Weesa's Utah National Parks Adventure

So I finally got around to taking a trip that I've been wanting to do for close to a decade.
Travel to southern Utah and visit all of the National Parks there.
While I've wanted to make this journey for many years there was always some excuse that I would make to talk myself out of it and settled for saying "someday...someday I'll go there..." I decided that someday was now. So I set to work trying to figure out a route that would allow me to visit all of the places that I had scribbled onto my "must see" list and do it in 10 days. A few didn't make it into the final itinerary but I'll catch those next time. I did get to check these off my list for now:

Arches NP
Canyonlands NP
Goblin Valley SP
Capitol Reef NP
Grand Staircase Escalante NM
Kodachrome SP
Bryce Canyon NP
Zion NP

Those that didn't make the list this time were:
Monument Valley
Antelope Canyon
Natural Bridges NM
Cedar Breaks NM

And before you ask, yes, I was in Moab. No, I did not do any wheeling. Hate if you want but that wasn't what this trip was about. I was more interested in hiking and seeing the parks. Plus I was flying solo so wheeling wasn't really an option. I did want to do White Rim in Canyonlands - about the only thing I can say I missed out on this time around.

In a nutshell the trip totaled 10 days/9 nights, 2100 miles driven, 74 miles hiked, 5 national parks, 3 state parks, 1 national monument. Total cost of the trip (gas, food, camping, souvenirs) was under $700, not too bad all things considered.

As I work through my pictures from the trip I'll be adding a write up for each place I visited.

Maybe I should add "new camera lens" to the trip cost I puchased a Canon 10-22 prior to the trip. SOOO glad I had that with me. Used it for 80% of the shots I took!

 

Any good trip requires a little planning in my opinion.
Now I had thought about this trip for several years and had done a little research into various aspects of the trip in that time. When I finally decided to commit to the trip this year things just sort of fell into place. I got serious about the planning only 3 weeks before I set off on my little adventure. I had a rough itinerary laid out and starting looking into making reservations at various campgrounds along the way. I'm not normally much of a campground fan but since I've never been in this area before I figured it was the best option. Having a reserved campsite meant I got to spend more time in the parks hiking and exploring and less time trying to track down a place to sleep. Most of the National Parks don't accept reservations for their campgrounds plus Arches CG was closed for construction so I started looking into some alternates. And then I found the Utah State Parks website. Lo and behold many of the state parks are located right next door to the national parks. And they weren't booked solid. In less than an hour I had my camp reservations made and was able to snag a campsite in/near just about everywhere I wanted to go. The big bonus to the state park camps turned out to be that they all offer shower facilities (the national parks don't). And some had laundromats too! Even better. Since I was able to put everything together so quickly and with little warning I figured it was a sign that my decision to do this trip now was the right decision.
So the trip was set.
10/14 - drive from MT to Green River, UT
10/15 - explore Arches NP
10/16 - explore Canyonlands NP
10/17 - resupply in Moab and head to Goblin Valley SP
10/18 - drive to Kodachrome SP thru Capitol Reef and Escalante
10/19 - explore Bryce Canyon
10/20 - head to Zion NP
10/21 - Zion NP
10/22 - drive from Zion to home
10/23 - extra day just in case!
This did end up changing a little bit. Some for the better, some for the worse. I'll get to that later.

Then came the packing and prepping for the journey. I'm not new to camping or traveling but this is the longest trip I've undertaken on my own - both in distance away from home and duration 9 night/ 10 days. So it was a little daunting trying to get packed and ready to go. Brought my recovery gear just in case. And i did use it but not for my benefit. Brought tools and extra fluids for Runner just in case. Didn't need them (Runner was a champ the whole trip). Bought a new camera lens. Very glad I had it, made a world of difference in my photos. Bought a few odds and ends for camping but pretty much had everything I needed. And, surprisingly enough, I didn't forget anything at home! At no point in the trip did I have to stop and say "oh, crap! I forgot to bring..." Sure there were a few things that I brought that I didn't need the entire time but I figure its better to have "it" and not need it than need it and not have it.
The big decision that I feel I choose poorly was in what sleeping bag I brought. I have a -10 and a +15 rated bag. I decided the +15 bag would be better for the trip. Checked the weather forecast and everything seemed to be looking pretty mild. Highs in the 70's and lows in the 30's. +15 bag would be perfect. Or not. The weather turned out to be more in the 10's and 20's for nightly lows and that +15 bag just wasn't enough. I was comfortable 2 of the 9 nights and found myself layering with blankets and clothing to keep warm. My night at Bryce was the coldest. It was super windy all day and then rained right before sunset. the already chilly temperatures dropped significantly. I went to bed that night in 6 layers. I was OK, I was warm and didn't have to get up in the middle of the night to start the car and turn on the heater to survive like some of my camp neighbors. +15 bag, long johns, fleece top and pants, foot of my bag stuffed into my winter jacket for added warmth for my toes, down blanket, and canvas blanket. And hat and gloves. I was cozy so long as no skin was exposed to the outside. And assuming I wasn't going to suffocate in the night as I burrowed down into my bag It was damp and cold outside, Runner told me it was 12 when I woke up the next morning. I had icicles hanging off the RTT and Runner.... Next time I'm bringing my heavy bag...even if I am camping in the desert...

 

I do think I remember your rig! On I70 by Green River! I figured I would see a few TWers since Rock Therapy was right around the corner. Wish I had known you were in the area and doing White Rim. Really wanted to do that but didn't think it was wise to go solo. Could a stock SR5 Runner make it in one piece? Figured the ascent/decent at the start/finish would have been the trickiest part

 

DAY 1 - departure

Kinda thought mother nature was trying to keep me from leaving MT when it came time to hit the road.

I had considered leaving on Friday but it was Friday the 13th and it just didn't seem like a good idea to start my vacation right then and the weather forecast sucked. Rained/snowed all night and by the time I left on Saturday the roads were a disaster. Taking off down Highway 191 I was doing a maximum of 35mph because the road was solid ice. Cars off in the ditch left and right. Stopped to help a guy who had spun out in his Ford truck and sheared off the rear passenger tire when it hit the guardrail. Since I had my recovery gear packed I figured I'd be a nice girl and help out rather than leave him sitting cross wise in the road. Big ass truck and zero traction. Took me and another guy to pull him clear of the road. Thankfully he was right in front of a (closed) campground so we just pulled him into the entrance road and left him there. Thinking I had done my good deed for the day and would be rewarded for the rest of my trip I set off again...and was promptly stopped because there was a jacknifed truck blocking the pass at the MT/ID border Considered my options - sit and wait where I was or backtrack through the hellish ice road and take an alternate route that would take me about 90 minutes to end up about 5 miles down the road (and past the jacknifed truck). Decided to sit and wait. An hour later I was on my way again. The roads finally cleared up from this point on but I was now about 2.5 hours behind schedule. This meant I hit Salt Lake City at afternoon rush hour. Freaking hate big city traffic. But I survived and carried on my way south. By the time I hit Green River, UT (my camp for the night) it was well past dark. I pulled into Green River State Park around 9pm, set up my tent and went to sleep. Wherever I was was going to be a surprise come morning!
Rescued FERD

Snow barnacles

 

DAY 2 - off to Arches National Park!

It was a wee bit chilly when I woke up in Green River - mid 20's - so I packed up quick, made some coffee and hit the road for Arches. I got to the park early enough and had the time to do the touristy thing stopping at the visitor center and all of the pullouts along the road. I was a bit disappointed that so much of the park was closed for construction but I knew that going in so I focused on what I could get access to. I headed straight for the end of the road and Devil's Garden. It was a little busy but not bad - still plenty of parking spots to be had at the trailhead. I wanted to do the complete loop through the garden but when I saw that there was no established trail and you were scrambling over the rocks I decided to turn back. It wasn't worth it to me to risk either hurting myself or my camera gear on the first real day of vacation. I still got to see Landscape, Tunnel, Pinetree and Partition Arches...and some dude who attempted the trail in flip flops. He was returning minus a few toenails from the looks of it
After that I checked out Skyline Arch and the Fiery Furnace.
Landscape Arch

Skyline Arch

Fiery Furnace

Park Avenue/Three Gossips/the Organ

 

DAY 2 - Canyonlands National Park

After spending most of the day in Arches I decided to head out and check into my camp for the night in Moab. Got to camp, unloaded some of my gear and hit the showers. When I was done I figured I still had enough daylight to check out a bit of Canyonlands so I headed back out. I stopped at Deadhorse Point along the way as well. Great views but not a lot to do up there. Before bed that night I decided to head back into Arches the next day instead of exploring Canyonlands more. There was still more to see, more to hike in Arches and I didn't see much of anthing to hike in Canyonlands. I think if I head back this way in the future I'll be either doing White Rim trail or exploring the other regions of Canyonlands - Island in the Sky wasn't that thrilling to me.
I did check out Mesa Arch while I was there and a few of the view points looking off into the canyons.

 

DAY 3 - back to Arches

After deciding to forego and further adventures in Canyonlands I headed back to Arches. And so glad that I did. I visited the Windows area and Dlicate Arch. While at the Windows I first had to work around several tourists then suddenly found myself all alone. Not sure how or why but everyone else just wandered off and I had the entire place to myself. It was amazing. so quiet and no tourists to trip over or photoshop out later. Hung out there until another group showed up. After that I headed to Delicate Arch. Here I managed to snag the last parking space in the lot, suited up and headed on down the trail. This was a different experience than the Windows. People everywhere. I think I passed a hundred people on the trail. And there were dozens at the arch itself. I shouldn't have been surprised considering its popularity. Everyone just always shows the beautiful pics of the Arch, none of the circus around it. I was still glad to make the trek. Never can tell how long these areas will last...

Turret Arch

Double Arch

Delicate Arch

My new lizard-y friends

 

And the circus around Delicate Arch...

 

Delicate was by far the most crowded when I was there. Windows, Skyline, and the Fiery Furnace were all deserted so maybe I got spoiled by that. And yeah, people were taking turns and not crowding under the arch. Still never got a single pic without someone in it though.

 

DAY 4: Goblin Valley SP

After exploring every nook and cranny of Arches NP, stopping to resupply my food and gas, and giving Runner a much needed bath (road salt - icky!) in Moab I set off for my next destination - Goblin Valley State Park. Its a pretty off the beaten path kinda place but has been on my must see list for several years. And maybe for not a good reason...anyone remember the news story about the boy scout troop who got in trouble for knocking over the hoodoos (goblins)? Yep. That's why I knew about this place. While that incident was an example of peak stupidity of some people it also got me interested in seeing the goblins for myself. And they were pretty cool....
https://youtu.be/t1ft2q4ckQI
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...nocked-over-ancient-rock-get-probation-n56596

So I set off from Moab with a full tank, full cooler and a shiny clean rig. Passing @MeefZah along the way and narrowly avoiding a collision with an antelope (and by narrowly I mean his ass and my bumper missing one another by mere inches...) I arrived at Goblin Valley around noon. Not seeing another vehicle or any sign of human existence in nearly an hour I was glad to finally reach my destination. This is a pretty cool place. And if there was an award for it I think that Goblin Valley would win the "best place on earth to play hide and seek". Acres and acres of these weird hoodoos that you can just wander around in. There are no set trails, you can go where ever you want. Just can't climb on the goblins.

Goblins

more goblins

even more goblins

tested out my new offroad rig

a couple night shots since I was in a "dark sky" park