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Canyonlands National Park

The fourth park on our trip through Utah’s Mighty Five was Canyonlands National Park. This park is close to both Arches National Park and Dead Horse State Park. All three are near Moab, Utah. Consequently, I recommended staying in Moab for several days to fully enjoy the area. In addition, to the parks, other sites like the Birth Scene Petroglyphs are worth visiting. Canyonlands, like Capitol Reef, is a lot less busy than Zion, Bryce Canyon, or Arches. We drove from the Bryce Canyon area to Capitol Reef, which took around four hours. It was another beautiful drive.

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Canyonlands is the largest national park in Utah. It has over 337,000 acres of colorful canyons and rivers. It is broken down into districts. We visited the Island in the Sky district, which is closest to Moab. The other districts include the needles, the maze, and the rivers. These districts are not accessible from Island in the Sky and are not close to Moab. We spent one day at the park. If you’re looking to visit all four districts, you will need several days. If you plan on visiting the needles, don’t forget your bear spray, and don’t forget to remove all food from your backpacks.

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After visiting the visitor center, we made our way down the canyon. Our first trail and the most famous trail at the Island in the Sky district is the Mesa Arch. After the Mesa Arch trail, we did the Grand View Point trail. I saw a cute little snake. It was only cute because it wasn’t large and it wasn’t that close to me. After the canyon rim, we decided to do the Upheaval Dome trail. Unfortunately, we ended up taking a wrong turn. Consequently, we ended up on the Syncline Loop Trail. Coincidently, this trail is responsible for most park rescues. Thankfully, we realized our mistake before we got too deep into the trail. After a near miss with a crazy trail, we decided to make our way to the AirBnB.

Before you go, here are some things to consider.

  • Canyonlands is remote and has spotty cellphone service, so plan accordingly. More precisely, don’t forget to download the trail maps, so you don’t inadvertently end up on a very difficult and dangerous trail.
  • The busy season runs from April to Early October. And while Canyonlands isn’t as busy as Zion or Bryce, you’ll want to get there early so you’re not waiting in line to enter the park
  • Buy the Interagency America the Beautiful pass. For $80 ($20 for seniors, free for military,) it gives you access to all National Parks.
  • We only had one full day at Canyonlands and I would recommend trying to plan at least 2-3 days to see all four districts. Given our limited time, we did not venture beyond the Island in the Sky district.
  • The Canyonlands park map is a good resource for planning your visit.
  • Watch the weather carefully. The weather will impact your ability to complete certain hikes safely.
  • Get the right gear! You’ll need good hiking shoes and socks, ponchos, jackets, walking sticks, hats, sunglasses, a charger for your cell phone, lots of water, and snacks. Additionally, we brought bear spray, sunscreen, and bug spray. Bear spray is an absolute must if you’re visiting the Needles district.
  • Prepare to be flexible. Your planned hikes may need to change depending on the weather conditions or rock falls.
  • There are no restaurants in the park, so you’ll need to pack a lunch or eat outside the park.
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Some of our favorite hikes:

  • The Mesa Arch trail is a .6-mile loop trail. It’s easy and accessible to all levels and abilities. Moreover, the payoff is big. The Mesa Arch and the views over the canyon are stunning.
  • The Grand View Point trail is a 1.8-mile out-and-back trail that follows the canyon edge giving you panoramic views of the canyon below.
  • We attempted the Upheaval Dome trail but ended up on the Syncline Loop trail, which originates at the same point. We were not the only hikers to make this mistake. Make sure you download your trail maps before leaving the visitor center.
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Animals you may see while visiting Bryce Canyon (not an exhaustive list):

  • Black bears
  • Desert Bighorn sheep
  • Mule deer
  • Cooper’s Hawk
  • Ravens
  • White-tailed antelope squirrel
  • Kangaroo rats
  • Beavers
  • Great basin rattlesnake
  • Yellow-bellied Marmots
  • Cougars

The park has a beautiful visitor center in the Island in the Sky district and the Needles district. It also has numerous nice restroom facilities throughout the park. The park doesn’t have a shuttle system, so you can drive up and down the canyon. If you’ve never been to Canyonlands National Park, I’d recommend adding it to your list of places to visit.

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Capitol Reef National Park

The third park on our journey through Utah’s Mighty Five was Capitol Reef National Park. The drive from Cannondale, Utah where we stayed near Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef National Park is a straight shot on Utah’s Scenic Route 12. Few drives on this earth are as spectacular as this one. It was surreal. You will drive Grand Staircase Escalante and its dramatic landscape and Canyons before taking you up an incredible mountain road. As we traveled the winding road through the blazing, colorful foliage at the higher altitudes we were sharing the road with free-range cattle.

The drive is slow, but you’ll want to spend time taking in the amazing views. Plus there are portions of the road with s-curves featuring no shoulders and steep drops on either side into the canyon below. The drive is stunning, but scary at times too. The mountain road takes you to over 10,000 feet above sea level and offers spectacular views of the valley and canyons below. Before you leave for the park, be sure you have enough gas to make it to the national park. There are very few places to stop on the way.

When we got to Capital Reef, we were shocked to see there wasn’t a gate at the entrance. You just drive into the park. It was immediately obvious that this park was significantly less busy and popular than Bryce or Zion. Consequently, you’ll need to prepare your trip around the visitor centers’s hours, which are 9-4:00 pm. I highly recommend stopping into the visitor center, and checking out what they have to offer. More importantly, however, you’ll need to ensure you take advantage of their WiFi to download and access your trail maps. There is no cell service in the park.

I highly recommend getting there early in the morning, so you can enjoy one of the famous cinnamon rolls at the Gifford House and Museum. The homestead also sells fresh pies made from the fruit picked from the parks orchards. We also bought an apple pie that we enjoyed after dinner that night. The cinnamon roll was as good as it looks and was enjoyed in a beautiful picnic area next to the house. There were gardens with flowers and tomato plants

After enjoying our authentic Capitol Reef breakfast, we went to see the petroglyphs found just off the park’s main road. The petroglyphs were so cool to see. Something is humbling about seeing them and walking the same path as the ancients. Afterward, we headed to the trailhead for the Hickman Bridge Trial. You can access several trailheads from the main road making the park easy to navigate. Again given the complete lack of cell service, make sure you have the trail maps downloaded.

Before you go, here are some things to consider.

  • Capitol Reef National Park is very remote and has no reliable cellphone service, so plan accordingly.
  • The busy season runs from April to Early October. And while Capitol Reef isn’t as busy as Zion or Bryce, you’ll want to get there early enough to get a cinnamon roll at the homestead.
  • Buy the Interagency America the Beautiful pass. For $80 ($20 for seniors, free for military,) it gives you access to all of the National Parks.
  • We only had one full day at Capitol Reef and I would recommend trying to plan at least 2 days here. Given our limited time, we didn’t venture too far off the main road.
  • The Capitol Reef National Park map is a good resource for planning your visit.
  • Watch the weather carefully. The weather will impact your ability to complete certain hikes safely.
  • Get the right gear! You’ll need good hiking shoes and socks, ponchos, jackets, walking sticks, hats, sunglasses, a charger for your cell phone, lots of water, and snacks. Additionally, we brought bear spray, sunscreen, and bug spray.
  • Prepare to be flexible. Your planned hikes may need to change depending on the weather conditions or rock falls.
  • There are no restaurants in the park, so you’ll need to pack a lunch or eat at the Subway outside the park. The Gifford Homestead sells cinnamon rolls and pies, but no lunch food. There are also orchards where you can and should pick fresh fruit. After a long day of hiking, I enjoyed eating the apple I picked right off the tree.

Some of our favorite hikes:

  • Hickman Bridge is a moderate 1.7-mile out-and-back hike that will take you to the Hickman Bridge. This is the most popular trail in the park and is fairly well-marked. It’s also the one where you’re most likely to see other people. The bridge is stunning as is the surrounding landscape.
  • The Grand Wash Trail is an easy 6.9-mile hike that is an out-and-back trail that takes you on a dried-up river bed through deep canyons and narrows. We took the Wash to access the Cassidy Arch Trailhead instead of driving to the trailhead.
  • Cassidy Arch Trail is a strenuous (and they do mean strenuous) 1.7 out-and-back hike to the arch. There is little to no shade on this trail, so prepare accordingly. Also, the trail isn’t well-marked once you make it up the cliff. They have placed some Cairns along the way, but it’s still easy to find yourself off the path.

Animals you may see while visiting Bryce Canyon (not an exhaustive list):

  • Desert Bighorn sheep
  • Mule deer
  • Ringtail
  • Golden eagles
  • Peregrine falcons
  • White-tailed antelope squirrel
  • Rock Squirrel
  • Great basin rattlesnake
  • Yellow-bellied Marmots
  • Cougars

The park has a beautiful visitor center and numerous nice restroom facilities throughout the park. The park doesn’t have a shuttle system, so you can drive up and down the canyon. If you’ve never been to Capitol Reef National Park, I’d recommend adding it to your list of places to visit.

What is your favorite type of weather?

My favorite type of weather is the perfect winter day here in Florida. The sky is clear of clouds and is a brilliant shade of blue. The temperature is in the mid-70s and the dewpoint is low.

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Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park was the second stop on our road trip to Utah’s Mighty Five national parks. The drive from Cedar City to Bryce Canyon was unreal! It takes you several mountain passes and red canyons before taking you to a relatively flat drive with beautiful mountains in the background. When you first drive into Bryce Canyon National Park, it doesn’t hit you the same way that Zion does. When you drive into Zion, you’re immediately surrounded by its grandeur. This isn’t to take anything away from Bryce. It’s only to say the experience is different.

As we drove through the park, it reminded Jake and me of Northern Minnesota, which is a beautiful place. And then when you make it to the viewing points, which also serve as trailheads, Bryce Canyon takes your breath away. It will leave you breathless. The varying colors of the canyon, the hoodoos, the mountains in the background, and the trees make for an incredible view. We found as we traversed each park it was hard to compare it to the others as each park is vastly different than the others. It’s also what makes this road trip special.

Before you go, here are some things to consider.

  • Bryce Canyon is at a higher altitude than the other parks. Its average elevation is 8,000 ft above sea level with Rainbow Point at over 9,100 ft above sea level. If you’re not used to higher elevations, Bryce Canyon should not be the first park you visit. Give yourself time to acclimate to the higher elevation as the Mighty Five Parks’ average elevation is over 5,000 ft. There is a big difference between 5,000 ft above sea level and 9,000 ft. You should familiarize yourself with the symptoms of altitude sickness and if concerned discuss it with your healthcare provider before your trip.
  • The busy season runs from April to Early October. And it is busy, so plan to get there early in the morning if you’re not staying in the park.
  • Buy the Interagency America the Beautiful pass. For $80 ($20 for seniors, free for military,) it gives you access to all of the National Parks.
  • We only had one full day at Bryce and I would recommend trying to plan at least 2 or 3 days here.
  • The Bryce Canyon National Park newspaper is a good resource for planning your visit.
  • Watch the weather carefully. The weather will impact your ability to complete certain hikes (like the Narrows) safely.
  • Get the right gear! You’ll need good hiking shoes and socks, ponchos, jackets, walking sticks, hats, sunglasses, a charger for your cell phone, lots of water, and snacks. Additionally, we brought bear spray, sunscreen, and bug spray. We ended up needing heavier jackets, hats, scarves, and even mittens (my hands were so cold) as it was quite cold the morning we went.
  • Prepare to be flexible. Your planned hikes may need to change depending on the weather conditions or rock falls. We had planned to do both the Navajo Loop and Queen’s Garden Loop, but couldn’t only do part of the Navajo Loop due to a rock fall on the Wall Street side of the trail.
  • There are two restaurants in the park. We ate at Valhalla the pizza place, which was quite good. It wasn’t ridiculously expensive and the pizza and hot chocolate hit the spot.

Some of our favorite hikes:

  • Navajo Loop is a moderate 1.5-mile hike that begins and ends at Sunset Point. It is one of the park’s iconic trails passing Thor’s Hammer and featuring numerous switchbacks! We started on the Two Bridges side as the Wall Street side was closed due to a rock fall. This trail can be combined with the Queen’s Garden Trail or Peekaboo Loop Trail. This trail is a bit deceiving as you begin the trial by descending into the canyon. The end of the trail. is the hardest as you ascend back up from the canyon floor.
  • The Queen’s Garden is a moderate .9-mile hike that starts at Sunrise Point. It’s called the Queen’s Garden because of a hoodoo that was said to resemble Queen Victoria. We combined this trail with the Navajo Loop Trail, which was an awesome hike. Again the beginning is much easier than the end when you have to ascend out of the canyon.
  • Rainbow Point Trail is listed as a 1-mile easy hike. Jake and I found it to be a bit harder than easy due to the high elevation. This trail is at 9,100 feet above sea level, which is about 9,095 feet higher than I’m used to. However, you shouldn’t miss this trail. The views from Rainbow Point and Yovimpa Point are incredible. Even if you don’t hike the trail, you should drive up to Rainbow Point to see how the park changes as the elevation changes. Moreover, you can also enjoy the Rainbow Point Lookout without having to hike the trail.
  • Mossy Cave Turret Arch and Little Windows Trail is located on the East side of the park off of Utah Scenic Byway 12. It’s a .9-mile up-and-back trail that culminates with a cave and a beautiful waterfall. Since the trail isn’t in the main part of the park, it didn’t have any crowds at all. It’s a short beautiful hike with plenty to see.
Bryce Canyon Selfies

Animals you may see while visiting Bryce Canyon (not an exhaustive list):

  • Pronghorn
  • Mule deer
  • Golden-mantled ground squirrel
  • Golden eagles
  • Peregrine falcons
  • Utah Prairie Dog – you can adopt one at the Vistor’s Center, which we did. His name is Mr. Muffins.
  • Great basin rattlesnake
  • Tiger salamander
  • Cougars

The park has a beautiful visitor center and numerous nice restroom facilities throughout the park. The shuttle system efficiently transports guests up and down the canyon to the various trailheads. If you’ve never been to Bryce Canyon National Park, I’d recommend adding it to your list of places to visit.

What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?

The biggest challenge I’ll face in the next six months is planning for one son’s graduation and the other’s wedding. I’d love to throw in a trip too, as I’m quite passionate about travel, but don’t think I’ll have the time or money to travel.

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The Mighty Five

For some time now, hiking the Mighty Five has been on my bucket list. It was always going to be a matter of finding the time between the hockey trips, work, and visiting Jake. Last fall the stars aligned, I had taken time off and bought tickets on Delta to visit Jake in Utah already anticipating him going down range again. Fortunately, things changed and he wasn’t going abroad again. Consequently, I decided we should take the time to hike the Mighty Five. After all, it would have been criminal for him to live in Utah for four years and never take advantage of the National Parks in his backyard.

My trip was eight days, which gave us six days to traverse southern Utah and all five of the parks. To plan the trip, I used the Wanderlog app, so I could share our itinerary with our family. This way if something happened on a hike and they didn’t hear from us, they’d have an approximation of where we were going to be that day. This was an important tip I came across when researching the trip. Several trails in these parks must be respected as they can quickly turn dangerous. Also, the parks are in remote areas and cell service isn’t a given.

Looking down the Virgin River at Zion National Park

To fine-tune the itinerary, I leveraged All Trails, the park services app, and several blogs to figure out the best trails to hike. This proved quite helpful although there was some disagreement between the park services and All Trails as to the difficulty of some of the hikes. Before you reach the park, it’s imperative to download the trail maps to your phone. While the trails at Zion and Arches were very well marked, it was not the case at the other parks. Each park has its guide to the park and trails denoting the difficulty of each trail.

Beautiful Bryce Canyon

There is a little extra planning that needs to go into both Arches National Park and Zion. If you want to hike Angels Landing, apply to the lottery. You can no longer hike this trail without a reservation. Similarly, you’ll need to be extra prepared to hike the Narrows depending on water temperature, depth of the virgin river, and weather conditions. As for Arches, you’ll need to reserve a timed entry window for admittance into the park during the high season. Like Angels Landing, the Fiery Furnace hike requires a reservation.

Even with a lot of planning, go into the trip knowing that you may need to be flexible on your expectations. There could be changes in the weather or rock falls that impact your ability to complete certain hikes. Moreover depending on what season you’re in, there could be road closures up in the mountains. The best time to plan a trip is spring and early fall. This will give you decent weather without all the crowds of high season. We were there in early October and the parks were still super busy. And of course, bring plenty of water both with and without bubbles. Jake and I would enjoy cold, crisp sparkling water at the top of every hike.

Hickman Bridge at Capitol Reef National Park

We started our trip at Zion staying in Cedar City, which is about 45-55 minutes north of the park. We have two full days at Zion. However, I would have gladly spent more time there. The next park we hit was Bryce Canyon, which was under two hours from Cedar City. We stayed in Cannoville, Utah, which is a tiny town that doesn’t have a post office or cell service right off Utah’s Scenic Byway 12. This was our base for both Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef Park. Our last stay was in Moab, which is near both Canyonlands and Arches National Park.

Canyonlands National Park

I planned for a full day at Bryce, Capitol Reef, and Canyonlands with 2-2.5 days at both Arches and Zion. Additionally, I planned 2-4 hikes a day or about 10-13 miles. Jake and I both trained for the trip, so we’d be able to tackle the more challenging hikes. I’d recommend that anyone looking to hike these parks do the same. We could have spent several more days at each park. Moreover, we could have spent another month exploring the incredible landscape around these parks. Interspersed between the national parks are several incredible national monuments, national forests, and state parks. There is something incredible to see at every turn.

Delicate Arch at Arches National Park

What I didn’t expect was the incredible drives between the parks. The drive from Cedar City to Bryce Canyon was breathtaking. Scenic Byway 12 was one of the most harrowing, yet beautiful drives I have ever taken. From the steep drop-offs and beautiful views of the canyons in Grand Staircase Escalante to the beautiful high mountain road with free-range cattle and changing foliage, southern Utah is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The drive alone between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef is worth the flight to Utah. I’ve written about our time at Zion and will be writing about our experiences at the other parks. If you’re on the fence about a trip to the Mighty Five, get off the fence and do it.

Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done.

The one thing that never gets checked off the “to-do list” is dropping off the donations at Goodwill. They seem to sit and sit in the garage for months or even years on end. I’m not even sure why that’s the case as it’s not difficult to drop the stuff off. Yet here we are with stacks of bags to be donated.

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Eeek!!!

Eeek!!! This time tomorrow I will be with my oldest in Utah. I’d say I’m excited, but I’m afraid that’s a bit of an understatement. Honestly, I’m over the moon. Our neoprene socks arrived today, so now we’re all set. I picked up the altitude sickness medication and new Epi-pens, so I’m really ready. Okay, maybe I’m more than ready to go. The afternoon at work is going to be way too long. Eeek!

In the interim, I’m just enjoying having the Mayor home for a bit. We had dinner from Sushi Yama last night. We’ve been eating there since they opened when the boys were small. I’ve never had a bad meal there. Well, at least I hadn’t had a bad meal there until last night. I always get chicken teriyaki, which is hard to screw up. Unfortunately, the chicken was so overcooked it was inedible. It looked gross and tasted equally gross. At least I got my money back easily since I had ordered through Grubhub. I love having my groceries and food delivered, these folks are our modern-day milkman.

List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.

If I could work any job and money didn’t matter, I’d be a stay-at-home mom, a social worker, or a full-time travel blogger. Unfortunately, money will always matter, so I’m tethered to a 9 to 5 gig until I retire.

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Blue Spruce

Chugga chugga blue spruce was Goalielocks’ rally cry every time he saw a blue spruce during our first trip to Utah. Blue spruces had somehow become his favorite tree, so naturally, he felt the need to call our attention to every tree he spotted in the Wasatch mountains. Consequently, when I saw spruce was the word of the day it brought back great memories.

It’s funny how a word can usher in a tide of memories. Our first trip to Utah was so much. We were a motley crew hiking the Wasatch Front for the first time and making a few mistakes. I’ll never forget hiking the wrong trail in triple-digit heat with minimal shade and a big altitude gain. I tapped out before the summit. Obviously, we learned our lesson the hard way. Thou shall start with an easy hike when first hiking at over 5,000 feet above sea level in the summer heat.

After that first brutal, yet beautiful, hike each trek got successively easier. To be clear, there weren’t any really easy hikes outside of Donut Falls. The Donut Falls hike would have been a perfect first hike. Every hike was an adventure that trip and it led to a love of hiking. I found myself being at home on the dusty trails of the Wasatch mountains. I loved being immersed in the national forest deep in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

It’s funny how memories work, but I’ll take it. The word prompt spruce took me back to the Utah trips with my boys, Melly, and my folks. That first trip, in particular, will always be special to me. It was our first adventure in the mountains and the greater Salt Lake Area. It’s the trip where my boys and I discovered our love of hiking, lavender lemonade, and Goalielock’s love of blue spruce. I am hopeful the boys and I will get at least one more trip out West before Jake moves again.

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Utah Trip – Hiking

Our Utah trip this past summer was awesome. Of course, the highlight was being reunited with Jake, but we also had some great adventures together. One of my favorite things to do in Utah is hiking in the mountains. Unfortunately, I was not in great shape this time because I had just started running again. Consequently, the first hike in Utah’s heat and at a much higher elevation didn’t end well for me. I definitely lost my cookies going up the mountain. Fortunately, Jake and the Mayor took great care of me and we got down the mountain safely and intact.

The medicine I’m on with Calibrate is great, but nausea can be pretty bad, especially with exertion. Hence, I lost the cookies on the first hike. Our second hike was an easier trail with more shade, but the elevation and heat still kicked my arse. This time I was careful it take more breaks and keep my heart rate lower. I didn’t lose my lunch that time, but the hike kicked my butt. We did see a beautiful snake slither across the trail. Thankfully, it was not poisonous. Unfortunately, it was too quick for us, so nobody for a picture.

One of the most unique hikes we did was at the Golden Spike National Historical Park. This park is about an hour northwest of Ogaden on the northern shore of the Great Salt Lake. Rather than a hike up a mountainside, we hiked down to the shores of Salt Lake. Due to the drought, the American West has experienced, the lake is at its lowest level. Consequently, we hiked across the dried-up lake bed for more than a mile to reach the shore of the lake.

It was striking how dead birds or insects would lay preserved from the salt on the lake’s bed. As we approached the shore where the waves were breaking, there was a wide crust of salt running parallel to the waterline. As you looked out over the lake, it was a beautiful blue with haze coming off the water. It was gorgeous! Meanwhile, the waves of the lake had a bright reddish hue that made the lake look otherworldly. I was not tempted to go in the red water, but Jake and the Mayor did. They both said it felt like an Epsom salt bath. When they walked out of the lake, a layer of salt was left behind on their legs. Naturally, they collected some salt to use at home.

Beyond the beautiful hike on the bed of the Great Salt Lake, Golden Spike National Historical Park is a pretty neat place. They still have Victorian-era locomotives that travel the tracks, so visitors can see what they looked like. There is now a plaque where the golden spike used to be commemorating the coming together on the intercontinental railroad. As for the actual spike, it’s now on display at Stanford University.

There are several other hikes you can do at the park. We opted, however, to drive up to the Chinese Arch. It was a terrifying drive with a drop off of thousands feet to the right side. Meanwhile, the gravel road up to the arch was super narrow. While the arch was worth the drive, I’d probably go for the hike the next time around. I wouldn’t want to do that drive again.

My favorite hike this trip, however, was to Gloria Falls in Little Cottonwood Canyon. I love hiking the Cottonwood Canyons because it’s significantly cooler than hiking in and around Ogden. Our elevation at the start of the hike was over 7800 feet. By the time we hit the waterfall, our altitude was almost 9,000 feet. Thankfully, this particular hike is not arduous because if it was I really would have struggled. Once we got to the falls, the air temperature was in the low 60s. The rushing water coming off the mountains certainly had a chilling effect.

Gloria Falls, it’s absolutely stunning and worth the hike. There is plenty of space to take a good rest or eat a picnic lunch, which is awesome. If I had planned better, I would have brought lunch. The hike itself provides stunning vistas out over the forests of the canyon, the mountains, and the distant valley. It’s a popular hike, so you’ll want to head out early to find parking. Also, the last part of the trail is unmarked. Consequently, be sure to download the map from the AllTrails app, so you don’t get lost. Albeit, you’ll likely run into plenty of people on your way up to the falls. Nonetheless, this is a trail I’d hike again anytime I found myself in Utah.

One of the solo hikes I did on our last Utah trip was right next to the Weber Ice Sheet. It is a simple half-mile paved loop around a pond. While the boys enjoyed open skating, I enjoyed walking around the pond and picking blackberries. I was shocked when a beautiful doe crossed in front of me as she went near the pond to eat. When I looped around again, she was standing in the middle of the path just taking it all in. After seeing all the videos of bison goring stupid tourists at Yellowstone, I decided to give her a wide berth. Unfortunately, she was not there when I came back to run the next day.

All in all, we had some great hikes during this last Utah trip. Ones that I’ll certainly explore again. I’d love to spend more time hiking and exploring both Little Cottonwood and Big Cottonwood Canyons. Also, if my parents travel with us again, I think they’d really enjoy Golden Spike National Historical Park. Now back in Florida, I can tell you that I miss waking up in the mountains every morning. I love being up on the mountain exploring everything and every view it has to offer. There’s something almost spiritual about it! Anyway, I love Utah and I love hiking in Utah!

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Hill Aerospace Museum

Yesterday morning we headed over to the Hill Aerospace Museum near base. It’s a neat museum featuring the past and present of aviation in the Air Force. Since we forgot our masks, we started our tour outside where they have an impressive collection of aircraft. An added bonus was the two F-35s that flew overhead as we walked the display.

The museum is broken up into two galleries inside. One features the bombers and aircraft of World War 1 and World War 2. While the other features the fighter jets and helicopters. We had hope to see the Raptor they obtained in 2020, but it’s not ready to be displayed yet. Nonetheless, the fighter wing of the museum didn’t disappoint.

After the museum, we headed back to the AirBnB for a wonderful lunch cooked by Jake and Mel. They made us spaghetti with sauce and garlic bread. It was wonderful. Once we finished eating, we headed over to Jake’s to start the process of packing up his apartment. While my parents and I packed up the kitchen, the hubby dropped the Mayor off at the rink for two hours of stick and puck.

We managed to pack up his whole kitchen and his artwork before Jake got home. The Hubby, Grandpa and Jake were then able to bring the stuff to his new storage locker. Today we’re hoping to pack up one more room for him. We’re trying to do it in bite size pieces, so he had ample time to spend with us and Melly.

For dinner we headed to the Prairie Schooner Steakhouse. The boys and I had lunch there last year and it was super cute. In fact, the boys really enjoyed eating under a covered wagon with the trails of animals nearby. Thus we wanted to share the experience with the Hubby, Mel and my parents. The food was good. They cooked my steak (the cowgirl) perfectly. After dinner, we headed back to the Airbnb to watch some IT Crowd while we played Uno.

If you go:

Hill Aerospace Museum

Prairie Schooner Steak House

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Antelope Island

Yesterday we were able to get back out to Antelope Island, which is one of my favorite places here. Albeit that’s not what we had planned for the day. We had planned to eat breakfast at Scrambled, but they’re now closed on Mondays. Consequently, we ended up eating at Chris’ Cafe. The diner was super cute and they had a nice tribute to our fallen soldiers.

Pretty much the entire table had pancakes for breakfast. I enjoyed my pancakes although my dad’s were a bit hard. The hash browns and eggs were really good, but the bacon was a bit suspect. Nevertheless, it was a super filling breakfast that held all of us over to dinner. Since we were so far west on Antelope Dr. already, I bought passes to Antelope Island state park as we finished breakfast.

The park costs $15/day per car, which is reasonable. The island is normally surrounded by the Great Salt Lake on all sides with a causeway connecting it to the mainland. This year, however, there was no water on either side of of the causeway until we got super close to the island. It’s incredible to see just how low the lake levels are this year. Last year, the water was much higher and functioned like a mirror when you took picture. It was so beautiful.

The water level was low and there was a great haze over the lake. Consequently, we could hear the F-35s overhead, but couldn’t see them. Our first stop on the island was the visitors center. One thing I loved in the visitor center was a map they update daily showing where on the island you can find the resident wildlife. They also had maps showing the historically low lake levels and historically high lake levels.

My hope this year was that we’d see both bison and antelope. Thankfully, we saw plenty of bison on our drive around the island. One of my favorite places on the island is Buffalos Point. This is where we took the incredible sunset photos last year. We also saw several bison. Afterwards we started our drive back to the mainland. Fortunately, we found a small herd of bison on our way out. The Hubby pulled over so we could take some pictures of the bison. As we drove off the island, we saw there were two bison and Antelope!! Woohoo! Again he pulled over, so I could get pictures of the animals. They’re so beautiful.

We spent most the day relaxing at home. Although we did take the Mayor to stick and puck at the ice rink on the Weber State Campus. While he skated, the Hubby and I walked the trail at Beus Park. This was a short half a mile trail around a pond. After our brief walk, we headed back to the rink to watch the Mayor skate.

Since the park trail was super easy, I was craving a hike. The Hubby and I decided to hike the mountain behind the house. He’s been hiking the many paths on the mountain each morning. The hardest part of the hike was the scramble up to the Bonneville Shore trail. Once we got up to the main trail, it was a pretty easy hike. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous as you could see all of the valley and the setting sun. For dinner we had leftover tacos and nachos. Today we’re headed to the aerospace museum.

If you go:

Antelope Island State Park

Chris’ Cafe

Ice Sheet at Weber State

Photography:

The wildlife photos were taken with my Canon T6i and a Canon 70-200 f/2.8 lens. We were never closer than a half a mile to any of the animals photographed, which is smart because bison can be mean.

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Snowbasin

Yesterday morning we headed to beautiful Snowbasin. The boys and I did this hike with Melly last year and we all loved it. Consequently, I was eager for us to do it again. To get there, we had to drive through the beautiful canyon. The drive through this canyon takes a bit longer as it’s one lane each way and there’s some road construction. Nevertheless, it was a spectacular ride.

Snowbasin was quite busy when we got there due to a Xterra trail race that was happening that morning. Additionally, they also had a Germanfest starting at noon. Surprisingly the top of the mountain was not crowded. The ride up the gondola was breathtaking with fall colors all around us. Fortunately or maybe unfortunately, we were all able to fit into one gondola car. Goalielocks and the Mayor in that close of quarters is never a good combination.

While we went to hike to the summit, my folks walked the area near the ski lodge. The trail up to the summit is fairly easy. Albeit it didn’t feel easy on the way up. The hike starts at 8,500 feet, so it’s only a gain of just over 500 feet. It, however, felt like I hiked an elevation gain of 1,000 feet. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful hike up to the summit of Mount Ogden.

We spent twenty minutes at the summit taking pictures and enjoying the beautiful views of the Great Salt Lake to the west and the valley and mountains to the east. As we sat, the boys started a game of seeing who could hit the sign with the most rocks. It was a funny moment and a great way to catch our breath before heading down the mountain.

After Snowbasin we headed back to the AirBnB to enjoy our leftovers from Hibachi. Post lunch Grandma, Jake, the Mayor and I headed to Walmart to pick up packing supplies and few additional items. I was anxious to get some chapstick as my lips were killing me. The air is so dry out here that I also had buy some hand lotion.

The rest of the day we chilled at home. For dinner, I made beef tacos. I cooked up three pounds of beef and we don’t have too much meat left. We’re trying to eat at the AirBnB as much as possible since it’s cheaper and healthier. After dinner, we played the game Hot Seat, which was a ton of fun.

If you go:

Snowbasin

Games:

Hot Seat