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Post by Steelernation on Jun 27, 2021 19:49:13 GMT -5
Time to post pictures from this summer’s trip. Edit: to make the page load faster, all photos are now within a spoiler.After visiting family for a few days, I left Boulder on May 20th and drove to Vernal, Utah. < The next day was cold and wet so I opted for a scenic drive. First drove through some high elevation forests and meadows to the Flaming Gorge reservoir:  Then it started raining again and I went through a neat canyon, some cliff views, and another reservoir  <   > By the time I returned to Vernal, it had stopped raining so I did a short hikes to some dinosaur tracks by the Red Fleet reservoir. < Nice scenery and the reservoir was picturesque but took forever to find the tracks and then there were only 2.   Nice flowering cactus:  > After that I went to a dinosaur museum in Vernal, then drove to Provo. Other days I did less so they’ll be multiple days per post. > |
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Post by Steelernation on Jun 28, 2021 15:05:32 GMT -5
The 22nd I went to some museums in Provo and then drove up to the mountains to do a hike. This was my only mountainous hike of the trip. The Wasatch front is much more impressive than the front range, a steeper rise and no annoying foothills to block out the peaks. View from the trailhead (elevation ~6600’)  It climbed steadily with views looking back  Eventually, it entered the forest before emerging in a meadow surrounded by aspens. Many were not leafed out yet:  It then left the meadow and climbed a bit more through the aspens, reaching a peak elevation of just under 8000’. Excellent views then opened up to the back side of Mount Timpanogos:    < |
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Post by Steelernation on Jun 29, 2021 12:35:06 GMT -5
After that on the 23rd, I picked up my rental jeep and then drove down through Cathedral valley in Capitol Reef NP. < It was a scenic area with some cool huge monoliths:  <   > Nice overlook of I think lake Powell after coming out on the highway:  The next morning I did a hike to some cliff dwellings in Bears Ears NM:  After that, I went and did another off road drive in the Valley of the Gods:  <  > And then drove down to monument valley, or as close as I could get before the closure: |
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Post by Steelernation on Jun 30, 2021 23:21:32 GMT -5
Overlook at Goosenecks state park:  Drove to Hovenweep NM and did a couple short hikes to some ruins:  Then went to some dinosaur tracks neat Moab and spent the night in Green River. Went to a dinosaur museum the next day then drove up 9 mile canyon with some short walks to some petroglyphs and up a little canyon.  The next day I went to a dinosaur quarry which also had some neat scenery:  Stopped at some pretty overlooks:  <  > Then in the evening hiked up a slot canyon. It had a fun section where I had to crab walk over a pool (like 2’ deep so couldn’t step in it):  Now we’re through May 27th. < |
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Post by Steelernation on Jul 2, 2021 14:01:22 GMT -5
The next day I did an off-road drive to an arch and then to some petroglyphs:  After that I went and did a hike to a very unimpressive arch I won’t post pics of. Got up early the next morning (the 29th) and drove back to Provo to return the jeep. The disc golf course there had great views of the Wasatch Front  Next day I went to Fremont State park—apparently the best climate in Utah—which had some unimpressive petroglyphs but nice views:  After that it was back to Capitol Reef for 2 days to hike. The first day I did an 8 mile hike to an arch and then down a wash: The trail climbed steeply with good views looking down (you can see the arch in the distance to the right)  Eventually it flattened out and after walking over some slick rock, I got to the arch:  It then descended steeply and went down a wash for another few miles which wasn’t terribly interesting. The next day I hiked to another arch:  Now we’re in the middle of June 1st < |
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Post by Steelernation on Jul 4, 2021 16:10:15 GMT -5
< After leaving Capitol Reef, I drove the very scenic route 12  Stopped to do a 7 mile hike along a lush creek  <  > The destination was a cool waterfall:  After spending the night in Escalante, I drove to Kodachrome Basin state park the next day. Scenic overlooks on the way:  <  > Drove to an arch in the state park:  Also played at a unique but not very fun disc golf course there (too much brush and junipers so easy to lose discs, spend most of my time either lost or looking for discs). < This is June 2nd, the really scenic part of the trip is coming up. |
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Post by Steelernation on Jul 6, 2021 15:15:35 GMT -5
Did a hike around Kodachrome that evening:  The next day I did an 8.5 mile hike in the always spectacular Bryce Canyon NP:   Went back to Kodachrome and did another home there the next morning. Didn’t read the description unfortunately so this was 6 mikes in the part of the park without the Sand Pipes and cliffs so it was mostly brush and desert scrub. Don’t have any pictures worth posting from this hike. After leaving Kodachrome, I did another hike in Red Canyon, which had lots of hoodoos. Similar to Bryce.  <  > Stopped at an overlook at Cedar Breaks NM. Done a hike there a few years ago so didn’t this time.   Spent the night in Cedar City, then went to St George the next day. Went to a dinosaur museum and some dinosaur tracks there, then started driving south. Spent that night in Jacob Lake, AZ. Now I’ve posted pics through June 5th and all of my time in Utah. |
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Post by Steelernation on Jul 8, 2021 15:27:27 GMT -5
Now for the best scenery of the trip. If you only read one post in this thread, read this one.After camping in Jacob lake, I drove down the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Surprisingly forested on the way. Saw a bison:  Stopped at the visitor center and saw some gorgeous views from Bright Angel point. Then drove up to Point Imperial:   Since I planned my trip in April, I was way too late to get permits to hike down and camp in the canyon. So instead I just hiked down a few miles to the Supai Tunnel and came back.  ^That bridge was only another mile down but it looked like I’d be getting the same or less views lower down so I turned around. After leaving the north rim, I went on a beautiful drive past the Vermillion cliffs and mesas to Page, AZ where I spent the night. The next morning I did a short walk to the spectacular Horseshoe Bend:  Then it was off to the equally epic south rim of the Grand Canyon. Stopped at various overlooks and did a hike along the rim:  After that I drove to Flagstaff for the night so now I’ve posted through June 7th.
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Post by Steelernation on Jul 11, 2021 20:35:47 GMT -5
I spent the next day in Flagstaff. I did a short hike at Walnut Canyon NM (apparently also my favorite climate in Arizona). It had some cool cliff dwellings but they were rather distant, so didn’t come out well in pics. Next I drove to Sedona, where I’d spend the next 2 nights. The drive down to Sedona was very scenic through a lush canyon with lots of red rock formations. Saw some road runners driving into my campsite, but couldn’t get any pics. Hiked at the red rocks state park the next day:   The next day I went to Tuzigoot NM: <  > Then drove to Phoenix and went to an art museum and the botanical gardens. Saw a quail family at the botanical gardens, here’s a cute baby quail:  Nice sunset at my campsite:  The next day I went to a dinosaur museum, the very disappointing musical instrument museum, and then watched the 2nd quiet place movie—my first time in a theater since Covid. Now I’m up through June 11th. Probably only 2 more posts here. |
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Post by Steelernation on Jul 14, 2021 11:18:18 GMT -5
Drove to Tucson the next day and stopped at some Pueblo ruins on the way. I went to the Arizona-Sonora desert museum which was really cool. The bear, mountain lion, wolves, and all the other big animals were out and about which was nice. Won’t bother posting pics of non-wild animals here though. The next day I went and visited one of my friends from college, who I’d stay with the next few days. We drove up to the famous Mount Lemmon the next day and did a hike. Beginning was mostly climbing through forest. Eventually came into a burned section with more open views  <   > The day after, we got up really early to hike in Saguaro NP while it was only in the 90s. Can see the smoke haze over the mountains  Saguaro flower closeup:  Rare crested Saguaro:  Doesn’t come out well in pics, but the Saguaros were everywhere. Lots of other cacti too, very cool. This is June 15th now. |
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Post by Steelernation on Jul 19, 2021 14:01:12 GMT -5
Last post here Saw a bobcat with a kitten in my friend’s backyard:    First time I’ve seen a bobcat in the wild, was pretty amazing. Especially since they hung around for almost an hour. Left Tucson the next morning and started driving east and north. Pretty overlook:  Elk herd:  The next day I drove to Socorro, NM and went to the mineral museum. Then went to a fun rattlesnake museum and a nuclear history museum in Albuquerque. Spent that night in Santa Fe, then went to a couple museums there the next day then drove to Fort Union. Cool view of the fort with a thunderstorm in the background, could see lots of lightning.  Spent the night (the 19th) in Raton then drove to Nederland the next day. Visited family for a few days then zoomed back to Shitchester where I arrived on the 24th, so a little over a month. |
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Post by nei on Aug 8, 2021 21:33:10 GMT -5
never commented on these photos… Grand Canyon is of course the most impressive. I liked the North Rim better, especially the views from hiking a few miles down. Capitol Reef looked interesting but not as special as Bryce Canyon or the Grand Canyon. looked like hiking in the heat with no shade there would be miserable.
Any reason you skipped Zion?
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Post by Steelernation on Aug 8, 2021 22:34:50 GMT -5
never commented on these photos… Grand Canyon is of course the most impressive. I liked the North Rim better, especially the views from hiking a few miles down. Capitol Reef looked interesting but not as special as Bryce Canyon or the Grand Canyon. looked like hiking in the heat with no shade there would be miserable. Any reason you skipped Zion? Yeah the Grand Canyon was probably my favorite part too. The south rim is more expansive and impressive but I think the north rim views are prettier. Also less crowded and easier to day hike down. Temps actually weren’t terrible until Phoenix and I avoided hiking in the middle of the day. The second halves of the Saguaro hike and the second Kodachrome hike were the only two really unpleasant ones. I’ve been to Zion before and didn’t feel anything was impressive enough to go back. Also didn’t want to deal with the hassle of the shuttle system and not being able to drive there. |
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