Trip Out West 2010 (Week 6)

We had a very busy week 6 starting with an awesome scenic drive from Capitol Reef NP to Kodachrome SP. Part of that drive was over Boulder Mountain and part was through Great Staircase Escalante NM. We spent that first evening off-roading some of the trails in Kodachrome SP and seeing some amazing rock formations and a lovely sunset. The next day was spent hiking in Bryce Canyon NP and, again, the views were unbelievable. One of the trails we hiked was a .6 mile steep hike down among the "Hoodoos" and the hike back was a challenge - but so worth it! The next day we drove through Red Canyon and the two arches tunnels that are considered the gateway to Bryce Canyon. From there we took scenic route 143 West where we stopped and had lunch by the side of a sparkling mountain lake. We were going to stop at Cedar Breaks NP but it was closed due to snow covered roads. Carl waded through a snow drift to one scenic overlook and got a pretty good picture though. We returned by way of scenic route 14 and enjoyed all of the great sights along there as well. The next day we left Kodachrome SP and took the scenic route to Kanab, UT. We passed lovely lakes at the mouth of red rock caves, stark canyons, and yes, some hills Carl just had to do some 4 wheelin' on - after we unhooked the trailer of course! The fifth day we drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon which had only been opened for the season for 1 week. The scenic route was closed due to downed trees from winter storms but we were able to walk to Bright Angel Point and to the East Rim viewing point. We also visited the old lodge there and enjoyed that. The North Rim was much more laid back and less commercialized than the South Rim but the views of that part of the Grand Canyon formed by the Colorado just could not compare. We spent the last two days of week 6 camping, shuttling and hiking in Zion NP and it is hard to describe how beautiful it was. We hiked nearly 11 miles in 2 days and almost made it to Angel's landing. The trail was 2.5 miles UP hill and we made it about 2.2 miles rising about 1300 feet. When it got to where you were walking over a hard rocky surface and had to hold on to chains to keep you from going over the edge, we decided to have lunch with a bunch of chipmunks, head back down and call it a day. The views of the Virgin River and the rock formations from that point were fantastic enough.

See the map below to follow our adventures.
Zoom in and click on an icon to see where we have been.

Pictures of Week 6 are at this link

http://community.webshots.com/user/rvburroughs5