Zion - Capitol Reef - Bryce Canyon - Vegas trip review

Question

GF had a conf in Vegas so I flew out the last day in the early morning to meet her. Got up at 2:45 am and landed at 9:00am. Couldn"t pick her up till 3:00pm and I need a snooze prior to the +/- 3 hour drive to Zion. I know of an off strip small hotel with a pool which is easily accessable. Snuck in, had a dip and a nice 3 hour nap on a comfy lounge chair in the shade. Eye candy wasn't much.

Got to Springdale that evening, rented boots, neoprene socks and a walking stick at Zion Guru's. Had an overnight room in the park at the Zion Lodge. By the time we got settled and ready for the early morning Narrows hike it was pitch dark outside. Pitch Black is an understatement that far out in the middle of nowhere. The sky was amazing! Never knew how big the Milky Way actually is until now.

Friday morning about 7:00am hopped the shuttle to the Narrows. FYI The Narrows is a upstream hike in a small river thru a narrow slot canyon. We beat the crowds and at times had noone in sight in either direction. The air and water were cold, shallow and cloudy due to the sandstone. We hiked and tripped constantly but never fell in the river. A few close calls were had. Always navigating the best path as river crossings were constant and at times no shoreline exists. Really cool stuff hiking in a river in a slot canyon which at times couldn't have been more than 30 - 40 feet wide and a few hundred feet high. Made the trip we planned thru what is known as Wall Street and turned around. 1/2 way back we hit the crowds. What a cluster F of people wearing anything from flip flops, sneakers, sandals and full calf high hiking boots soaked and heavy. The $25 river boot rental was a no brainer. 10 mile round trip hike which included a short hike in a side slot canyon. Another shuttle ride for a very short hike to Weeping Rock My azz was dragging. Returned the boots and grabbed a bite at Oscar's in Springdale. Great food, extra large portions and reasonably priced for a tourist town. We were exhausted and now had a 4 hour drive to the Red River Lodge near Capitol Reef.

Will pick this back up later today or tomorrow.

Goggles-Pisano · Answer

GF had a conf in Vegas so I flew out the last day in the early morning to meet her. Got up at 2:45 am and landed at 9:00am. Couldn"t pick her up till 3:00pm and I need a snooze prior to the +/- 3 hour drive to Zion. I know of an off strip small hotel with a pool which is easily accessable. Snuck in, had a dip and a nice 3 hour nap on a comfy lounge chair in the shade. Eye candy wasn't much.

Got to Springdale that evening, rented boots, neoprene socks and a walking stick at Zion Guru's. Had an overnight room in the park at the Zion Lodge. By the time we got settled and ready for the early morning Narrows hike it was pitch dark outside. Pitch Black is an understatement that far out in the middle of nowhere. The sky was amazing! Never knew how big the Milky Way actually is until now.

Friday morning about 7:00am hopped the shuttle to the Narrows. FYI The Narrows is a upstream hike in a small river thru a narrow slot canyon. We beat the crowds and at times had noone in sight in either direction. The air and water were cold, shallow and cloudy due to the sandstone. We hiked and tripped constantly but never fell in the river. A few close calls were had. Always navigating the best path as river crossings were constant and at times no shoreline exists. Really cool stuff hiking in a river in a slot canyon which at times couldn't have been more than 30 - 40 feet wide and a few hundred feet high. Made the trip we planned thru what is known as Wall Street and turned around. 1/2 way back we hit the crowds. What a cluster F of people wearing anything from flip flops, sneakers, sandals and full calf high hiking boots soaked and heavy. The $25 river boot rental was a no brainer. 10 mile round trip hike which included a short hike in a side slot canyon. Another shuttle ride for a very short hike to Weeping Rock My azz was dragging. Returned the boots and grabbed a bite at Oscar's in Springdale. Great food, extra large portions and reasonably priced for a tourist town. We were exhausted and now had a 4 hour drive to the Red River Lodge near Capitol Reef.

Will pick this back up later today or tomorrow.

Goggles-Pisano · Answer

2 nights at the Red River Lodge in Teasdale, Utah. Great place to stay just outside of Capitol Reef which also whipped up a couple of great breakfasts. Dinner in Torrey was also fantastic.Hiked up to Cassidy&#x27;s Arch. 4 mile or so hike with some switchbacks. Great hike with pictures standing on top of the arch. Later that day hiked an easy 3/4 mile along Surphur Creek to swim under a waterfall in a shallow pool. Felt great after being dusted coming back from the arch. Next day an early breakfast at the lodge and off to Bryce Canyon. After a 2 hour drive hopped a shuttle to Bryce Point. Hiked a fairly easy 5.7 mile Rim Trail to Fairyland Point. Lots of top of the canyon scenery. Wasn&#x27;t up for the 1,500 desent from 8,000&#x27; to the bottom of the canyon. Maybe in my younger years.......Figured we catch the shuttle from Fairyland Point back to the car. Figured wrong as that&#x27;s not a shuttle stop. Hitched a ride from a couple from Calgary. A 3 hour drive to Vegas where we had up to 108 degrees at times. Paris for 2 nights. Super cheap. $233 all in total for both nights and they tossed us a $85 food voucher. $75 per night in the end which included taxes and that BS Resort fee. Monday/Tues night must&#x27;ve helped.Bet Da Bears, played ponies and video poker at Cesaers as the GF loves betting ponies. Only place I know where a $5 ponie bet gets you a drink ticket. Went on a bender that night. Next day breakfast at Ami Gobi...... at Paris. Blueberry french toast as always. Thats about it. Not sure where next year leads us. Back to Yellowstone or maybe Glacier or AlaskaLater,GP

StumpTownStu · Answer

Good stuff, goggles. I love the Big 5 Utah national parks. I haven&#x27;t been in years though. Glacier is awesome too. I&#x27;ve been all around the western states hiking and climbing but I haven&#x27;t been to Alaska though. The mrs has been but on a cruise with her mother, which is a little different. I think we&#x27;ll try to make it up next year. We&#x27;re based in the NW now so it&#x27;d be nice to make it a 2 week adventure through Oregon, Washington, then Alaska.

vetdrm · Answer

Rejoice Oh young man in thy Youth"Ecclesiastes  11:9

Goggles-Pisano · Answer

ST Stu - So many Alaska options can be found on a keyboard, confusing which to try. Must be nice living in the west. We have to fly and rent a truck everytime. Gets costly.

Vetdrm - my youth is looooong gone

StumpTownStu · Answer

[Quote: Originally Posted by Goggles-Pisano]ST Stu - So many Alaska options can be found on a keyboard, confusing which to try. Must be nice living in the west. We have to fly and rent a truck everytime. Gets costly. Vetdrm - my youth is looooong gone[/Quote]&#xA;It is. I could never live in Iowa or Nebraska, states like that. Fine states, i&#x27;m sure, with fine people. I just can&#x27;t be more than a couple of hours from the mountains, or a couple hours from the ocean. I&#x27;m from California, the whole state is mostly mountains with a huge valley in the middle. Not necessarily big on fine people but i&#x27;ve literally had a day where I snow boarded in the morning, surfed in the afternoon, then took in an opera in the evening. And then a night cap. Can&#x27;t beat it.&#xA;The Pacific Northwest does have some fine people and plenty of beautiful nature everywhere. And it allows me to be back and forth to California.

bettingforfun · Answer

Goggles I enjoyed reading this trip as well as your Yellowstone trip.  I live in Bozeman MT so it was interesting to see what you did and liked.Just got back from Vegas myself as we were there at the same time.  I agree it was brutally hot.  Was playing golf in Laughlin and it hit 111 one day we were there.

TheGoldenGoose · Answer

Sounds like a great trip.

On a side note... google David Paulides.

This guy is an ex-cop and private investigator who has been researching the mysterious disappearances of THOUSANDS of National Park visitors. Here's the kicker... nearly ALL the time the bodies are NEVER found.

Very intriguing story and truly very baffling.

StumpTownStu · Answer

The thumbnails for his Youtube videos look spooky as sh*t. I might check out a couple after the game and I will look for his books next time i&#x27;m in Powell&#x27;s.

TheGoldenGoose · Answer

"The sky was amazing! Never knew how big the Milky Way actually is until now"And the Milky Way is only one galaxy in the universe.  So it&#x27;s not how big the Milky Way is, it&#x27;s how small and totally insignificant we are here on this planet Earth.  We are like one grain of sand on the entire world&#x27;s beaches.  Flea garbage on an elephant&#x27;s azz!!!There&#x27;s nothing like getting out into the Great Outdoors is there???

StumpTownStu · Answer

&#xA;Nope. There are people who never get to enjoy it.

Goggles-Pisano · Answer

Looking forward to next years trip.We each still have vacation to burn, might go "hike" DC for a few days as it&#x27;s only a few hour drive. The west coast airfare and rental car cost are killers.

jmw59 · Answer

was at most of these places in June of this year.  fantastic

Zion - Capitol Reef - Bryce Canyon - Vegas trip review

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