Utah Trip Update! (Garden: hotel, squatters, houses)

[Keeper4560]

Hello All,

I've been meaning to update for a while but many a things have kept me occupied since getting home but I am finally getting the chance! As some may know, I was in Utah about two months ago and spend a good 5.5 days in Utah. Here is some details of my travels:

First off, I just have to say ever since visiting I have wanted to go back. The atmosphere was overall amazing, people were nice, and it's just down right beautiful.

I flew in Tuesday after getting off work. That being said upon arrival into SLC I basically had been up for about 25-26 hours by the time I got to my hotel. To my surprise, two of my friends were participating in pilot training out there so we were able to catch up at a local restaurant out there( Red Rock Brewing Co.) After that, I headed to bed and got up early Wednesday morning. I knew my dad was coming in Wednesday so I had to get a lot done he wasn't much interested in. I woke up and started my day taking the about hour and 10 minute drive up to Antelope Island. The woman at the enterance warned me about gnats but I didn't think anything of it. Boy, was I wrong not to bring bug spray! I started hiking Frary Peak Trail, and before i knew it I was getting eaten alive! Outside the fact that I severely underestimated the elavation change I only made it about half way up and had to turn back. Still, the views were incredible. From there I had to go to the Hills Aerospace Museum(being an Aviation buff). That was great! I finished up the day by viewing some of the more historical parts of downtown Salt Lake(Temple Terrace) and finished by going to another brewery(Squatters).

Thursday my dad and I figured we would start heading south early. We took the beautiful drive down and made it to Zion by about 1pm. We hiked for about 4-5 hours tackling the Taylor Creek Trail which was a good 5.4 miles round trip. Since we were in Zion early Friday morning, we discussed the strategy of tackling Angels Landing. That was an extremely difficult trail but the reward at the end was amazing. Unfortunately, both my dad and I quit after about half way up to the end of Angels Landing as the heights freaked us out too much but we still got an amazing view off Scott's Peak. From there we tackled the lower/middle/upper Emerald pool trails, Weeping Rock, Pa'Rus Trail, Watchman, Kayenta, and some of East Rim and part of Observation Point Trails. At this point, we were pooped. I really enjoyed the accessibility and atmosphere at Zion, and of course we had to hit up the Zion Lodge for lunch.

Saturday we knew was probably going to be worst for weather, so we made it to Bryce by about 11:30am. At that time we knew that it would probably snow up in Bryce, and we just wanted to get the MUST DO trail in Bryce being there for so little amount of time. So, we completed the Queens Garden Trail and Navajo after hitting up the lodge and boy was it a sight to see. Such a different atmosphere compared to Zion and while a little muddy and cold, made for a great few hours. Bryce is where we spent the least at, and we made the game time decision to make the drive over to Capitol Reef seeing as it had a better weather outlook than Bryce did.

The drive to Capitol Reef was REMOTE. I had never experienced anything like this... not seeing cars for hours... houses for MILES!

We got up early Sunday morning and made our way to Capitol Reef. Ironically enough, it seemed each park we went to and more east we went the more remote it became. We did quite a bit at Capitol Reef, getting the Grand Wash Trail,Fremont River Trail, and Hickman Bridge(which was probably my favorite). We also did the scenic drive and took our time this day.

By the time it was all said and done, 5 days of hiking had both my dad and myself pretty whiped out. We got up early Monday and went on our ways.

It is safe to say I had an absolute blast and would recommend doing this for anybody. The only problem with these parks is, I could've spent a week at just one and STILL not seen it all. Overall, I had an absolute blast and I cannot wait to return to the beautiful state of Utah! Thanks for reading

Alex R.

[Keeper4560]

My dad took about 1000 pics so when I have a few mins I'll go through and share some on this post as well!

Alex

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Keeper4560

Hello All,

I've been meaning to update for a while but many a things have kept me occupied since getting home but I am finally getting the chance! As some may know, I was in Utah about two months ago and spend a good 5.5 days in Utah. Here is some details of my travels:

First off, I just have to say ever since visiting I have wanted to go back. The atmosphere was overall amazing, people were nice, and it's just down right beautiful.

I flew in Tuesday after getting off work. That being said upon arrival into SLC I basically had been up for about 25-26 hours by the time I got to my hotel. To my surprise, two of my friends were participating in pilot training out there so we were able to catch up at a local restaurant out there( Red Rock Brewing Co.) After that, I headed to bed and got up early Wednesday morning. I knew my dad was coming in Wednesday so I had to get a lot done he wasn't much interested in. I woke up and started my day taking the about hour and 10 minute drive up to Antelope Island. The woman at the enterance warned me about gnats but I didn't think anything of it. Boy, was I wrong not to bring bug spray! I started hiking Frary Peak Trail, and before i knew it I was getting eaten alive! Outside the fact that I severely underestimated the elavation change I only made it about half way up and had to turn back. Still, the views were incredible. From there I had to go to the Hills Aerospace Museum(being an Aviation buff). That was great! I finished up the day by viewing some of the more historical parts of downtown Salt Lake(Temple Terrace) and finished by going to another brewery(Squatters).

Thursday my dad and I figured we would start heading south early. We took the beautiful drive down and made it to Zion by about 1pm. We hiked for about 4-5 hours tackling the Taylor Creek Trail which was a good 5.4 miles round trip. Since we were in Zion early Friday morning, we discussed the strategy of tackling Angels Landing. That was an extremely difficult trail but the reward at the end was amazing. Unfortunately, both my dad and I quit after about half way up to the end of Angels Landing as the heights freaked us out too much but we still got an amazing view off Scott's Peak. From there we tackled the lower/middle/upper Emerald pool trails, Weeping Rock, Pa'Rus Trail, Watchman, Kayenta, and some of East Rim and part of Observation Point Trails. At this point, we were pooped. I really enjoyed the accessibility and atmosphere at Zion, and of course we had to hit up the Zion Lodge for lunch.

Saturday we knew was probably going to be worst for weather, so we made it to Bryce by about 11:30am. At that time we knew that it would probably snow up in Bryce, and we just wanted to get the MUST DO trail in Bryce being there for so little amount of time. So, we completed the Queens Garden Trail and Navajo after hitting up the lodge and boy was it a sight to see. Such a different atmosphere compared to Zion and while a little muddy and cold, made for a great few hours. Bryce is where we spent the least at, and we made the game time decision to make the drive over to Capitol Reef seeing as it had a better weather outlook than Bryce did.

The drive to Capitol Reef was REMOTE. I had never experienced anything like this... not seeing cars for hours... houses for MILES!

We got up early Sunday morning and made our way to Capitol Reef. Ironically enough, it seemed each park we went to and more east we went the more remote it became. We did quite a bit at Capitol Reef, getting the Grand Wash Trail,Fremont River Trail, and Hickman Bridge(which was probably my favorite). We also did the scenic drive and took our time this day.

By the time it was all said and done, 5 days of hiking had both my dad and myself pretty whiped out. We got up early Monday and went on our ways.

It is safe to say I had an absolute blast and would recommend doing this for anybody. The only problem with these parks is, I could've spent a week at just one and STILL not seen it all. Overall, I had an absolute blast and I cannot wait to return to the beautiful state of Utah! Thanks for reading

Alex R.

Thank you so much for your update, Alex! I was starting to think we weren't going to be hearing back from you, so it was such a nice surprise to see this. The entire time you were here, I was worrying about the weather and hoping that it wasn't so bad that you weren't going to be able to enjoy yourselves. Then, when you didn't post again, I thought, "Oh boy, they must have had terrible weather and they must have hated every minute of their trip and hated themselves for wasting their vacation time in Utah." It sounds like you took it all in your stride, though, and had fun despite the not-so-great weather. (The following week, as I recall, the weather was perfect. )

I'm glad you had such a fun time and liked Utah so much. I can't wait to see your pictures! When you come back, you'll have to visit Arches and Canyonlands. As I'm sure I said before, every one of the parks is completely different from the others. You seem to have discovered that to be the case with the ones you visited, and Arches and Canyonlands are also completely unique.

[Keeper4560]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

Thank you so much for your update, Alex! I was starting to think we weren't going to be hearing back from you, so it was such a nice surprise to see this. The entire time you were here, I was worrying about the weather and hoping that it wasn't so bad that you weren't going to be able to enjoy yourselves. Then, when you didn't post again, I thought, "Oh boy, they must have had terrible weather and they must have hated every minute of their trip and hated themselves for wasting their vacation time in Utah." It sounds like you took it all in your stride, though, and had fun despite the not-so-great weather. (The following week, as I recall, the weather was perfect. )

I'm glad you had such a fun time and liked Utah so much. I can't wait to see your pictures! When you come back, you'll have to visit Arches and Canyonlands. As I'm sure I said before, every one of the parks is completely different from the others. You seem to have discovered that to be the case with the ones you visited, and Arches and Canyonlands are also completely unique.

It's funny you mention the weather because my dad and I both made comments jokingly about the weather being pretty much perfect before we got there and perfect after we were leaving... None the less it was an absolute fabulous time, and I think I heard the west calling to me... Pictures to come(if I can figure out how to upload them here... )

[motormaker]

^^Keeper, see if this thread from the FAQ section helps.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/faq/8...tml#post744451

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Keeper4560

It's funny you mention the weather because my dad and I both made comments jokingly about the weather being pretty much perfect before we got there and perfect after we were leaving... None the less it was an absolute fabulous time, and I think I heard the west calling to me... Pictures to come(if I can figure out how to upload them here... )

If you are ever able to come back, I would suggest that you try to make the trip in either June or September. The weather is more predictable during those two months and less extreme than during the rest of the year.