Road Trip 2024 Part 2 - UT & AZ

Holy cow, Utah was hot.  We were surprised that going south into Arizona provided a relief temperature-wise, but both places were beautiful and we saw some amazing sites.  We spent most of our Utah time in Moab where we hung out by the Colorado River and took a few trips into Arches National Park.  Because the temperatures were triple digits between 9am and 7pm we tried to explore the park early in the morning and later at night.  It was considerably different hiking in the shade compared to the sun.  We spent some of the middle of the days exploring the town, sitting in the air-conditioned library, and on a rafting trip.  We had a guide who did all the paddling, so that was a bit less adventurous than we wanted, but it was a good first experience for the girls to see the power of a river even if the rapids were quite small.  We still had fun being on the water and learning more about the area while swimming in the cold river

Photo taken by our guide Mike    -----     There are 2 bald eagles in this photo

Leaving Moab, we headed to Kanab where we made our way to the Arizona border and got to visit Coyote Buttes North, aka The Wave. In the spring we entered a lottery and were awarded the opportunity to hike it (about 64 people get to hike each day).  It was a tricky drive and a difficult hike - around 7 miles there and back with limited markers and plenty of heat.  We started with close to 6 gallons of water and ended with about one!  But reaching The Wave was amazing and it was wild to see how strange our planet can look.

After some rest, we were thrilled to go south to 70 degree temperatures at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  We knew it had its own ecosystem, but getting to see how that produced a forest supporting all kinds of wildlife (like bison) was very cool.  After a fair amount of canyons and geological sites, this one was definitely the largest, but felt less crazy than The Wave.  That also might be because we took much easier hikes here at the canyon.  We really loved seeing it from different angles, in different weather, and it marked the farthest point on the road trip as we were about 1600 miles from home.

saw lightning headed our way

Road Trip 2024 Part 1 - SD, WY, & CO

The Naks went out on another road trip and this time we headed west.  With the end goal of the Grand Canyon, there are tons of things to see between here and there, especially with the goal of seeing cool geological sites.  We started with a trip through South Dakota to see the Badlands and we really enjoyed the crazy formations, colors, and diverse landforms of this park.  The girls enjoyed the end of the trip which was filled with ground hogs making noise, running around, and eating what they could find.

Next, we headed to Wyoming and saw Bear Lodge butte, aka Devils Tower.  It was a pretty camp out near the foot of the butte and a nice hike around it.  Over 850 feet tall, it was quite the site.  

After a lonely drive through Wyoming, we were happy to sneak into Colorado and we saw the Colorado National Monument Park.  We saw some rams and even some snakes and got to wander on the rocks a bit near the end.  We enjoyed learning about the biological soil crust and learning how the monoliths came to be.  It was a cool trip and a nice precursor for the Grand Canyon.

Anniversary shot        -----        King of the world

Ram Fam         -----         Living soil!