USA Holiday ~ September 1998
The Place: Canyons and National Parks of Utah and Arizona, Southwest U.S.A.
The Team: Debra, Alison, Trudi, Dave J, Nigel, Dave P.
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The Team assembles at the |
Day 1 - "The Adventure Begins"
Panic! NorthWest Airlines on strike! Thought we might get no further than London, but luckily re-routed and only a couple of hours late. Greeted by acres of slot machines at Las Vegas airport - plenty of opportunity to lose all our holiday money before even reclaiming our baggage. Picked up our "Chevrolet Astro Van", and drove down "The Strip", passing Pyramids, Statue of Liberty, pirate ships and an erupting volcano, all illuminated by dazzling neon lights. Arrived at the Nevada Hotel & Casino to find Debbie (arrived from San Francisco) slightly concerned that not only was our flight cancelled but the hotel had no record of our reservation! |
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Day 2 - "A fist full of Tent pegs"
Went to get meths for the Trangias (which would have been impossible without Gareth's advice to buy "denatured alcohol" from a hardware store). Goat stew for lunch at Filipino restaurant. Long drive to Zion National Park. Cruise control and air conditioning are not luxuries. Hot evening walk to Emerald Pools (which were a bit dried up). Hammered tent pegs into the baked earth of Watchman Campground. Day 3 - "The River is the Trail" Spectacular scenic drive up Zion canyon to Temple of Sinawava. Waded up the Zion Narrows, until it became groin deep. View points of Great White Throne and Weeping Rock, followed by trail to Canyon Overlook. Started raining. |
Court of the Patriarchs (Zion National Park) |
At Bryce Canyon Campground |
Day 4 - "The Hoodoos"
Left partly flooded campground for scenic drive to Bryce Canyon. More heavy rain and awful forecast, so looked at grotty motel, but then sun came out so camped at Bryce North Campground. Walked Navajo Loop and Queens Garden trails. Amazing Hoodoos (rock pillars). Thunder storm. Went for "all you can eat" Cowboy Buffet (except Trudi who opted for mouldy bananas instead). Drove round in circles looking for moonlight view of the canyon. Day 5 Got up to see sunrise over canyon (hint of pink in a black cloud). Drove to Bryce Point. Ranger described weather as "freaky" - heavy showers and sunny intervals - seemed like a typical summer to us. Loads more hoodoos. Walked "Hat Shop" trail. (Amazing hoodoos being formed - huge boulders of hard rock balanced impossibly on slender columns of eroding sandstone). Scenic drive to Rainbow Point. Early to bed leaving Debs with campfire and wine box for company. Awoken by Park Rangers "We have an intoxicated woman here!". |
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The Hat Shop |
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Day 6
Long Drive on Scenic Byway 12. Stopped at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument for Calf Creek trail to delightfully cool, shady waterfall. Beaver dams, Indian pictograms, prickly pears. Quick photo stop at amazing Capitol Reef . Late arrival at motel in Moab.
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Day 7 - "Underneath the Arches"
Breakfast at Moab Jailhouse. Short drive to Arches National Park. Short walks in the desert heat - Balanced Rock, Double Arch, Windows and Turret arches, Delicate Arch viewpoint, Devils Garden trail with loads more natural rock arches. All amazing. Arches campground full, so went to Moab Valley RV Park . Most luxurious restrooms in western world.
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Balanced Rock - Arches NP |
Double Arch |
Beneath Double Arch |
Partition Arch on Devils Garden Trail
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Day 8 - "Don't be a Crust Buster!"
Out early back to Arches for brilliant Fiery Furnace ranger-led walk. Involved scrambling and squeezing through narrow slot canyons, and trying not to tread on the cryptobiotic crust where your footprint can last 200 years. What we didn't learn about sandstone wasn't worth knowing. Went on to Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands "Island in the Sky" - incredible sunset views. Campgrounds full, so returned to Moab Valley RV Park.
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Fiery Furnace |
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Fiery Furnace Trail |
Canyonlands - Island in the Sky |
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Newspaper Rock |
Day 9 "Call this a Desert?"
Best and Biggest ever Breakfast Burrito at Honest Ozzies, Moab. Highly recommended. Debbie's left-overs kept Trudi going for two days. To Needles district of Canyonlands via Newspaper Rock (ancient Indian petroglyphs). Heat gave way to incredible thunder and hail storm, transforming the desert with flash floods. Drove hundreds of miles across the Bog from Hell (formerly the Utah Desert), in Trudi's ceaseless quest for sun and water sports, to camp by (or in) Lake Powell. Day 10 - "I don't mind what we do, but…" Awoke to scenes reminiscent of a bad day in Scotland. Newspaper weather map showed nearest good weather in Colorado, so we packed up for a few more hundred miles to Four Corners (where Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico meet). Photographed each other on the intersection of the state lines. Delicious Indian frybread for lunch. On to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, for the best ancient Indian ruins in the U.S. Over 600 dwellings hidden in the cliffs by the Anasazi Indians (more correctly "Ancestral Puebloan Native Americans") more than 700 years ago. Trudi & Dave hiked the "knife-edge trail" and nearly got struck by lightning. (Weather had been good until we arrived). Day 11 - "Ladder Lickers" Fascinating tours of Cliff Palace and Balcony House ruins involving climbing ladders and crawling through tunnels. Delightful walk to Spruce Tree House and Petroglyph Trail. |
Four Corners Monument |
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Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde |
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Spruce Tree House, Mesa Verde |
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Day 12 - "Burger King 97 miles"
Another long drive. Visited Monument Valley (famous from Marlboro ads). Indians offered an hour's sightseeing on bumpy tracks for $25. We declined. On to Grand Canyon South Rim, navigational negligence taking us an extra hundred miles. Arrived just in time for amazing sunset. Camped at Grand Canyon Camper Village (park campground full). Day 13 - "Carry on up the Colorado" Back to Canyon rim to watch sunrise. Perfect visibility. Hiked part of the South Kaibab Trail down into the Canyon to Ooh-Aah Point and Cedar Ridge. Bus to Hermits Rest and walked back on Rim Trail to Hopi Point for sunset. Brill. Day 14 Long drive back to Las Vegas, stopping for sightseeing tour of Hoover Dam. Evening stroll down The Strip, too tired to enjoy it, except Trudi who declined a hotel room in favour of spending the night in the Golden Gate Casino. Day 15 5 am farewell to Debs at the airport. Delayed at Phoenix awaiting trivial component for the plane, caught connection at Boston with seconds to spare. Nigel said he'd eat his Grand Canyon souvenir hat if our luggage made it as well, which it did. Bon appetit. Day 16 - "Home Sweet Home" Sunrise over Gatwick at bed time. |
Monument Valley |
Grand Canyon sunrise |
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Ooh-Aah Point |
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At Ooh-Aah Point |
At Cedar Ridge |
Kaibab trail |
Hopi Point sunset |
The Statistics:
Distance Driven: 2167 miles
Temperature range: 35 to 113 F.
States visited: Nevada (2 days), Utah (8 days), Colorado (2 days), Arizona (2 days), New Mexico (10 mins)
Most useful camping accessory: kitchen sink.
Most useless purchase: Smiths can opener.
Most expensive souvenir: Nigel's hat
Biggest collection of trail guides: Debbie
Best Holiday ever: This one!
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