Magical Utah

We had the joy of spending a total of a 2 weeks span on, separate occasions, exploring the mysterious desert and canyons of beautiful Utah. As soon as we crossed the border from Colorado to Utah on the windy roads of hwy 128 my heart skipped a beat. I always had a feeling I would love Utah but nothing could have prepared me for those enormous and spectacular red rock walls at every turn.

Once in Moab, we made the quick decision we needed a few days to explore. Unfortunately we were not fully equipped with our ideal camping supplies, but luckily we grabbed our sleeping from Minneapolis and we had a tent my brother borrowed during our visit to Colorado. Our first logical destination was a small hardware store to purchase the minimal camping supplies needed to survive the night in our tent. The purchase consisted of a blow up mattress, axe, firewood, bowl, spoon and cans of soup for an easy dinner. We started our camping adventures in the cold temperatures of late March bundled up sleeping under the stars. The temperatures were so cold Wiley, our four-legged furry companion, trembled from the morning chill while we toughed it out boiling water for coffees. When we opened the car door, Wiley eagerly jumped in and curled up to enjoy the running car specifically for his comfort. For our morning fuel we discovered a little place called, Wake n Bake, that served  decent coffee and had the best breakfast burrito in town.

We were pleasantly surprised at the number and close proximity of the national parks in Utah. Each were amazing in their own way.

Arches National Park - The size of the park and the amount of arches.

Canyonlands National Park - A depth of layers from high snow peaked mountains to red rock walls that open to neverending deep canyons.

Natural Bridges National Monument - Trails have ladders going down into the light colored canyon.

Hwy 95 - Incredible views and changing color of the rock walls.

Capitol Reef National Park - A pleasant surprise we stumbled upon during our drive.

Bryce National Park - Spiky rock formations that span further than the eye can see.

Zion National Park - Enormous rock walls with windy roads and 1.1 mile long tunnel called, Mount Carmel Tunnel.

Lake Powell - Breath taking views of cliffs with blue water that snakes through the canyon.

Grand Canyon National Park - Massive and deep spanning further down than able to see.

Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument - There is so much to explore you need at least a week just for this area. (More to come in another post on this area.)