Utah Rocks!

We left Las Vegas via the Hoover dam taking the scenic route around Lake Mead. After navigating the outskirts of Vegas, we joined the interstate for Utah. We were heading to Zion National Park so decided to “boon dock” on some state land not far from the entrance.

Boondocking is the American version of freedom camping. We joined a couple of other RVs in an area about 1km off the main road. There are no facilities so we set up the tents and cooked a feed on our camp stove. Had a few passing showers so we stayed in the car (nicknamed ‘sub dog’) reading. The wind got up during the night which was unpleasant but we had an early start at 6am to get into Zion.

We took the jump on jump off shuttle up the canyon where we got off and did some walks. One of the iconic walks called ‘the narrows’ involves walking through a river up a narrow steep sided canyon. Mia wasn’t keen but the rest of us braved the freezing river temperature, got ourselves a walking stick each and cautiously walked up the canyon which was fantastic. We had a fabulous walk to a spot overlooking the canyon which was magical.

Temperatures were rapidly decreasing and with snow on the hills and rain all around we bunked up in a motel for the night where we managed to do a load of washing and have a shower!

The next day we experienced snow at Bryce Canyon. You have to see the pictures of it as words don’t do it justice. The kids loved throwing snowballs out over the cliff tops. The sun came out for a short time which was enough for us to get down amongst it all with a walk through the pink rock minarets called hoodoos.

We had a fire at our campsite but temperatures got below freezing during the night. The next day had more scenic driving and walking to a little town called Escalante. Surrounded by red rock cliffs and big white domes of rock with red swirls. So picturesque. We set up camp at a place called Kodachrome state park which is renown for its many tall sand ‘chimneys ‘.

Next day, next stunning bit of Utah scenery. After a short walk around Kodachrome (and a much needed shower), it was off to Calf Creek. This is another part of what is called the Grand Staircase and is geologically really interesting. We snagged one of the last camp sites and went for a wander up the Escalante canyon. The attraction was some petroglyphs (pictures chiselled into rocks) and pictographs (pictures painted into rocks). These were evidence of a previous culture called the Fremont people.

More rock art was seen on the following day in the walk up Calf creek to see the water falls. Petrified sand dunes, weathered sandstone, sculpted mudstone were on the geological checklist for this 4 hour walk. Still there was more to see that day as we broke camp and set course for Boulder.

This speck of a town was the last to receive mail by car, in fact the whole area was the last to be mapped in the USA. Deciding to take a side road called the Burr trail to see a slot canyon, we turned this into an afternoon back country driving expedition to end up at Capitol Reef national park. More stunning rock scenery and pictographs along with a bit of a taste of early Mormon settlers was enough for one day so we ‘boondocked’ by the Fremont river. Met a friendly fireman from San Diego and shared some yarns around the camp fire.

Thursday the 11th turned into a wet day of driving to Moab. Using our trusty Campendium app we found a great free camping site, pitched our tents and went in to the resort town of Moab. Outdoor recreation is the name of the game here so Andrew booked himself in for a days mountainbiking and Jake was entranced with a gem store.

Friday was and early start to make the most fine weather in Arches National Park. And, you guess it-more stunning rock based scenery. The rock arches are world famous and judging by the high numbers of tourists like us, the secret was out. First we went to the awesome Fragile arch, then Landscape, Sanddune, Tunnel, Double, Turret…. (get the picture-there were a heap of arches!). Interesting was the numerous artists around the park with their easels and oils trying to capture the views. The day ended with another great camp meal (bean tacos) and star gazing around the campfire.