the wrong side to try and reach the upper pool. If you hike there directly from the start of the trial, it's paved the entire way to the upper pool. Facing the falls, you would be going up to the left.

The waterfall and pools depend entirely on water conditions. You were a little early in the year to catch peak runoff.

Also, Weeping Rock is much prettier in the summer. The water seeping thru the sandstone allows wildflowers to grow in any little crack - creating the "hanging gardens" that are also found on the Riverwalk trail. These wildflowers don't normally start blooming until mid-May and that cold water dripping feels great on a hot summer day!

But you got to see big horn sheep! I've been to Zion more times than I can remember and I've never seen them.

Thanks for the pictures too!

Hi guys,

The back half of the loop to emerald pools was closed due to a landslide that covered the trail. I couldn't get to the other side of the trail. Anyways

Part 4

Day 6
The day started early and I was in the park around 8. I first went to Balanced Rock and got some pictures from all angles. Then it was to the Windows and turret arch. The windows were a bit dark and i did not go on the primitive trail on the back side of the windows. The loop ended and I crossed the parking lot to go to Double arch. At first I did not see the second arch but when I did it was quite beautiful. I had to be back in Moab by 10:30 because I had a tour. The tour was at the Moab tourism center on RZR side by sides. The guide was the moab cowboy and he was entertaining and very nice. We went on two areas of trails and had 4 hrs of offroading. We passed some of the custom rock crawlers trying to get up walls that are vertical. Lunch was on the trail and I rested for a few hours after I came back. For sunset it was off to delicate arch. It said that it was 1-1.5 hrs one way but it was actually 40 minutes. I got there about 20 minutes early and got some amazing pictures of the sunset. I left a few minutes before the other hundred people and made it down without a major traffic jam and even managed to see some petroglyphs. For dinner I went to the brewery again and ordered an appetizer before going back and calling it a day.

Day 7
Today was the drive to the grand canyon and I needed an early start. I left before 8 and got to Goosenecks around 10. The view was enough for 5 minutes and back to the highway it was. The next stop was Monument Valley, where I took the 17 mile drive around the formations. For lunch I had a cheeseburger at the View, the restaurant at Monument Valley Hotel. I filled up on gas soon and took a straight shot to GC. The first view was great but the view was the same at every overlook. I even saw some elk on the side of the road. My experience in Yellowstone had taught me to stop whenever there are a few cars pulled over looking at something. I checked into my room which was next to the vending machine and a bit loud. I ended up walking to Bright Angel Lodge for dinner where I had some great Italian Chicken and tortilla soup. The day was long and uneventful and the drive had taken a toll on me. My reserves of pie had run out and I quickly fell asleep.

More on GC and Las Vegas later

I can't wait to hear what your favorite part of the trip was! And where you might return. Great trip report d.

Hey everyone,

I am going to try finishing my report today.

Part 5

Day 8

The next morning I woke up from a bad night's sleep because of the aforementioned vending machine making noises throughout the night. My small breakfast at the Maswik cafeteria was followed by a discussion with the front desk which ended with me being allowed to move to the room above. I walked back to the room and got my backpack ready because it would be the trek into the canyon. I got there around 7:45 and started down. I saw a lot of tired looking people coming up from a 2 day hike. I passed the 1.5 mile house and the 3 mile house and decided to turn around around the 3.5 mile point. Hiking up was difficult and there were a lot of unprepared people hiking down into the canyon. I was out by 12 and before most people had gotten to the first mile. The rest of the afternoon was spent eating, browsing the gift shop, and resting my feet. Dinner was at the Arizona Room steak house and the line was about 1 hr. I was not too hungry and waited. I got the prime rib with some great homemade peach blueberry pie. It was already near 9:30 and I had to begin getting used to the time change back in Boston, so I stayed up to around 11.

Day 9

It was my last day in the desert and breakfast at the Bright Angel Restaurant was big and good. Driving to Las Vegas was long and very boring. I wanted to visit the Hoover Dam but the line that was visible from the interstate was so long that I changed my mind. I arrived at the Bellagio and got a burger at the Bellagio Cafe. I checked into my room which was large, modern, and very fancy, which was nothing less than what I expected from the Bellagio. The afternoon was spent walking from the Bellagio to Mandalay Bay and viewing the beautiful casinos. For dinner it was time to finish up all of the food that I had bought during my trip, which was a little less tasty but better than spending 50 dollars per entree at a fancy restaurant. After dinner, I went to the casino had a drink and spent a bit of money, dont worry I didn't win any of it back. The beds were super comfortable and I had no problem falling asleep.

Day 10

It was the day I had not wanted since the beginning of the trip. My last breakfast was a crepe from the Jean Phillipe Patisserie in the Bellagio. I spent the day walking up north along the strip, all the way to the mirage before going back south on the opposite side. After a lunch I had to check out of my room by 3pm. There was a small problem when at 2:55pm I was told that I would have to pay for a half night rate because I was checking out late. I told them that I was told of no such thing and that I was leaving right now anyways. Just when I picked up my car from valet, I realized that I had forgotten my camera and had to spend 30 minutes for security to allow me back into my room and for me to grab it. The drive to the airport was not long and I managed to waste 30 minutes trying to find the nearest gas station. I arrived at the rental car place and got on the shuttle to the airport. My plane had no delay and took off at exactly 10 pm, and arrived in Boston the next morning.

This trip was so much fun, and so much cooler than I expected. My favorite part of the trip is so difficult to say. Bryce was amazing, the view of Zion Canyon was huge, and Delicate Arch at sunset was beautiful. I thank anyone who told me to only spend 1 day at the grand canyon, because it really is not as "grand" as all of the other parks. The smaller state parks were great and I take my hat off to the National parks service. I really miss it already and the trip will stay in my memory for decades.

Now I would like to thank anyone who replied to my original post. I never expected it to flourish to 120 responses and the trip would never have been possible without all of the detailed info that you guys gave me. I would like to return to all of the places that I visited in Utah for a longer exploration, but that will have to hold off for a few years. My plans are now to continue visiting this nations beautiful network of national parks and head to California. But that will have to hold off for a year or two. The few loyal people that responded to my questions for months were amazing and I hope that you continue helping people make a trip of a lifetime.

But now this will be my last post for a while, or at least until my next trip.
Thanks,
Dshamritsky

Thanks for continuing to the end of the trip. It is fun to read about the impressions others have of the beautiful places that we love and contrast that to our own.

d,

Thanks for the trip report and your impressions and pictures. I do hope you can come back to Utah for a longer visit sooner rather than later!

All the Natl Parks I visited have been in the western US and each is special - that's exactly why they were made our Natl Park.

You will also enjoy the parks in CA, but just know that they are much more crowded. Don't visit on a holiday.....

Ciao,
Dayle