Lotteries and Snowstorms (Our final days in Utah)

 

We have spent so many days in Utah, but as a right this we are finally in Arizona.  Utah is a magical place with some many amazing things to see and we have been so fortunate to win a couple lotteries to do a couple highly desirable hikes.  Unfortunately it has not all been fun and games as we had to deal with freezing temperatures and snow storms.

November 3rd -Completing Arches

We woke up to a funny realization, we were only a few hikes away from completing every single hike in Arches National Park, what was even better was that all the hikes we hadn’t completed yet were categorized as EASY (with one rated moderate- but we weren’t going to do the stairs at the end because we could see them from a different viewpoint)!!  This is the first time in our lives we had ever been close to completing a task like this (completing all hikes in a National Park) so we thought, better start walking.

Although we were stiff we pushed ourselves and were able to successfully leave the park in the early afternoon, meaning we had time for a shower, some grocery shopping, and to grab a beer and a drive towards our next stop, Canyonland National Park; there was only one issue it was forecasted to snow.

As we left Moab the clouds became more and more ominous and once we got to the elevation of the entrance to Canyonland it was a full scale snowstorm.

Paul, our hero and master chef, spent a good hour in the snow cooking a delicious dinner before we huddled together for warmth to survive the snowstorm.

 

November 4^th – Making good use of our Crampons

It was easy to see that it had snowed during the night, there was snow everywhere.  What made it worse is that it was around freezing meaning that things were also icy.  We slowly drove to Canyonland, got some hike recommendations from the visitors center and started exploring the park. 

On a whim we decided to bring our crampons (ice cleats) from home and were happy to have them today.  We strapped them on and started walking.  We did Murphy’s Trail, which was fine, the Grand View trail, which was good, and our favourite hike and the one we would recommend, the White Rim Overlook trail.  We had it almost to ourselves and the views were, in our opinion better that the Grand View.

The last hike we did that we would recommend was the Mesa Arch, it was short but amazing due to how the Arch framed the landscape beyond the arch.  We thought we were “arched out” but this one was a pleasant surprise.

After a good day hiking we left Canyonland and headed towards Green River to find a little camp spot out of the snow with some great views of sunset.

 

November 5^th – Cleaning and Drinking

Once again it was time to do laundry, go grocery shopping and grab dinner and a pint at a local Tavern in Green River.

After accomplishing all our tasks, we headed towards Goblin Valley State Park, a location high on Kendra’s list of must do’s while in Utah.  It was getting late in the day by the time we left Green River so we didn’t enter the state park, instead opting to camp right outside of it in a canyon.

 

November 6^th – Walking among Goblins

If you have ever seen the movie Galaxy Quest, you have seen part of Goblin Valley State Park, it is the location in the movie where the crew fight the rock monster.

Kendra was right to want to go to this location as it looked like we were on another planet full of mushroom/goblin looking rock formations.

Our first hike of the day was to go into the Goblins Lair, a hike on the edge of the park that ends at a canyon.  We later learned that we can rent repelling gear from visitor’s information to repel down into the canyon, but since we didn’t know this we climbed down with Rupert on our back.  It was a little scary getting into the true Goblins Lair but once down there we had the place to ourselves and found a cave the went on for longer than we were willing to explore.  It was well worth the sketchy climb down.

The next section of the state park was the Valley of Goblins.  This section is not about following a specific trail but rather exploration of the area.  This definitely made us feel like explorers going off the beaten path looking for interesting rock formations and paths to different sections of this other world. 

This place is wild!

Kendra had read about a location close to the park that we could camp for free that looked like the moon, so we headed there.  It was definitely the correct choice as we got to watch motocross riders pulling off tricks we had only seen on TV.  Paul had dialed 9 – 1 - in the phone convinced that we would see someone take a hell of a tumble, but instead we ended up tipping our drinks to them after they were done as they drove out of the area.

November 7^th – BURNT OUT

We started the day planning what we would do and where we would go.  It was Paul’s decision day (meaning he would make all the decisions), and Paul knew he was burnt out.  We had been running on all cylinders for a few days with minimal down time. 

We headed to Capital Reef National Park but after one hike and a couple hours we were done.

We left trying to decided whether or not to do “one of the best hikes in Utah” according to a few guide books, but Paul eventually said no, not today.  We found a camping spot around noon and spent the rest of the day doing very little.

 

November 8^th – Pushing ourselves to do all the things

After a half day of rest, it was time to have an extremely full day. Another snow storm was in the forecast with it projected to hit the area around 6pm.  We knew that whatever we didn’t do today we probably would not be able to do tomorrow so we woke up bright and early to hike the Lower Calf Creek Falls, a hike that was supposed to be another one of “the best” hikes in Utah.  Paul had some concerns with the hike as we had encountered so many locations with historically low water levels, but in the end was happy that we had done it, the ending was beautiful.

After the hike we drove to Bryce Canyon National Park, and straight into visitors information to learn what they would recommend doing today.  They let us know what would likely be closed tomorrow and recommend we push ourselves to do the scenic drive and a few of the hikes on the scenic drive. 

We pushed and we accomplished, and we were glad we did. By the time we were done Rangers were starting to close roads and trails as they were concerned about the incoming winter storm.

We found a camping spot just outside of the park and once again hunkered down.

November 9^th – SNOW DAY!

We woke up to the silence that you only get when it has snowed a bunch.  We opened the van doors to see over 6 inches of snow on the ground and more snow falling.  Paul was concerned about getting stuck so we quickly left our camping spot and headed towards the Visitors Information Center.

The national park had very few visitors, and after talking to the rangers we learned that everything we had done the previous day was closed and would be closed for the foreseeable future (the scenic drive opened 2 days later and the Fairyland drive supposedly opened just shy of a week later).  The ranger recommended a few things within the Bryce Amphitheater, but said if we are prepared and up to the challenge the Peekaboo loop was open and his personal favourite in the park.

This started one of the most difficult hikes of our trip…so far.  It was almost 10 kilometers in the snow, and during the first 7 kilometers we were breaking trail (i.e., we were the first people on the trail and had to walk through the growing inches of snow).  The other thing that made this trail so difficult was the elevation change.  It started with us hiking down into the canyon amongst the hoodoos, then hiking up and down and up and down again.  The topography was anything by flat.

Although we had some regret starting this trail, by end of it we were so proud of ourselves. We had done it and had some amazing pictures and videos to prove we had accomplished this task. 

Those who complete this task (that is the Peekaboo Loop, not necessarily doing it in a winter storm) and return with proof to the visitor’s center get a reward, a sticker that states “I hiked the Hoodoos”.  We were pretty stoked to receive it and place it on the van!

By the time we were done our hike the weather looked like it had cleared up so we started the stove and cooked some lunch, unfortunately the storm was not done and it turned ugly fast.  We knew we survived our snow day but it was time to leave and make a slow but safe drive further south.

Today also marks our first attempt to win a lottery in Utah.  Now Utah does not have any gambling opportunities we are aware of, but the Bureau of Land Management and National Parks have lotteries to win permits to select hikes.  Today was our first day to enter into the lottery. Now for those of you wondering, you can enter the lottery months in advance for The Wave (located in Arizona- the trailhead is in Utah), but if you want to enter the “next day” lottery, you need to be applying within the “geofence”-an invisible boundary showing you are close enough to enter and complete the hike. Once you enter from within the geofence you can leave the geofence and still enter, but we were going to explore the area and test our luck.

 

November 10^th – A much needed rest

We decided to get a hotel for the next four nights in Kanab Utah.  It was a central location to many things we wanted to see and the weather forecast told us there was going to be some very cold nights ahead (-10 celsius).

We woke up thinking we would explore Kanab but after a short drive down Johnson Canyon, to check out some historic sites and the old Gunsmoke filming location, we knew that we needed to go back to the hotel, order some pizza and beer and watch trashy TV.

This was the full day of rest we had been needing and searching for.

 

November 11^th – Too much AMAZING

We had big plans today, knocking off a bunch of bucket list tasks.

The first was to hike within a Slot Canyon, famous within the Kanab, UT/Page, AZ area.  The one we had read the most about was called Buckskin Gulch so we made our way to the trailhead.

It was awesome walking in a canyon with a width of 10 feet or less that was so deep the sun didn’t touch the bottom.  We had great timing as well as we had the whole place to ourselves while we walked into the canyon, it was only when we arrived as far as we were able to go into the canyon before the water became too deep that we started to see more people.

Buckskin Gulch was awe inspiring, with us constantly in a state of pinching ourselves to see if we were awake.  Highly recommend.

Not to be outdone, Kanab was only an hour and a half away from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and Paul thought a great way to end the day would be to watch sunset there.

Although most of the hikes and the scenic road at the North Rim of the canyon were closed due to snow, some of the main viewpoints of the Grand Canyon from that area were open. 

Sunset and the canyon were beautiful, we understood why the Grand Canyon is on so many people’s bucket list.

We ended the day at a little restaurant in Arizona where Paul checked his email to learn more good news, we had won the lottery to see The Wave, a famous geographical feature in the area!!  We had been entering that lottery for days but knew it was unlikely we would win (3.5% of applicants won a permit last year).  By the grace of god, we learned we would be given the opportunity to do one of the most desirable hikes in the US.

 

November 12^th – Failed attempt at Zion

We both slept poorly.  We had to pick up our permit for The Wave today so that we could hike it tomorrow, but we had to go to a building that was, according to the internet, closed on the weekend.  We had also read that the permit had, in the past, been provided at 3 other locations and that if we went to the wrong spot or were not at the right spot at 8:30 am we would forfeit our permit.   In the end we did exactly what the instructions associated with the permit said to do and we received our permit, with the Ranger stating we should brag as this is not an easy permit to acquire. In the end there was no reason to stress out, but this was some thing we did not want to mess up.

Kanab is quite close to Zion National Park, and although we weren’t as drawn to this national park as we were to Arches, Yellowstone or Mesa Verde, we felt we would be doing ourselves a disservice by not checking it out.  We had been told it is the 2^nd most popular national park in the United States.

We arrived into Zion around 11am, where we were greeted by a full parking lot, people on the verge of road rage attempting to sneak into the one parking spot we saw come available and shuttles packed full of people. 

After thinking for a few moments, we realized it was the Saturday of a long weekend, and if we were back in Canada the last place we would want to be is somewhere like Banff, and yet here we are.  We decided to leave and return to Zion in a few days after hiking the wave when it probably wouldn’t be as busy.  We did still end up doing a hike though, it was a hike at the edge of the park that provided an overview of Zion Canyon- the aptly named Canyon Overlook hike.

We also decided to explore one more slot canyon outside of Orderville.  This slot canyon was short and extremely narrow.  When the guide book said we would need to climb a rope to continue exploring, there was no rope to climb, so it was a short adventure.

We ended the day with a nice dinner in Kanab before heading to bed, excited to start our hike to The Wave tomorrow.

 

November 13^th – THE WAVE!!!

We had had a great night sleep and woke up at a very reasonable 6am or so.  We were excited!

We packed our bags to leave the hotel and made our way to the trailhead.  Although the ranger recommended getting the trailhead for sunrise due to heat and the exposure to the elements, we thought we’d be fine being that it was November and below freezing at night.  When we arrived we learned that we would be the 2^nd group on the trail followed shortly behind by a person from France who had been applying every year for 15 years in both the daily and the advanced lottery, and although he had won previously, he wanted to go again with his good camera to properly capture it.

The hike itself is about 5 kilometers done by finding landmarks that you are provided by the Bureau of Land Management.  Some people make it out that it is difficult to follow these directions, but really we thought the directions were super clear and the pictures matched up with the landmarks in the landscape.

Before we knew it we were about 5 minutes away from The Wave, but the area where The Wave is located has other interesting geographical features, including a mini wave just before the main Wave.  We decided to do that first to get a taste of what we would be seeing shortly.  It was awesome and got us pumped.

Within a few steps we saw it, the famous feature known as the Wave, and it was so unique and awe inspiring.  We felt so fortunate to have won the lottery!

After getting our fill we decided to do a hike the started from the Wave that went to a location known as the second wave, then straight up a cliff to the top rock loop which had features known as the Alcove, some arches and the Big Mac.

The whole area was so unique and unusual, we were walking for hours but couldn’t stop exploring.

We returned to the wave for some more photos, where our permit was checked, then continued into the Sand Cove, then a location known as the boneyard and finished by seeing some dinosaur tracks before leaving the area walking close to 17 kilometers.

We made memories that would last a lifetime and pictures that we will treasure for our entire life.  We felt so fortunate.

We got some more news once we returned to Kanab when we learned we had won another lottery that we had also been applying for, a lottery to do Angels Landing in Zion. Lucky us!  We had won the next day lottery to do the hike tomorrow between 9am -12 pm.  We wanted to do it, but we were exhausted.

We decided to camp in Zion so we quickly drove to our campsite in Zion and went to sleep by about 7pm so we could get as much rest as possible before our next big hike.

 

November 14^th – Angels Landing

Angels Landing is an almost 8 kilometre roundtrip hike trip with an elevation change of almost 500 meters (1500 feet), one section of the hike consists of 21 consecutive switchbacks lovingly referred to as Walter’s Wiggles.  The last 800 meters of the hike consists of various chains with death-resulting drop offs.  Unfortunately, 17-20 people have lost their lives completing this hike, and we have won the right to attempt it.

The hike made sweat enter and agitate our eyes, and some section made our hearts race, but we did it.  There is nothing like standing on top of Angels Landing knowing that you have conquered it.  We truly feel that we are in the best shape we have been in years.

Unfortunately, there was no elevator to return back to the road so the next triumph was getting back down the trail, which we were able to safely do as well. The downhill hike (losing almost 500 meters of elevation) was refreshing after the strenuous uphill hike to reach the summit.

After completing this monumental hike, we decided not to apply for any more lotteries and to treasure the two that we had won, but take it easy for the foreseeable future.

We ended the day with a nice River walk into the Temple of Sinawava, a tall sandstone amphitheater-also home to the famous Narrows hike, and then a pint at the local brewery.

November 15^th – Finally leaving Utah

We woke up in Zion, we had camped again, and although both nights we had camped the temperature dipped below zero, this morning felt especially cold.  There was one last hike we wanted to do to three emerald pools.  Although we did all three the lower pool was our favourite.

We left Zion towards Arizona, but not before stopping back in Kanab to do some laundry and go to a pizza place with all you can eat pizza and salad for $5.99.  Our expectations were very low but it was delicious and it felt great to eat all the food and not feel guilty about it due to all the calories we had burned in the pervious days.

The cold weather continues even in Arizona so we once again got a cheap hotel for the night, but not before heading to Horseshoe Bend in Page Arizona to watch sunset.  How is this our life?!?!