In the stillness of a new year, and with trips and adventures yet to be booked, I finally have a moment when I have a clean to do list in the evening and can finally get back to writing and sharing about the trips and adventures we’ve had the opportunity to enjoy. As I reminisce, let me share a fall trip that not only provided a fresh start to lead into the holiday season but set things in motion to experience a 2024 filled with an abundance of gratitude and exploration.
It was near the end of October 2023. Halloween was only a few days ahead and we took advantage of a 3-day weekend to enjoy a little pre-Halloween outing. A chance to take in the views offered by a new landscape and our sixth National Park.
This 3-day, 2-night getaway was our first multi-national park trip and kicked off with checking Bryce Canyon National Park off our list.
Heading to Sunset Point, we headed down Navajo Loop Trail, enjoying the iconic views of Thor’s Hammer…which I pointed at and excitedly called “meow-meow” (IYKYK). The secondary part of the loop trail was closed for repairs so we continued along Queens Garden Trail.
There is magic in exploring new locations and as we hiked the winding trails at the base of the hoodoos traversing amongst pinyon, juniper and Douglas fir trees and colorful rock formations, arches and canyons, I couldn’t help but embrace the sights of the park continuously repeating in a sing-song manner…”hoodoo you love!?”
After paying our respects to Queen Victoria’s geographic lookalike, we continued on to eventually reach Sunset Point. Along the 3-mile loop, the contract between bold blue skies, cartoon-like puffs of clouds and vibrant red sedimentary rock formations was a beautiful medley of colors and the fact that we got to enjoy it by foot provided even more opportunities to take it all in.
Completing our hiking for the day we headed back to the Lodge, which would serve as our home for the night, but not before stopping by Valhalla Pizzeria which served the most delicious pizza that we still cause us to have starry-eyed day dreams about.
The following morning was cold, with frost on the trees we bundled up, made a final walk along the edge of the Rim Trail to take it all in before packing up the truck and drive the 16 miles to the edge of the park to hike Bristlecone Loop. While this trail was an easy one mile hike, it curved amongst bristlecone pines over 1,800 years old and along the highest portion of the park at over 9,100 feet. Being removed from the main visitor’s center of the park we had the place to ourselves and enjoyed watching ravens and the occasional Peregrine Falcon flying amongst the vista views which remarkably reach into the Four Corners area.
Following an incredible time at Bryce Canyon, we headed back toward the direction of Nevada, but not before enjoying a drive through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel and pulling into our reserved camp spot for the night at Watchman Campground in Zion National Park.
Arriving at our camp spot in Zion, and already riding the waves of joy that come with road trip adventures, I was beyond thrilled to find that hidden to the side of our campsite was an added Halloween perk…a single pumpkin possibly left behind from a previous camper.
As a huge fan of Halloween I couldn’t help but embrace the joy that this simple find brought to me and took moments throughout our camping stay to photograph the Autumn pumpkin vibes.
Our hiking journey at Zion was laid back and took us to Weeping Rock, by far one of the easiest hikes, yet always one of my favorite destinations. This is especially true when it’s during the slower season and the crowds are minimal and you have the opportunity to take a few moments under the overhang and enjoy the views of the horizon and the spray of the cool water.
Returning from Weeping Rock we took the shuttle to the Temple of Sinawava and the last stop of the route. As we walked the pathway along Riverside Walk, we found humor at the tourists exploring The Narrows. Walking up were overzealous visitors, disregarding the late afternoons hours and desperate to walk through the waters in their rented gear, racing at all costs to push ahead of people, walking sticks in hand and waiters pulled up beyond their chests. The oncoming foot traffic shared a different vibe. Exhausted groups whose facial expressions did anything but sell the excitement promised by the views from The Narrows and the challenge of navigating the waters up stream.
Disconnecting from the verbal rumble of the isolated crowd, we found our way to the empty shores along the Virgin River to take in the quiet breeze and flowing river.
Taking it all in, I couldn’t help but think of everything that life had thrown my way the past four years, all of which paved a way for me to find myself there in that moment. Pebbles beneath my shoes and lungs full of the cool canyon air. Feeling both overwhelmed and overjoyed by all the simple things that make weekend trips feel like the most soul-fulfilling reset you can have.
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