Quick Trip out West

[daveh]

I was hesitant to post this report as I thought if I wrote about a trip out west it should be something epic since so many forum members get to enjoy this amazing area within a day drive or less. For lifetime east coasters, the time we spent driving though and exploring Arizona and Utah, and the memories we have are pretty epic. Most of our time is spent exploring areas on the east coast in our 2012 JKUR. We make an annual trip to Vermont for the Vermont Overland Festival, attended last years first annual Mid-Atlantic Overland Fest and camp regularly in Pennsylvania’s Bald Eagle State Forest. Our East coast explorations have taken us through all of New England and as far north as the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia. We took a trip previously to Arizona that included Scottsdale, Phoenix, and Sedona so the plan this time was to head more north and take in the beauty of southern Utah. I wish we had the time to drive the JK and trailer out west but as long as we have bills to pay and jobs to get back to our trips out west will be unfortunately via plane. The itinerary was to fly into Las Vegas on Sunday, drive to the Grand Canyon via the Hoover Dam on Monday, wake up Tuesday and drive from Arizona to Bryce Canyon UT, drive from Bryce Canyon to Zion on Wednesday, spend the rest of Wednesday and Thursday exploring Zion before heading back to Vegas Thursday night for a Friday flight back to Philadelphia.

We woke early Monday morning and after enjoying a nice complimentary breakfast in our hotel in Las Vegas packed our bags and set out for the Grand Canyon.

 

[daveh]

We stopped at the Hoover Dam before continuing on to the GC. Once at the GC, we spent a few hours walking some of the south rim before heading back to Williams AZ for the night. Williams has a ton of Route 66 trinkets and a great little BBQ place.

 

[Bushcoat]

In for the rest of the trip! Something similar is on my rental car bucket list.

 

[daveh]

Day 3. I didn't really count day 1 as that was the flight, baggage claim, rental car line and checking in to our hotel in Vegas. Day 2 (pics of GC above) was about a 12 hour day of travel before some nice down time in the town of Williams. Day 3 - about 6.5 hours of driving from Williams AZ to Bryce Canyon. I didn't really map out the driving ahead of time , instead I woke up each morning and put our next destination into the iPhone maps app. The roads to Bryce were stunning. The highlight of the day was our first glimpse of Bryce Canyon Amphitheater.

 

[Imnosaint]

It's always cool to see the area through someone else's perspective. Enjoying your posts. Happy to give you some tips in the area of Zion Canyon. Feel free to PM.

 

[daveh]

Day 4. We arrived back at the canyon rim just before sunrise to capture a few shots of the sunrise on the hoodoos.

 

[daveh]

Following the sunrise, we started the drive to Zion. The drive through the park from the east entrance to our hotel just outside of the west entrance was stunning. Unfortunately there aren't very many spots to just stop and photograph. We spent the rest of day 4 on foot exploring the park and hiking the Emerald Pools Trail. The pools were still a bit shallow and the water flow off the canyon wasn't at its peak, but it was still a worthwhile hike.

 

[daveh]

Day 5. We woke on our final day and headed to Kolob Canyon which is located in the northern part of Zion. Our trip was the first week of April and the weather was so far perfect between 60 and 70. Northern Zion was a different story. A cold front and wind chills in the low 30s created a haze throughout the canyon.

 

[daveh]

From Kolob Canyon, we headed back to Vegas for our final night.