We are finally back in the land of cell service and WiFi signals! After Bryce we went on to Zion National Park, then the Grand Canyon's North Rim, and then Glen Canyon. We had from little to no cell service and pretty much no working WiFi, which is great for focusing on vacation but not so great for keeping up with blogging. So, to make up for it, here is a big picture catch-up post!
Bryce Canyon - We did a few more hikes, including a “Bristlecone Pine” hike. Bristlecone
Pines are some of the oldest trees on earth, with some in Bryce Canyon as old
as 1600 years! We also hiked through the actual canyon, which was really nice! It’s a totally different feeling when you are in
the canyon itself and “part of” the hoodoos. Obviously the scenery is very
different than viewing the canyon from above, but it’s beautiful, too.
Baby Girl and I in front of one of the Bristlecone Pines
Gorgeous view of Bryce Canyon
Hiking through the canyon itself at Bryce
Hiking through the canyon itself at Bryce
Hiking through the canyon itself at Bryce. As you can tell, Baby Girl was not impressed and decided to take a nap instead!
Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon
Zion National Park - After a few days at Bryce Canyon, we moved on to
Zion National Park, where it was HOT! The temperatures got well above 100 Fahrenheit every day that we were there, so we tried to hike in the late evenings or early mornings. We did a hike one evening that went to some waterfalls, and also a hike to a "weeping rock." When we couldn't take the heat anymore, we drove up to some higher altitude viewpoints that were cooler! Zion was beautiful- the prominent feature is Zion Canyon, which is cut through Navajo Sandstone by the Virgin River.
Look closely- can you see the waterfall?
Twilight Forest Hike at Zion National Park
Mr. Coffeebeans underneath the Weeping Rock at Zion National Park
Underneath the Weeping Rock at Zion National Park
Baby Girl is a little unsure about this hike...
Lava Point viewpoint near Zion National Park. We went to one of the higher viewpoints to escape the heat.
Grand Canyon North Rim - You may remember that we spent the first few
days of our trip at the Grand Canyon's South Rim. The North Rim is really different. At over 1000 feet higher than the South Rim, the temperatures are much cooler there, which was definitely a welcome change from the heat at Zion. It’s only
about 10 miles across to the North Rim from the South Rim, but you have to drive about 220 miles around to get from one to the other. Not as many people go to the North Rim, but I'm glad we took the time to see it. It's a different perspective from the South Rim. At the South Rim you really see the vastness of the Grand Canyon, while at the North Rim, you see better the different colors of the rocks and the vegetation. The North Rim felt more peaceful, too, since it's a little less visited and not as crowded. Although, we were there for the Fourth of July so it was still relatively busy.
Grand Canyon North Rim
Grand Canyon North Rim
Grand Canyon North Rim
Baby Girl on a hike at the North Rim. She is obsessed with trees
Amazing cloud shadows at the Grand Canyon's North Rim
Point Imperial - the highest overlook at the Grand Canyon's North Rim
Point Imperial - the highest overlook at the Grand Canyon's North Rim
Fourth of July Sunset at the Grand Canyon's North Rim
Glen Canyon - Our final stop on our trip was Glen Canyon National Recreation Area near Page, Arizona. There is a large reservoir there known as Lake Powell, which is created by the Glen Canyon Dam. I'm including a picture of the Dam even though it's not a natural wonder, since it was a pretty cool part of our trip. We took a tour of the Dam and got to see how it was built and is maintained. We did a few hikes in the area and drove up to Alstrom Point, which was a crazy drive on a very rough dirt road. It was mostly deserted, so it was nice to spend some time away from crowds!
Lake Powell in Page Arizona
Glen Canyon Dam
Baby Girl loving one of our hikes near Glen Canyon
Mr. Coffebeans on the drive up to Alstrom Point
Looking at the huge drop off at Alstrom Point
The view at Alstrom Point
View of Lake Powell on the drive from Alstrom Point. the white line is where the Lake goes to when it's completely full, so you can see the water level is low at the moment.
Checking out the view on the drive from Alstrom Point
We thought the landscape looked a little bit like outer space!
The drive back from Point Alstrom
A rain cloud raining on one spot near Glen Canyon. Reminded me of cartoons where the cloud rains over just one character
Now we are in Flagstaff, Arizona, on our way back to Phoenix where we will catch our flight back to Chicago. It's been an amazing trip! Mr. Coffeebeans has been serving as photographer on the trip and he has done an amazing job- almost all of these are photos he took. (The only ones that aren't are the ones I took of him!) Even though this month has turned out to be a little different on my blog due to the trip, and I wasn't able to update every day as I would have liked, I hope you enjoyed this catch-up post!
I'm on day 60 now, but I'm going to spend one more day tomorrow on natural wonders since I still have one more of the "Seven Natural Wonders" to discuss. Then, I'll move on to the next topic. Stay tuned!
Xoxo,
Diana
