A Big Utah Camping Adventure!

A couple of weekends ago, Hiking Buddy and I spent the weekend in Utah. Yes, Utah. Land of the Mormons. What else is in Utah? The answer is:

BEAUTIFUL NATURAL LANDSCAPES

So, if you didn't think "Awesome!" when I said Utah the first time, I hope I can change that by the end of this post!

Driving from Las Vegas into Utah always fascinates me. You start out in a busy, crowded, sprawling city: asphalt, strip malls, and casinos as far as the eye can see, with cars jockeying for position on the interstate.  As you drive out of town, civilization fades quite suddenly into seemingly barren, desolate desert, where all you can see for miles is the highway in front of you, and the distant haze of the city you've escaped.  Traffic drops off and spreads out --- after all, there aren't very many exits out here, why crowd each other?  The Mojave Desert seems to be announcing a challenge as you journey across its surface: "That's right, just try to survive out here!"

(In reality, it's a place teeming with life, and quite interesting life at that. But that's for another story.)

You cruise along, the hot sun glaring down at you. And then all of a sudden, you're in Mesquite! Lots of trees, a golf course, and some casinos are sustained by a small river running by. And like a moment of deja vu passing, you're back in the desert. 

Next comes the Narrows. A short stretch of the highway that twists and winds its way through towers of craggy rocks, faulted and lifted into as many angles as you can imagine. After the vast, open expanses of desert, the Narrows make you feel infinitesimally small, as if the mountains could close in on you with nothing more than a sigh. As the canyon widens and the road rises up onto a flat valley, you feel as if you've been granted admission through the gates into a mysterious world.

Oh, hello Utah! Before you know it, you've passed through a small section of Arizona and into Utah, the Beehive State. Increasing in elevation, you continue North, reaching pinyon pine and juniper country. This drive, with the intense changes in vegetation, always makes me feel as if I'd traveled far.

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At Cedar City, we cut east along 14 to Cedar Breaks National Monument.  This road is awesome and I highly recommend driving it.  It winds through mountains edged with pines and aspens, strolls by open valley floors full of tall grasses, and barely hangs onto steep mountain sides. We reach the entrance to Cedar Breaks National Monument, and turn in. I'm pretty sure that Cedar Breaks National Monument wins the prize for being my favorite National Park (well, ok, second favorite, the #1 spot goes to Grand Teton).  Cedar Breaks is a small park, but the view from the main overlook is amazing! Driving further up to high elevations, we passed patches of snow, which was pretty amazing to us considering the 90/100 degree temperatures in Vegas. We almost ran over a marmot. Almost, so it was cool to see one. I think this was my first marmot!

My Hiking Buddy and I stopped at the visitor center and main overlook and looked for a while. Such a beautiful sight!

We didn't do any hiking while at Cedar Breaks. We still had more than an hour's drive to Bryce, and we were both still getting over some nasty colds.  BUT, there is a really nice hike from the visitor center area up into some bristlecone pines and glorious views. Bristlecone pines DO win the #1 spot for my favorite tree. Here's one, at Cedar Breaks, from a trip I took up there last fall:

Also while at Cedar Breaks, we found a yurt!!! I really like yurts, and one of my life goals is to spend a night in one.  Is that weird? Well, can you say you've been in a yurt??? I didn't think so!


So, onwards to Bryce Canyon National Park!  We had reservations in a campground, so that was our first major stop. On the way there, though, we saw pronghorn antelope, their scruffy winter coats starting to shed off, and Utah prairie dogs popping in and out of their burrows to the delight of several minivans full of vacationing families.

We set up camp and have dinner. The campground was really nice, and suuuuper quiet. Maybe a little too quiet, since I had been persuaded to bring my banjo along. I played for a bit anyway (although tried to not to make too much noise). The next day we woke up, and fixed breakfast. My first oatmeal experience! I was a bit hesitant, having been raised on grits. But it was really good! And easy to cook in camp. No longer shall I scoff at oatmeal eaters.

After packing up camp we drove around and saw the sights. Hoodoos are crazy!!! Here are some:

And here are some more!

We did a little bit of walking around, but no major hiking. Bryce is gorgeous! I highly recommend making a visit. Then we made the nice drive over to Zion.

Driving into Zion from the east, you travel through bright red sandstone created from ancient sand dunes. These sand dunes were part of a vast, dry desert, larger than the Sahara and drier than the current day Mojave Desert. These large rock walls are criss-crossed back and forth and up and down, evidence of changing wind directions through time.



We set up tent in a much busier, although still nice campground, and set to making hot dogs with sourkraut and mustard...mmmm hotdogs (vegetarian...they're really not bad!). We had a lazy morning the next day, and weren't feeling top notch after camping with head colds.  Hiking Buddy and I were determined to at least see some kind of sights while there, so we hopped on the bus and headed off to the Emerald Pools.

Rock Face above Emerald Pools

It was in the 90s, so we limited our hiking to that. Zion, which is a narrow canyon, has a major parking/car space problem. So, they've developed a bus system which allows visitors to hop on and off as much as they want, and eliminate traffic on the road in the park. It's great! 

After hiking, we decided to head on home. It was a really great weekend, and all three parks are absolutely beautiful places. Add them to your list of places to see!