Utah Road Trip - Part 3

We were glad that the Navajo Nation reopened a route through their territory, saving us hours on our drive from Page to the Grand Canyon. We entered at the east end of the park and stopped at every overlook. Each one gave a different view of canyon walls and the Colorado River far below. We arrived at Maswik Lodge, where we checked in for our overnight stay. The shuttle to the western side of the South Rim was a short walk from our room, so we hopped on. There were even more overlooks along this way, including a view of the Bright Angel Trail, where we could see hikers heading down or on their way back up. It was cold and windy, and I headed back to our room before I reached the last stop. Here is just one view looking down into the canyon.

The next morning we had a lovely breakfast at the El Tovar dining room before heading out.

One of the things Lucy had hoped to do was a stop at a condor-viewing area, some miles off our route. But when we stopped to see Navajo Bridge, we were thrilled to see a condor fly by and land within our sight. There were also two resting under the bridge. They were enormous!

On our arrival north of Kanab, Utah, we were happy to settle into a four-bedroom AirBnB for a full week. We had a kitchen, gas grill, laundry, and plenty of space to spread out. The next morning we hoped to visit Cedar Breaks National Monument, but found it was closed. We drove on into Cedar City, with many stunning views all along the way. There we went to a visitor center and the Frontier Homestead outdoor/indoor museum. On the way back, we were stopped in traffic for one-and-a-half hours because of a bad two-car accident. While we waited, we watched two medivac helicopters and three ambulances come and go. We saw on line that no one had died in the accident, which left both cars burned to a crisp.

Wednesday we had a glorious day in Zion National Park. Unlike most of the places we visited, this park is located at the bottom of a canyon, so the views are up rather than down. Again there was a shuttle from one end to the other, with multiple stops. At the far end was the Narrows, a place where hikers can cross through the river. We saw many people wearing rented bib overalls and waterproof shoes for wading in the icy water. This picture was taken near the end of the road before the Narrows path.

After our picnic lunch, Lucy and Suz decided to hike part of the trail along the canyon. Kate and I waited near the Zion Lodge and had a lovely relaxing time in the sunshine and admiring the views.

The next day was one of the most exciting of the trip. We had booked an ATV tour to a slot canyon near Kanab. We went into town to get fitted for helmets and listen to an orientation lecture. One thing was especially important: if your ATV gets stuck, just wait for the guide to come back – do not spin the wheels in the sand. The drive was over a lot of sand dunes, very rough but exciting. Suz was the driver for our group and did a fabulous job. Cadre, our guide, was excellent. There were three other ATVs in our group – a family of four and two couples. After a good half hour of jouncing and bouncing, we arrived at the entry to a slot canyon. We walked about a quarter of a mile into it, marveling at a place far different from anything else we had seen.

Ready to roll!

View inside slot canyon

                                                

Cadre took this panoramic photo which shows the height of the canyon

On the way back, we did get slightly stuck near the top of a sand dune on the path. As instructed, we waited for Cadre to come find us. He backed the ATV way down and took a running start, getting us over the dune. The others on our tour were waiting and cheering when we arrived. From there it was a short trip back to the starting point and the end of the tour. One woman came up to us and said "I want to be you when I'm old." Another called us bada**es. Not bad for a group of 70-somethings! What a day!!