Impromptu Road Trip/ Spring Break 2021

Long story short, I had plans to help my friends dad build up his 3rd gen taco for spring break down in Albuquerque but his truck parts never came in on time so I decided to load up the truck and head out for a solo trip out in northern Arizona and Southern Utah. I've explored the area a lot before but there were always places I wanted to check out. I also just ordered a bunch of camping gear for a summer job so I needed an excuse to try it out! Here's a quick write up of the trip and I hope y'all enjoy!

Side note: This was the first camping trip in the new truck since getting rid of my 1st gen taco, camper shell is on the way for the 3rd gen as I write this. This was also just a sight seeing trip and trying out the new camping gear, usually I have some bikes with me.

Left Fort Collins and headed west to the western slope of Colorado and stayed at a family members house in Palisade. The next morning I drove out to Gateway which I had been told by a friend that it was a beautiful drive.




After Gateway, I headed down to Mexican Hat. On the way there I stopped by Valley of the Gods.





Made it to Mexican Hat! I figured it was a more tourist attraction than it was. No one was there except a semi built Tundra who was messing around on the trails around the desert.





Just south of Mexican Hat, I stumbled across where they filmed Forrest Gump stopping his run across American near Monument Valley.



Hours later, I wanted to make it to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for the night. Along the way, I stopped at the Navajo Bridge.





Shortly after checking out the Navajo Bridge, I found myself at a closed gate to the North Rim part of the Grand Canyon National Park. Should have checked before I left, but I left rather quickly. Just because the National Park wasn't open, doesn't mean that the national forest next to it isn't. Ended up taking a few dead ends to closed trails but found a FS road that went at least 40 miles off the main road to find one of the most scenic campsites i've ever stayed. Unfortunately, I got there right after sunset. Pics for the campsite will be in the next post.

 

Day 2
Woke up to a beautiful view of the Grand Canyon. I didn't see a single person the whole 40 miles I traveled back to the campsite, probably because it was still a little cold. Had plans to stay there for a couple nights but the wind and cold ended up being unbearable, especially since I was in a tent. Anyways, here's some pics from the campsite!











After leaving the Grand Canyon, I headed back up to Lake Powell. I had camped out at Lone Rock campground on the beach but since the water was too cold I figured I'd try a different spot. I was not disappointed...







See if you can spot my truck in this next pic...hint, it's a tiny spec on the cliff.










Ended up stay at the point for 2 nights, but was also very windy.

 

Day 3
After leaving Lake Powell, I had always wanted to take the drive between Big Water and Escalante, which is supposed to be one of the most secluded places to travel in Utah. Ended up being a beautiful drive and glad that I ended up driving it.










Made it to Escalante and ended up driving through a blizzard from Boulder to Torrey.



It was a quick trip but packed with lots of great memories. Hope you all enjoyed!

 

Amazing photos. Glad you had a good trip. My son and I just completed our trip from Virginia to San Diego, but weren’t able to detour to enjoy the sights.

 

I'm familiar with that part of the world, so fun to see the photos. Had to look at a map for a road between Big Water and Escalante -- yep, looks fun. Thanks for sharing!

 

Great report, thank you for sharing! Enjoyed reading it.

 

Guuuuump! Love that movie. Great photos.