Zion National Park

The last stop on our Utah roadtrip was Zion National Park.  Most people come to the park from Las Vegas, in the west.  But I think the best way to get into the park is from the East Entrance, via the scenic Zion-Mount Carmel Highway (Utah Route 9).  This road winds past some of the prettiest red rock I've ever seen.

The road itself is a feat of engineering.  There are two tunnel sections that were blasted right through the mountains back in the 1920's.  The longer tunnel is 5600 feet long and has several cutout windows for ventilation and viewing (although you are not supposed to stop while driving through the tunnel).  As we approached this tunnel we were driving behind one of those huge tour buses, which proved to be interesting.  The tunnel is only 13 feet tall, so to get a tour bus through it they actually shut down traffic in one direction so that the bus can drive down the middle of the road.

View of a tunnel "window" from below

We hiked the Emerald Pools - Kayenta loop to get some nice views of the park from above.  The canyon gorge has been carved over millennia by the north fork of the Virgin River.

Zion Canyon and the Virgin River

Zion is known for great hikes and world-class rock climbing.  There are two premier hikes that seem to be in every guidebook: Angel's Landing and the Narrows.  We opted to hike the Narrows because the thought of clinging to a chain with 1000-foot drop offs on either side of the Angel's Landing trail did not appeal to us at all.  (Click here for a great overview and a picture of the Angel's Landing hike.)

The Narrows follows the path of the Virgin river through a sheer-walled slot canyon.  You can start at the top and do the whole 16-mile hike (which requires a permit), or you can start at the bottom, hike 3 or 4 miles in, then turn around and come back out (which is what we did, since there's no permit required).  The hike itself is mostly in the riverbed, so you will definitely get your feet wet.  It is a good idea to rent neoprene socks and water shoes from one of the outfitters in Springdale at the entrance to the park.  A sturdy hiking stick is essential for helping feel out depths and for keeping your balance when wading and while walking on river rocks.

This hike should never be done during heavy rain or when there is any chance of flash flooding.  Luckily for us, the weather was clear, the water wasn't too cold, and we were well-equipped.  This hike was one of the most enjoyable on our trip and we would highly recommend it!

We made sure to celebrate with a beer afterwards, of course.  The town of Springdale (just outside the park) has several great restaurants and even a brewery.

We had been disappointed to miss out on the stargazing in Bryce since it was too cloudy to see the stars at night.  Mother Nature made it up to us in Zion.  Even though we were staying in the lodge, all we had to do was walk across the road to get nice dark sky views of the Milky Way.

On our last day in the park, we did a 3-hour trail ride along the Sandbench Trail that passes through the Grove of the Patriarchs.  We were glad we waited until the last day to do the horseback ride because after three hours we were a little saddle sore.  It was definitely a great way to see that part of the park, although maybe next time I will opt for the one-hour ride!

Here's a video with our Zion highlights.  Enjoy!

Zion Highlights from Solsticecatamaran on Vimeo.

Capitol Reef National Park and Scenic Hwy 12

Getting to and from the National Parks in this area was one of the highlights of the trip.  Between Bryce and Zion is the Zion-Mt. Carmel highway (more on that later), and between Bryce and Capitol Reef you drive the very scenic Highway 12 through the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

You can see the highway winding down the right side of the photo

There is one section of the highway where you basically drive on the top of a ridge with sheer dropoffs on either side of you.  (We couldn't get good photos of that section, sorry.  Safety first!)  It can be a difficult task to pay attention to the road when you've got these beautiful views on either side of you.

About midway between Bryce and Capitol Reef is the Kiva Koffeehouse, an interesting little coffeehouse and lodge seemingly out in the middle of nowhere.  You can sit here and sip a cup of coffee while admiring the scenery through the large picture windows.

As the highway wound its way up into the Dixie National Forest, we started to see some fall color.  The Quaking Aspen were just beginning to turn gold.

Finally, we arrived at Capitol Reef National Park.

I would describe this park as sort of like the Grand Canyon, if you were able to drive right through the canyon itself.  You're surrounded by towering cliffs with layers and layers of geologic history all around you.

Plus, there's fresh-baked pie!  Right in the heart of the park is the former town of Fruita, where Mormon homesteaders farmed the land until the 1950's.  There are several orchards within the park that are now maintained by the Park Service.  Harvest season runs from June (cherries) through October (apple) with apricots, peaches, and pears harvested in between.  If flowers are more your thing, go in March or April to see the orchards in bloom.  One of the old homesteads was preserved into a museum/gift shop where you can purchase a mini fruit pie and have a picnic.

Mmmmm....apple!

We did the park's scenic drive on our own since it is paved, but there are large sections of the park that you can only get to with a high-clearance/four-wheel-drive vehicle, so we took a day tour with Backcountry Outfitters to see the Cathedral Valley.

The dirt road goes right up to the sandstone monoliths.

There are two other large monoliths in the lower Cathedral Valley called the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon.  Because it had been raining, the dirt roads were too muddy for us to get to that section.  I guess we'll just have to go back someday.

Here's a short video of this part of the trip:



Capitol Reef Highlights from Solsticecatamaran on Vimeo.

Bryce Canyon National Park

We spent a fabulous two days in Bryce Canyon National Park.  Kevin had already been there as a kid, but this was my first time in this fascinating landscape of hoodoos, fins, and incredible vistas.  We stayed in the cabins at the lodge on the rim of the canyon, so the trailheads at Sunset Point were only a few steps away.

For our first hike we decided to combine the Queen's Garden and Navajo Loop hikes so that we could see the rock formations up close.

One of the highlights of the Navajo Loop trail is this section, called Wall Street.  The Park recommends that you do the loop clockwise so that at the end you are hiking up all of these switchbacks.  We bucked the trend and started our hike here, walking downhill all the way -- whee!

You would think that the sandy soil would be completely devoid of life, but a number of interesting trees grow in and around the canyon.  Ancient Bristlecone Pines cling to the canyon's rim, and tall Douglas Firs actually grow in between some of the canyon walls.

The trail winds in and around the hoodoo formations.  You can barely see the trail in the center of the photo, but if you look closely you can see two tiny people walking down there.

Hoodoos are thin columns of rock that have been weathered by water and wind.  You can find them throughout the southwestern US, but the highest concentration of them is in Bryce Canyon.

Bryce is supposed to be one of the best national parks for stargazing, due to the fact that it is pretty far away from any large towns.  We were lucky to be in the park for the Saturday night astronomy talk, but unfortunately the skies were completely clouded over all night so we couldn't see much through the telescopes.  No star photos this time (but check out our Zion post...)!  We continued exploring the park on Day 2, stopping in at all the viewpoints along the scenic drive and doing several other hikes.  This section of the park totally reminded me of Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland:

Kevin put together a short video showing the highlights of this part of the trip:


Bryce Highlights from Solsticecatamaran on Vimeo.

Swimming with Whale Sharks in Cancun

While in Cancun for a fabulous wedding (congrats Maggie & Chris!) we did an excursion to snorkel with whale sharks.  July and August are prime feeding season for whale sharks in the waters off the coast of Cancun.  Although swimming with sharks sounds scary, unlike Jaws these sharks are basically gentle giants.  They don't have sharp teeth like the great whites; they are filter feeders which means that they feed on plankton in a way similar to humpback whales.

They are enormous up close -- they're the largest type of fish in the world and some can measure as long as 35-40 feet.   They tend to swim slowly while feeding, but it's still quite a workout to keep up swimming alongside them.

Kevin swimming with the sharks

Our group was small, about eight of us with two guides.  But there were 30 or so similar boats out at the feeding grounds.  Luckily there were about 50 sharks feeding so it didn't feel like we were harassing the sharks too much.  When one would approach our boat, two of us at a time would drop into the water and swim alongside for a few minutes to watch it feed.

Afterwards, we went by boat to Isla Mujeres and had a nice lunch of fresh ceviche and tiny Coronita beers.

Beers with Kevin and my dad

Kevin took some great video of the whole experience, and there are some nice shots of the sharks actually feeding as they swim by.  You can really get a sense of how majestic these creatures are.


Whale Shark Tour 2 from Solsticecatamaran on Vimeo.