After leaving Yosemite we headed to Convict Lake area, southeast of the park. We snagged a campsite and spent a couple days relaxing enjoying the scenery and running a few errands in Mammoth Lake. We also took a short hike around Convict Lake (or at least tried to until we hit a flooded impasse). 20Sep-21Sep
After leaving Convict Lake we started heading east through NV spending a night at a rest stop outside of Tonopah, NV (22Sep). The next day we continued through Nevada driving on the Extraterrestrial Highway (near area 51), stopping at the Little A'Le'Inn for lunch before heading onto Cathedral Gorge State Park (NV) (23 Sep). We snagged a camp spot (for three nights) at the park and relaxed until it cooled down enough to take a short walk and explore some of the park.
Over the next two days we explored during the early mornings before it got hot and then chilled in the shade to keep cool during the hot afternoons (24-25Sep):
Moon Dave Slot Canyons
Juniper Draw Loop
Miller's Point
Cathedral Cave Slot Canyons
Canyon Cave Slot Canyons
On Tuesday (26Sep) we did some chores and then headed out to St. George, UT to restock before we headed into Zion National Park. Most of the day was driving and chores so we just snagged a spot at Kolab BLM campground in Virgin, UT and relaxed.
The next day we headed into Zion National Park. After breakfast and some planning we headed out to hike the Sand Bench Trail. This trail had great views of the Court of the Patriarch and also very few people on the trail. We then headed back to the van and went to Zion Guru after lunch to rent equipment to hike the Narrows the next day. We then headed back to our BLM spot and relaxed for the evening.
Thursday (28Sep) we got up early and headed into the park, getting to the Narrows around 8AM since we had to ride the shuttle. The hike was definitely cool but was the best once you got past the throngs of people also hiking the narrows. We made it about 3.5 miles up before the water level got too high and we were getting tired of trying not to fall while walking in rocky water. This was definitely a more difficult and tiring hike due to the level of concentration and walking against a current. After completing the hike we returned our gear to Zion Guru and went back to the park to the South Campground for the night.
Friday (29Sep) we headed towards Bryce Canyon National Park, stopping at Red Canyon Campground about 20 minutes outside the park. Chilling there for the rest of the day since we spent a good amount of the day driving. I took a walk later in the day in the Dixie National Forest to see a lot of the beautiful red hoodoo formations.
Saturday (30 Sep) we headed into Bryce Canyon National Park and parked up at Sunset Point. We attended a short range led talk and then walked to Sunrise Overlook. Later in the afternoon we took a walk stopping at the Lodge and general store. The lodge had a cool collection of old photos from the park as it was the 100 year anniversary of the park. Since the cloud cover was not looking good for sunset photos, we headed back to camp and instead walked out to Red Canyon Arches; which is two arches built out so traffic could drive through.
Sunday (01Oct) we headed into Bryce early arriving at Fairyland Trailhead at sunrise. We hiked the 8 miles Fairyland loop trail which we had missed doing last year. And this trail did not disappoint, so many great views and hoodoos to see. We then headed to Otter Creek State Park for the night to shower and relax before making the trip home.
Monday & Tuesday were spent driving to Denver so I could fly home to be with my family while Justin drove the rest of the way back with the van. We stopped at The Trail Through Time in Rabbit Valley, Co which had some cool dinosaur bones you could see still embedded in rocks. We stayed in Grand Junction and Denver checking out a bagel place, a coffee shop, & art supply store.
That is a wrap for our journey, but we hope to use Paprika for lots of weekend adventures once we settle back into jobs and the 9-5 life again. Hope you all enjoyed the pictures and hearing about our adventures.
For those who missed any post that are no longer up I have pdf copies uploaded to this google drive link.
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