We have just spent 8 nights camping in and around the national parks of Utah and just across the state border in Arizona. Our longest stretch of camping on this trip, thanks to Greg’s amazing shower tent set-up (patent pending) and the Laundromat at Moab. The 5 national parks in southern Utah – Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion – were all spectacular, all different and all well worth visiting. And then we capped our week off with a night at the north rim of Grand Canyon, which was also worth it. We had seen the much more touristy south rim a few years ago, so it was good to get a different perspective and see this amazing natural wonder without the hordes of people.
At almost 9,000 ft, the north rim is a couple of thousand feet higher than the south rim, so it’s cooler, wetter and gets more snow and fewer visitors. We camped at a campground just outside the national park and had our 17th consecutive night of thunderstorms. Yesterday was rainy and foggy, so not the best day for trying to see the canyon in all its vast splendour, but this morning it was fine, so we drove to Point Imperial and Cape Royal and did a few short walks to see down and across the canyon. Wonderful.
And now we’re in the biggest Sin City of them all … Las Vegas. Our end-of-holiday holiday – 4 nights in a suite at the Holiday Inn Desert Club Resort, a couple of blocks from The Strip, just behind The Venetian Hotel. Last time we were here, it was Easter and there were people everywhere. Seems like there are still people everywhere, although we haven’t been out exploring yet.
The Narrows canyon, Virgin River Zion National Park, about an hours walk into the canyon
The only way up the narrows in Zion is to wade up the Virgin river
HooDoos in Bryce Canyon National Park
The upper parts of the Narrows Zion National Park
The highest lookout on the Grand Canyon rim at 8,803 feet
The Colorado river snakes through the Grand Canyon 1,600 metres below North Rim
Camped at DeMotte Forest campground 40km north of North Rim, at 8,700 feet.
Looking down into Grand Canyon from North Rim, with the Colorado river, and south rim in the distance