Gorgeous Gorges Trip, Day 1

Spring Break 2015, Day 1!

Friday, March 13, 2015

Driving from Tucson, AZ to Kanab, UT

We are back from our Spring Break vacation and I'm so excited to share about all our adventures! I'm pretty sure we started planning this vacation right after last year's spring break. After doing a lot of research, asking friends for advice, deciding what interested us the most, planning a very detailed itinerary, and the hardest part - waiting for the day to finally come! - we were ready to go!

This year's theme was "Gorgeous Gorges," and the destination was all 5 National Parks in Southern Utah! With limited time left in the great Southwest region, this was just something we knew we needed to do. Our goal was to visit all 5 and do a big hike, a scenic drive; anything to make us feel like we experienced it to the fullest in a day or two. 

Obviously, they are all large parks and there was no way we could enjoy every part of them in one week. If we ever do get a chance to go back, we have some ideas of different things to do. Most importantly, we are satisfied with what we were able to do and all that we got to experience over the past week. 

With that, let's begin: the story of our spring break!

Break came a day early, thanks to Curtis not having classes on Friday. We loaded up the car and took Charlotte to her home for the week. (We used Kennel Nirvana in Northwest Tucson, and now can highly recommend them - I was so thankful to find a place where Charlotte wouldn't be cooped up all day in a kennel. At Kennel Nirvana, she got to spend the majority of the day playing outside and socializing with other animals and people, which is perfect for my little social butterfly!) And then we were off!

We made it through traffic in Phoenix and rewarded ourselves with In-N-Out. When thinking about what I'll miss most about living in the Southwest, In-N-Out is in the top 5 of the list. Sigh...

We drove North on the 17, but then took a detour through Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon on highway 89. All for the sake of highlighting new roads on our atlas...yes, we have a problem. 

We went to Sedona last November and loved hiking with the gorgeous red rocks and fall colors. However, as it turns out, it's quite busy in the spring with people who drive very slow. In the above picture, you can see that the limit is 45, but we were definitely going 25 at this point. It's not like there are scenic view areas every mile where you can pull off and enjoy the beauty without interfering with traffic...

We were using our GoPro through a lot of this drive, so you can look forward to enjoying the beauty of highway 89!

After driving up Oak Creek Canyon, we stopped at a scenic view to enjoy the beauty. This was only the first of many "Gorgeous Gorges" to be seen on vacation!

Oh yeah, we were also here for a letterbox...but unfortunately, the box was placed around a tree, and a rock climber happened to be attached to that exact tree! We decided to not wait around for him to finish his climb, and continued on to Flagstaff.

Taken with the GoPro

We LOVED getting to see the snow capped San Francisco Mountains! While we really enjoyed all the hikes we did over this trip, another common sight was having snow capped mountains somewhere  on the horizon, and sometimes those mountains would be the highlight. We'd start dreaming about hiking those mountains...but then I'd think about how cold that would actually be, and I was perfectly content with where we were. ;)

After driving through Flagstaff, we got back on highway 89, and then alternate 89, through the Marble Canyon in Glen Canyon NRA & the Navajo Reservation. Another very scenic drive...and another long road to highlight on our atlas! Maybe when we move away from AZ I'll post a picture of our very highlighted Arizona map. ;)

Those purplish cliffs in the distance are on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon! While this part of the Grand Canyon may not be the most impressive, it's still a cool feeling to be so close to it and know how huge this canyon is.

We stopped at the scenic view on the South Rim to take pictures and walk across the Navajo Bridge. In the above picture, the bridge on the left is the highway, and the one on the right is for pedestrians. 

Our first sighting of the Colorado River for this vacation!

Our shadows on the South Rim as we crossed the bridge

That black dot is a California Condor! This was the best picture I could get of him.

Let the vacation selfies commence!

We walked from the South Rim to the North Rim, then back again...on the Navajo Bridge that is!

After driving across the bridge, we enjoyed seeing the Vermillion Cliffs as the sun was setting. It's fun to think about all the different views we'd seen as we drove across the state - Arizona is such a beautifully diverse state, and the scenic drives never disappoint!

Yet another scenic view!

Soon after that scenic view, we entered this forest...and there was snow!

We wanted to try to get some letterboxes for day 1, so we stopped somewhere around Jacob's Lake, AZ for a short hike. As it turns out, we may not have been prepared for this attempt...

I gave up long before Curtis did. We really don't have much experience in boxing in the snow, so we had to give this one up for today. Maybe next time...

We reached the crest of this hill looking down at the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument at just the right time. With the sun setting, the colors were gorgeous and we were able to make out all the "steps" to the staircase.

One last scenic view stop for today!

And one last selfie. ;)

After that, we finished up the last leg of our drive through Fredonia, AZ, across the Utah border and into Kanab, UT. It was a great first day of vacation, and the best part was that this would be the longest drive we would have for the entire trip!

Day 1 Wrap Up: Drove 460 miles. Highlight: Crossing the Navajo Bridge.

Our Great Southwest Adventure: Day 4

Stories from Day 4 of vacation - 3/19/2014 - Hiking and touring places around Page, AZ

While planning our vacation, we decided it'd be good to just take a day off from "traveling" to stay in one place and enjoy the area. This being the halfway point in the week, it seemed right to stay in Page an extra day. Beforehand, I had searched for places to visit online, and found that this could be my chance to finally visit the beautiful slot canyons of Antelope Canyon. I researched tours (because guided tours are required there) and found them all to be extremely expensive…especially for only getting an hour long guided tour. But I found a tour that was relatively cheap, and though it wasn't during the "prime hours" of the day, I made reservations so that we could visit. I got several confirmation emails, and we were out the door and on our way to visit with plenty of time to spare.

We were told to get there 20 minutes early, and given an address and the name of our tour guide. We showed up and pulled in, only to discover the gate was closed for the parking lot. That's okay, we thought, we'll just wait. We drove around a bit, and ended up parked across the street, to not be in anyone's way. Several other cars showed up, all with people who made reservations and were waiting on the same tour.

20 minutes later, our tour was supposed to start, but there was no sign of our "guide" and the gates still locked. We started debating our options, until we saw a tour vehicle finally drive up. We of course were across the street, but others who were waiting got out of their vehicles and tried to get the attention of the group leader, who ignored them and simply opened the gate, drove through, then closed it. It wasn't until a man got in his face that he finally spoke to someone waiting. After watching this conversation go down, the other people waiting got in their cars and left.

Confused and disappointed, we decided that we didn't want to wait around or work with the Navajo's at all. Thankfully, we hadn't had to pay in advance, so we didn't loose money on this, only time. We decided to do things all on our own, and that turned out to be the best decision. Today ended up being a great adventure!

Moral of this story: We do NOT recommend visiting Antelope Canyon! Save your money and get to enjoy much more by doing what we did. Read on! :)

After giving up on Antelope, we went back to Horseshoe Bend. I though it'd be good to get some pictures without the sun being right behind it. 

Look at that blue water! It wasn't until we saw a tiny boat way down there that we realized how big this really was - really put things into perspective!

After that, we revisited Glenn Canyon Dam, and walked on a little trail leading to a scenic overlook.

The dam & bridge.

This picture just can't show how huge it really was!

From there, we drove North-West, back into Utah. Here's Lake Powell as we drove.

We had gotten a recommendation the day before at the ranger's station to visit Buckskin Gulch. It's another slot canyon - the deepest in the world. Curtis found a nice trail to get to it, and thought it'd be a nice hike - to just get to the canyons, and hike through as far as we wanted. 

The one warning we have is careful on the road getting there! The ruts made it pretty rough, but not the worst we'd seen.

Pro-tip: Driving on a gravel road when it's wet is not only unsafe for you, it also creates deep ruts that makes it a pain for everyone else. Don't do it! :p

Before beginning a hike, we drove a little further to the start of the Arizona Trail. This is in the Vermillion Cliffs and is just beautiful. We stopped for a letterbox.

There's the trail itself!

Finally, we went to the parking lot for Wire Pass Trail. The trail is mostly walking through a wash, and the rocks on either side become more and more like slot canyons. The trail is 1.75 miles long and runs right into Buckskin Gulch. It has no elevation gain, however, making it very easy and enjoyable!

The beginnings of a slot canyon...

Lizard in the above picture! Can you spot it?

About to start in the narrow canyons...

They grew taller and taller as we hiked through...

We were hiking through right around mid-day, which I think made it look cooler. It was warm outside, yet inside the canyon was a cool and comfortable hiking temperature.

Looking up

There are some drops throughout the canyon to look out for. Here's a 6 foot one that I needed some help on. Further on in the canyon, there's supposedly a 40 foot drop?! We didn't go that far and were obviously not prepared for that!

Just that log to help you back up…thankful for Curtis and Grant's help, because my legs are not very long and my balance is not very good :)

Another smaller drop!

Grant "climbing the walls" of the canyon, just like we used to do as kids in our parent's house :)

It got pretty narrow!

Looking up again…

As you can see, I have so many pictures, and we only ran into 2 other hiking groups. It also only cost $6/person, and we spent a good 3ish hours there. SO glad we came here instead of Antelope Canyon!!

All of the above pictures were just from Wire Pass Trail on the way to Buckskin Gulch - that's right, we're not even in the main canyon yet!

Here's where Buckskin Gulch begins:

Another thing to look out for when hiking are the puddles. After it rains, it takes a while for the water to evaporate from the canyon, so it's likely you'll have to get through standing water. There were rocks all throughout the puddles we had to walk through - pictured below - but I tend to get nervous because I don't have the best balance! Curtis helped me quite a bit, and Grant made sure I knew how silly I am. :)

Above pictures are looking up; below are some petroglyphs that we found.

Altogether we hiked about 6 miles to and from and inside the canyons. It ended up being one of the highlights of our trip!

After that, we made our way back through Vermillion Cliffs, and started the drive back to Page.

Curtis had heard about a short hike through Grand Staircase- Escalante National Park that led to some toadstools, and since we had plenty of time we decided to check it out.

Beautiful multi-colored rocks!

See how tiny Grant & Curtis are in the above picture? This place was amazing!

The above pic & next several are of the toadstools we found.

Altogether, that hike was just less than 2 miles. We stopped at a ranger's station for maps of the area & passport stamps before heading home to Page, using the scenic drive along Lake Powell.

Glenn Canyon Dam, from the other side!

After this, we went out for a letterbox and some authentic Page sushi, but were very disappointed by the food and service. Not wanting to end the day on that low note, we found dessert and more road trip snacks at Wal Mart before calling it a day.

Day 4 wrap up: Hiked 9.5 miles, found 2 letterboxes, visited Horseshoe Bend, Glenn Canyon Dam, Buckskin Gulch, Vermillion Cliffs, Escalante National Park, Lake Powell.

Halfway done :)