How The West Was Wild...
After visiting a few National parks in California, and seeing just how magical these sacred landscapes are - Sarah and I were hooked! I was chatting with a woman in her late 70’s on the plane ride heading to Yosemite, and she shared that she had visited every national park because she made it her life goal to do so… and it really got me thinking of how I’d love to do the same. Collecting patches of all the places we’d gone and documenting the stories and stays along the way. I do believe that every soul you come in contact with is intended and has a purpose, and meeting her really struck something inside me.
So we sat down to plan another adventure, with Sarah in Toronto and myself in Windsor, a lot of this trip actually came together over Google Drive because Sar is a total Google sheets nerd and I love her for it! The itinerary was a combination of recommendations from friends, co-workers and travel itinerary blogs we found online.
Let me tell you, it was a jam-packed adventure. 7 Days/6 Nights, 4 States, 6 National Parks and two gals who were on a mission to see it all!
Every good adventure needs a matching playlist
Itinerary:
Day 1) Colorado: Rocky Mountain National Park
Day 2) Colorado: Dillon Lake, Breckenridge, Vail, and Hanging Lake
Day 3) Utah: Arches National Park & Capitol Reef National Park
Day 4) Utah: Bryce Canyon National Park & Dixie National Forest
Day 5) Utah: Zion National Park
Day 6) Arizona: Lake Powell, Horseshoe Bend, and Antelope Canyon
Day 7) Arizona/Nevada: Grand Canyon National Park, Hoover Dam and Las Vegas
Travel Dates: September 26, 2018 – October 3, 2018
Airport Arrival: Denver, Colorado (Picked up our rental car!)
Day One: Rocky Mountain National Park & Boulder, Colorado
Stay: Airbnb in Boulder, Colorado
Eat: Sushi (We forget the name but it was a cozy place on Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado
Explore: After exploring around Rocky Mountain National park a little bit, we made our way to the Airbnb and then explored Pearl Street, which was really lovely and some place we wish we could have explored a little more!
Day Two: Colorado - Dillon Lake, Breckenridge, Vail & Hanging Lake
Stay: Grand Junction Airbnb
Eat: Hotel Gasthof Gramshammer - Vail, Colorado
Explore: A pit stop at Dillon Lake to take in the views, spent some time exploring the quaint town of Vail (Austrian-modeled ski village that has a lot of charm”) and a big hike up to Hanging Lake
Day Three: Utah - Arches National Park & Capitol Reef National Park
Stay & Eat: The Rim Rock Inn
Explore: We hiked and drove all around Arches National park - it was super beautiful and other-world-like! Next, we took a drive through Capitol Reef National Park and caught a glimpse of the stunning sunset just in time for landing at the Rim Rock!
Day Four: Utah - Bryce Canyon National Park & Dixie National Forest
Stay: Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort
Eat: We ate some snacks on the road and dinner was at Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort
Explore: This was a day of driving beautiful open field roads that lead us through Dixie National Forest, unexpected addition to the trip itinerary that we enjoyed! Bryce Canyon National Park was very cool, and one that I think we could have spent some more time at as there are multiple hikes to explore.
Day Five: Utah - Zion National Park
Stay: Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort
Eat: We ate both at the resort and in Zion park - just some snacks/light sandwiches
Explore: We chose to hike two of the most difficult hikes at Zion: We started with The Narrows, and although we didn’t complete the hike, we made it to about the halfway point. The water was getting pretty deep and we didn’t have the right gear or nearly enough time so we headed back! This allowed us to make our way towards Angel’s Landing. Yes, we did Angel’s Landing & The Narrows in one day we are a little bit crazy. Angel’s Landing we made to the top and it was worth the views and winding paths. We were a bit nervous about getting down in time before dark but we did it! We definitely didn’t have enough time for this stunning park and would both go back!
Day Six: Arizona - Lake Powell, Horseshoe Bend & Antelope Canyon
Stay: Red Feather Lodge
Eat: We arrived at our stay very late at night, I can’t even remember what we ate but I think it was breakfast at a hole-in-the-wall diner.
Explore: Although this day totally didn’t go how we had planned, oh hey Tropical Storm Rosa, we tried to make the most of it by stopping to take in some views of the Grand Canyon, then the Hoover Dam and ending in wild Vegas. LOL full honesty, after spending so much time in nature, wrapping up a trip like this in Vegas was a sensory overload and I was ready for home or another forest ASAP.
Day Seven: Arizona/Nevada - Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam & Las Vegas
This was a trip for the books! So many national parks packed into one trip, and 4 states that were so different in terms of landscapes and feeling. What do I know for sure? Colorado and Utah were definitely the highlights - I would go back to both in a heartbeat!
Thinking about visiting one of these places or putting together a road trip similar? I’d love to chat if you have any questions.
Email me! Oh, and Happy Travels my friend!
