American Southwest

AdventureFuji XNational ParkState ParkTravelNational Monument

Mar 29

The Battleship, Grand Canyon National Park

Day One

Day one started early before sunrise at the Doubletree in Grand Junction, Colorado. We drove 20 miles via the west entrance to Grand View overlooking Independence Monument. We arrived around 6:30 am, waiting for some morning light on a brisk morning. We then finished the full driving loop of the Colorado National Monument before driving over to Moab, Utah. We then drove up Long Gulch, which took us right to Dead Horse Point State Park. This place is always worth a stop. Then we headed into Canyonland National Park and did some hiking around Mesa Arch and Aztec Butte. Next, we headed to Arches National Park. Here, we hiked around the Windows Arches before driving the sandy Salt Valley Road north out of Arches on our way to Green River, Utah, for the evening.

Colorado National Monument

Long Gulch Road

Dead Horse Point State Park

Canyonlands National Park

Island in the Sky District

Arches National Park

Sunset on the La Sal Mountains as seen from teh Salt Valley Road in Arches National Park

Day Two

We spent the night in Green River, Utah after a very long first day with several stops. Day two had us covering even more ground with stops at Goblin Valley State Park and Capitol Reef National Park on our way to Cedar City, Utah. Our first stop was Goblin Valley State Park in Utah located just outisde the San Rafael Swell. This is a magical place, especially with small children as they get to climb on the rock formations. We hiked the Carmel Canyon trail covering a distance of 2 miles.

Next up we drove to Capital Reef, this turned out to be one of our favorite locations for the stunning scenery, lack of crowds, and fun hiking trails. Here we hiked both the Cohab Canyon and Sulphur Creek trails for a combined distance of over 4 miles.

Then we drove all the way over to Cedar City Utah, picked up some dinner and got some good sleep.

San Rafael Desert & Goblin Valley

San Rafael Desert in front of the Henry Mountains

Capitol Reef National Park

Cohab Canyon

Panorama Point

Sulphur Creek

Day Three

After spending the night in Cedar City, Utah, we then drove back east to Bryce Canyon National Park. Prior to departing though, we had to make an emergency stop at Walmart as I forgot to pack underwear for the trip. We hiked another 3.5 miles a Bryce Canyon where Bridger loved Thor’s Hammer, for obvious reason. This was a relaxing day of hiking with several stops and a nice view for lunch.

After we left Bryce Canyon, we drove a winding road past the Cedar Breaks National Monument which looked faintly similar to Bryce Canyon. No hiking here, just a couple of photos before driving down through the town of Parowan, Utah on our way back to Cedar City.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Day Four

Day four was all about Zion National Park. We left Cedar City early and our first stop was at the Kolob Canyons section of Zion. This area was under construction and limited our time here. We mostly drove through, checked out a couple of the visitor signs, etc. Once done here we then drove around to Springdale and the main Zion Canyon area of the park. Zion is extremelyl busy and mostly requires you to take a bus into the primary canyon. We made our way to the end of the road and hiked a couple miles up the Narrows of the Virgin River before the kids had enough. My photographs will never do this place justice, truly one of the most awe inspriring places anywhere.

Zion National Park

Kolob Canyons

Sunrise over the Kolob Canyons, Zion National Park

The Virgin River

Day Five

We got up and caught the very first shuttle bus back into Zion Canyon on Day Five. This worked out to be a great decision as we basically had the entire Emerald Pool hike to ourselves. The Emerald Pools was an easy 2.5 mile hike from the Grottos and was definitely worth the visit. By the time we finished up the hike we we caught an empty shuttlebus back out around noon. It was completely full coming in, but empty for us departing. Before leaving Zion, we drove through the Zion Mount Carmel Tunnel and hiked to the end of the Canon Overlook Trail. Once finished up at Zion, we made our way to Las Vegas for work conference.

Zion National Park

The Emerald Pools

Zion Canyon Overlook

Day Six

After we visited Zion National Park, we drove to Las Vegas as Jason had a work conference to attend for a couple of days. Jolie and the kids hung out at the pool and did a little shopping—quite the change from the first five days of the excursion.

Las Vegas

We wish we could tell you more, but we left those stories in Vegas.

Day Seven

Early on the seventh day, God rested. But we drove out of Vegas to go to the Grand Canyon. We made a quick stop at Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the Hoover Dam. After that we spent the day driving to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, we had booked a room with the National Park Service, so we had easy access the following morning. On the way, we almost died on the interstate as someone merged behind a garbage truck that we were passing. They obviously didn’t see us and swerved into our car to pass the trash truck. To this day, I have no idea how Jolie avoided that accident and didn’t roll the car. We pulled over for a few minutes to collect ourselves before proceeding.

However, the best memory of the day needs a little foreshadowing. Our Daughter Tessa, who was seven years old at the time, begged us to go to the Grand Canyon on this trip. The North Rim, much closer to our route, was not open for the season yet. So we decided to drive several hours out of our way to accommodate her wish. We arrived at the Grand Canyon on the evening of the seventh day. Upon arrival, we hurried over to the rim to share the experience with her. To which we were rewarded with “That’s It?” -ugh

Lake Mead National Recreation Area and The Hoover Dam

South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park

Day Eight

We started in the Grand Canyon at Bright Angel Point on the last day of our spring break adventure. We then went to the Desert View Watchtower before leaving behind the Grand Canyon. Next, we drove to Monument Valley, Navajo Tribal Park. We then passed the Mexican hat before quick stops at Four Corners Monument and Mesa Verde National Park. We didn’t realize Four Corners was a tribal park that only accepts cash. We could only scrape together enough cash for three, so Jason waited outside by the fence. We then drove to our hotel in Durango before the long drive back to Denver the following morning.