Day 1 - Flight Out

We left for our trip on Sunday July 31st. We flew out late in the afternoon and arrived in Las Vegas around 5:00pm. We hopped into our rental car and headed out for St. George Utah.

Day 2 - Zion National Park

For our first full day of vacation we visited Zion. Our plan was to hike the West Rim trail and Angel’s Landing trails. This is a very popular route and strenuous with a very high elevation gain. It’s also one of the most popular, iconic hiking trails in the entire US. In short, a trail not to be missed. I’ve included a link to a fantastic Youtube video to get you better feel for hike and the famous last half mile to Angels Landing. After this hike we headed down for lunch in the valley and visits to Zion Lodge and the Zion Human History Museum. After those visits we hiked trails to the lower, middle and upper Emerald Pools. We then headed for home after stopping at the Cafe Soleil in Springdale, UT just outside the park entrance.

Day 3 - Zion / Kolob Canyons

For our second full day of vacation we visited Zion’s Kolob Canyons area. Our plan was to hike the Narrows today but the zion area had been receiving a lot of rain over the last few days and we needed to cancel. We became very familiar with NOAA flood watch page for the area over the remaining days of our trip hoping to get another chance at it. We instead hiked the Taylor Creek trail enjoying the peace and quiet of this area of the park (away from the crowds of Zion Canyon). After our hike we stopped at the various view points in the area, then headed back to the town of Springdale for some rock shopping at the Zion Prospector. After picking up a few pounds we headed up the Mt. Carmel Highway towards Bryce Canyon. On the way out we hiked the Canyon Overlook trail in Zion. This was a moderately rated beautiful trail with lots of wonderful views of Pine Creek Canyon and lower Zion Canyon. We then headed out for Panguitch UT and the Panguitch House B&B.

Day 4 - Bryce Canyon National Park

Our day started with a delicious breakfast at the Panguitch House B&B. We definitely recommend staying there if you are in the area. We then headed over to Bryce Canyon National Park. We hiked the Queen’s Garden Trail and Navajo Loop Trail. This is the heart of the Bryce Amphitheater including the Wall Street section. We then visited the various overlooks in the park. We also hiked the Bristlecone Loop Trail at Yovimpa point. We again ran into a fair amount of rain in the afternoon. We ended the day with dinner at Cowboy’s Smokehouse Cafe in Panguitch.

Day 5 - Kodachrome Basin

We departed Panguitch in the morning and made Kodachrome Basin State Park as our first stop. We had hoped to visit a nearby slot canyon, Willis Creek, but again there was rain the previous afternoon and evening that ended our plans. The road we needed to take was gravel and was washed out as well as a moderate rating for flooding in the area. Kodachrome Basin is located just east of Bryce Canyon. Bryce is very beautiful but also very busy. We again enjoyed the peace and quiet of this area away from the crowds. We hiked trails to Shakespeare Arch and Panorama trail. We left Kodachrome around mid-day and headed to Escalante UT. Just as we arrived into the area the rain began to fall. It was another hard downpour. We headed into the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Visitor’s Center to listen to some science programs that were part of the 20th Anniversary celebration of the creation of the monument. We ended the day with dinner Cowboy Blues restaurant in Escalante and stayed at the Wild West Retreat.

Day 6 - Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

On Friday we spent the day in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument area. With the hard downpour of the previous day there were again issues going to slot canyons and also issues with roads washed out. We started out the day with a trip to Long Slot Canyon. This is a very short slot canyon so it was safe to do. It’s located in the Burr Trail Road, a very scenic drive that I’d recommend to all. While this was a short hike, we enjoyed the opportunity to take it. After this hike, we headed over to the Escalante River and Lower Calf Creek Falls. Calf Creek is a smaller river that flows into the Escalante. This hike was up a wider canyon with stunning views that easily rivaled Zion Canyon. The waterfall at the end of the creek was beautiful with a 150 foot drop and wide pool that we enjoyed swimming in. Quite an oasis in the desert. We next started to head back west to Escalante and eventually the grand canyon. We made a quick stop at the Escalante Heritage Center. This was a good opportunity to learn about the early Mormon pioneers that first settled this area. We spend the next few hours driving south and west to Jacob Lake Arizona. This was our lodging for the Grand Canyon North Rim.