After this city break in Las Vegas and the 10 days spent with my mother, we resume the normal course of our trip. From Vegas, we head north, crossing a small part of Arizona and returning to Utah. Utah, this magnificent state, still has many wonders for us to discover, and we plan to spend a few more days there.
In recent days since Vegas, we have taken a bit of rest. That is to say, we spent our days in the library 😅 We have a huge amount of work to catch up on! We also enjoyed warm and sunny evenings in beautiful desert landscapes. What a joy it is to sleep in a tent in such temperatures!
Friday, October 14, 2022
After a second stop at Zion National Park, we drive two hours north. We stop at Cedar Breaks National Monument to admire our first hoodoos, these rock formations carved by erosion that rise toward the sky. We are not done seeing them in the coming days! I open the car door… and immediately close it again! It is freezing here! Since Zion, we have lost about ten degrees! Quickly, we put on pants, socks, and a sweater before going to admire the view.
We had been warned, but the shock is severe: as we gain altitude, we expect cooler temperatures. But going from 30°C in Vegas to 5°C here is a thermal shock, warned or not 😅 Before the sun disappears behind the trees, we light a campfire. We spend the evening close to the flames trying to feel a bit of warmth. No more sleeping in the tent with open windows. We sleep in the car, wrapped in our blanket.
Saturday, October 15
This morning, the grass is covered with a thin white layer. It froze overnight! Our bodies are no longer used to such temperatures! Before getting out of bed and dressing, we start the Jeep to run the heater, to warm up the cabin a bit. On our route today is Red Canyon National Park. Like everywhere in Utah, the red rock, rich in iron, stands out under the blue sky. It is beautiful! We take a short walk in the park. Signs at the entrance warn about black widows, small spiders whose bite is deadly. During the entire walk, I keep my hands in my pockets 😅 There are also many hoodoos here.
There are also two natural arches under which the road passes. Rémi makes me drive the Jeep back and forth underneath until he is satisfied with his photo 😆
We arrive at Bryce Canyon National Park in the early afternoon. It is one of the most famous parks in Utah, and needless to say, it is very busy! We try to stop at the visitor center, but there are so many people that it is impossible to find a parking spot! Oh well. We head toward the park’s most famous viewpoint, Sunrise Point, for a short hike.
🥾 Queens Garden and Navajo Loop – 5 km
We take the park’s iconic hike down into the canyon. The trail winds between tall rock formations and hoodoos. It is truly beautiful. Bryce is one of the few parks where changes can be noticeable within a human lifetime. The rock, very fragile, is easily shaped by rain, sun, and wind. So if we came back here in 50 years, we might see changes in the park’s formations. Let’s make a date! 😉
We spend the evening not far from the park. While during the day we were hot enough to be in shorts and t-shirts, the evening once again turns very cold. While the sun is still out, Rémi takes the opportunity to take a shower. And since we have neighbors tonight, we take the chance to use our shower and shower curtain, which we had to dig out from the depths of the Jeep where it had been stored for five months! The water is hot, but the wind is freezing and the shower is over quickly. We spend another evening by the fire before retreating into the warm Jeep.
Sunday, October 16
Waking up at dawn to watch the sunrise over Bryce Canyon. We start the Jeep to get some heat and give ourselves the courage to get out of bed. Unfortunately, the weather is cloudy this morning, so we miss the sunrise! We only get a few faint orange hues through the clouds. Then we spend the morning driving the park’s 28-kilometer scenic road, stopping at many viewpoints. We visit them all! A bit of driving, a stop, biting cold, then back into the warm car. And repeat! Every view is incredible, although a bit repetitive after a while, as the landscape is more or less always the same: hoodoos giving the scenery a spiky, rugged look!
We then leave Bryce Canyon National Park at the end of the morning after having done the full loop of the park (literally). It was a very beautiful park, but it will not remain among our most memorable. Unlike the next one: Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, where we are heading next and which is about to offer us one of our most beautiful hikes to date.
Monday, October 17
Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument is a vast park located between Bryce Canyon National Park and Moab, off the classic tourist routes of the American West. And yet, it is well worth the detour! We stop at the visitor center to get some information about the route we want to take: Hole in the Rock. It is a 290-kilometer road that starts from the town of Escalante. Back in the day, the Mormons who built this route reached the town of Bluff by crossing the Colorado River. Today, however, the Glen Canyon Dam has flooded the entire area and the road is now cut off by Lake Powell. It therefore ends in a dead end after 75 km. At the visitor center, we are told the road is in good condition, although a bit “bumpy.” Well, we’ve seen worse, that doesn’t scare us!
However, after about twenty kilometers, we have to face reality. We underestimated this “bumpy road.” It is nothing but corrugated washboard. And washboard road is the worst, especially with a Jeep. Everything vibrates, creaks, jumps, and shakes with an infernal noise. We even lose some accessories mounted on the roof which, after so many bumps, come loose and fall onto the road. “Stop!” I shout, and Rémi brakes in a cloud of dust. We get out to pick up our caps, screws, and other parts from our roof accessories.
After about twenty kilometers, we need a break. Perfect timing, as we arrive at Devil’s Garden. It is early and we have the place to ourselves. We walk freely between, under, and even on top of the rock formations.
Two hours of rough driving later, we arrive at the trailhead. There are many slot canyons in the area, but we think we have already seen the most beautiful one, Antelope Canyon, so we opted for another curiosity. Off we go for a few kilometers through a hot and wild desert!
🥾 Jacob Hemblin Trail – 6 kms
We are alone in the world. The sun is beating down on our heads. The trail winds through the sand, between dry and sparse vegetation. Then, when we have to walk on rock, there is no more path! We must follow the cairns that stand a few meters apart. Luckily, Rémi scored 20/20 on the navigation exam of… Oh wait, sorry, I already made that one! 😘
We walk like this for 3 kilometers. Then, suddenly, the ground opens beneath our feet. We are standing at the edge of a huge cliff. Or rather, a deep canyon. And that is exactly the point of this hidden hike. It is possible to go down into the canyon. It is recommended to bring ropes to descend the steep, smooth slope of the cliff. We do not have any. We carefully assess the terrain. It is steep, a bit dangerous. The key is not to slip. Rémi leads the way. Little by little, sometimes on our backsides, we make our way down. In 10 minutes, we are at the bottom. Phew! We look up—what a descent! Let’s hope we’ll be able to climb back up without too much trouble 😁
We have landed in another world. We are at the bottom of the canyon, near the Coyote Gulch river. It is pleasantly cool here. Vegetation is abundant and lush. The sand is soft and fresh. The river water is icy cold. Our voices echo all around us. On both sides, the towering canyon walls overwhelm us with their height. We feel tiny. It is oppressive. And yet, it is incredibly beautiful! We are amazed by this hidden place that reveals itself to us, where we are completely alone.
We walk a little further along the river to better admire the place. There are signs of camping on the bank, but we cannot imagine camping here. It is cold, dark, silent. Oppressive. It feels like a giant natural cathedral. And the risk of a flash flood is very real.
After an hour, we feel the urge to head back up to the sun, the heat, the vast desert, the blue sky. The climb turns out to be easier than the descent. Like Spiderman, we crawl up the rock, gripping every handhold and foothold in the cliff. What worries me most are the spiders hiding in the rock crevices! 😅
We finally make it back up safely and, from the top of the cliff, we look down at the canyon floor where we were just a few minutes earlier. Incredible! From up here, you would never guess the hidden world beneath our feet. Without a doubt, this was one of our most beautiful hikes! Now, 60 kilometers of rough road await us to get back to Escalante… 😒
Tuesday, October 18
We continue our journey toward Moab, the final destination of our return in Utah. Instead of taking the main road, we choose a 50-kilometer detour via Hells Backbone Road. The landscapes are said to be among the most beautiful in “Southern Utah”—a very specific region 🙃 We joke, but it is true that the scenery is stunning!
We then arrive at Capitol Reef National Park. It’s a stunning park, and we would have loved to explore it in more depth, but… we’re feeling a bit too lazy today! Luckily, a few scenic drives allow us to effortlessly discover the park’s blazing red rock, towering cliffs, and impressive rock formations.
Beyond its iconic red rock landscapes of Utah, Capitol Reef National Park is also renowned for its magnificent night skies. Each evening, while we cook, eat, or brush our teeth, we are lucky enough to admire the star-filled sky, constellations, the Milky Way, and the moon—so much brighter than we ever imagined it could be from within our cities. But we rarely take the time to capture these privileged moments in photos. Tonight, alone in the middle of the desert, we take that time for an hour.
Wednesday, October 19
Moab has never seemed so close! We’ll be there by late morning. Well, that was before we decided to take the most beautiful but least direct road. Instead of heading straight to Moab, we take Highway 95, which leads us on a long detour through the south and into the heart of Utah. Towering cliffs, blazing red rocks, impressive rock formations, crossing the Colorado River, spectacular canyon viewpoints — this road adds 150 kilometers to our journey, but it is absolutely worth the detour!
We arrive at Natural Bridges National Monument. This park is located far from everything, and we would never have passed through it without the detour we just made. So we stop. From the scenic road, we discover three beautiful bridges: Sipapu, Horsecollar, and Owachomo. Do you know the difference between a bridge and an arch? Bridges are created by river erosion, while arches are formed by wind, rain, sand, frost, or any other natural element 😁
Finally, we arrive in Moab at 6 p.m. We head straight to the library and work there until closing time at 8 p.m. Then we go back to eat at the Mexican restaurant we had discovered during our visit a few weeks ago. We are very happy and excited to be back in Moab — the capital of off-road driving! Perfect timing, since we have one, and we fully intend to make the most of it. In the coming days, we’re heading into a great adventure: we will drive the iconic Utah 4×4 trails, Shafer Road and the White Rim 😏 We’ve been dreaming about it for years!
