Zion/Bryce
Coming off our amazing adventure in Patagonia, we wanted to explore more of the US national parks. We’d already explored the Tetons, Yellowstone, and Yosemite – it seemed time to explore some parks in the southwest.
Zion seemed to fit right in – easy access from Phoenix – and lots of big sky! Our original plan was Zion and Sedona (because we always like to add a bit of front-country/civilization to our hiking adventures). Interestingly, Bryce wasn’t part of the plan, until we heard about it on a hike in Zion. Adjusting our plans, we’d absolutely recommend Bryce to anyone – it’s just that unusual.
Read more about Zion, the Hoodoos, Slot Canyons, and Sedona below!
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Zion, Bryce, and Sedona ’17
Winter has typically been the time we dream about far away places, planning our late-summer/early fall adventures to new places with trails, refugios, berghaus‘, and outdoor time. This past winter, however, was one filled with family affairs – my Dad’s passing, closing his estate, selling the family house – it didn’t really leave much time to think about those far away places. So it wasn’t until April, as those affairs settled, that we cracked open a map (or more correctly,
Zion National Park
As mentioned, visiting Zion and the southwest was something of a spontaneous thing – with not much preliminary research – driven more by a desire to get away and a continuation of our efforts to visit some of the National Parks. The November timing meant somewhere in the south. Zion fit the bill – sort of most of the Grand Canyon, without all the Canyon stuff… We had 3 days of hiking planned for Zion. Reading most internet sites, the
Bryce National Park
A visit to Bryce was not part of our original itinerary, but we didn’t have firm hike plans for our third day at Zion. Spurred by a conversation with some fellow hikers, and a (very little) bit of research we opted for a little spontaneity – it was only about 90 miles from Zion. We’d settled on the Fairyland trail – listed as strenuous, about 8 miles, and a loop – sounded like just the thing. As usual, we were off early –
Buckskin Gulch and a Slot Canyon
This day was something of a ‘transitional’ day in our Zion/Sedona itinerary. We were traveling southward from Zion, but a single drive through to Sedona would have been nearly a full day driving – nearly 300 miles. Sitting in a car all day didn’t sound appealing – plus, there were trails along the way – so we’d decided on a day-hike and a stop-over in Page, AZ – roughly the halfway point. Between Zion and Page are a series of
Sedona
When planning our journeys/vacations, we tend towards a combination of highly active/outdoorsy and back-to-civilization with some relaxation time – the Jungfrau and Paris, Torres del Paine and Buenos Aires, Cinque Terre and Florence. Sedona was our ‘civilization’ icing on the Zion/Bryce cake. On a recommendation from a friend, we’d booked into the Sky Ranch Lodge – and OMG, what a beautiful spot. Perched on the western edge of the Airport Mesa, it’s a beautiful grouping of attached cottages, ours with