Recent Southern Utah trip

[packman]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to give a review of my most recent roadtrip. My dad, sister, and I just got back from four days in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.
Last Friday I met up with them in Las Vegas and we took off at 5 a.m. Saturday morning with Arches National Park as the first destination. The drive to Arches was long, but went by really fast. I know alot of people in this forum talk about the beauty of the San Rafael Swell that I-70 passes through, but I really wasn't expecting just how awesome that section would be. We stopped at each viewpoint along the route. we finally reached Arches around 2:30 and went straight into the park. We did the Windows Section hike and the Double arch hike right away before doing the 3-mile roundtrip hike to Delicate Arch. W stayed that night in Moab, which was absolutely packed because of the Action Car Show going on. This was cool in its own right, seeing all the old cars revving up their engines on main street.

Sunday mornin we woke up and drove to Dead Horse State Park. This place was pretty awesome, cool to read about the story behind the name too. Saw a small group of deer hangin out at the campground on the the neck. After this, we drove up to the Island In The Sky District of Canyonlands National Park. The first hike we did was Mesa Arch, which was arguably one of the neatest places on the trip. Also did the Upheaval Dome hike and drove out the Grand View Point. This view was far more vast than the Grand Canyon and quite breathtaking. From here we drove back into Moab for lunch, then went back to Arches to see the reamining few arches. Did the Landscape Arch hike, which was an absolutely awesome place and San Dune Arch which was a really neat place as well.
That night we drove to Monticello (not much of a town) and slept.
Monday mornin we got up and started our way to Monument Valley. We first took the Valley of The Gods road all the way through which is a must if you are in the area. Then headed into Monument Valley to do the loop. Something very special about this place, my second trip there, and I still love it. From Monument Valley we drove to Page, AZ and slept there for the night.
Tuesday mornin we got up and hiked out to Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River and went to the Glen Canyon Dam vistor center before our scheduled tour of Antelope Canyon at 11:30.
I must say, pictures don't do Antelope Canyon justice, it was absolutely breathtaking and has really peaked my interest in hiking slot canyons. I can't wait to go back here!! After the hike we made the drive back to Las Vegas through Kanab (a nice lookin little town) and Zion. Didn't realize the Pink Sand Dunes were so close to Zion, I wanted to see those really bad, but I'll check em out on my next day trip out that way, my sister wants to see Angel Canyon out that way too.
Overall, the loop from Vegas was 1335 miles, overall it was 1963 miles for me after figuring in the drive from North San Diego County. An excellent four day journey at a semi breakneck pace, but still saw everything I set out to see. {snip**} If anyone wants to see the pictures from the trip, you can view them here: http://bmarciasini.photosite.com

[Mark Sedenquist]

Just wanted to give a review of my most recent roadtrip. My dad, sister, and I just got back from four days in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.

I am truly amazed you had time for so much hiking, glad you found it to be as gorgeous as we remember it!

I know alot of people in this forum talk about the beauty of the San Rafael Swell that I-70 passes through,

I wrote a recent article about it too. I have a better photo from the Wolf viewpoint, but it is MIA at the moment.

Thanks for this great field report!

Mark

[cool]

Looks like you had fun. Quite a bit of driving, eh!
Its been exactly a year since I'd been there, but seems like sterday to me.
Antelope canyon is being mentioned too many times these days to me. I had a friend who spent 5 days near the Page area.
Would like to do that sometime.

Thanks for the report. Awesome pics!

cool