Utah Road Trip
October 2020
I thought that by October 2020, I'd drop off one daughter at University in Wales, swing by Italy for my sister's 50th celebration and then maybe Portugal?? Ah Covid. Left with very few travel options, I turned back to look at domestic travel. One state that had me envious of so many beautiful posted pictures of it across the internet.....Utah. In addition, needing to stay safe and away from crowds of people, hotels, restaurants, the only logical solution was to also rent an RV.
I've looked into renting one before. Always summer, with prices far too outrageous for my budget minded sensibilities. A quick 'just in case' look yielded a pleasant surprise, a 25ft RV was pretty reasonable after all. OK! I'm doing this, and turns out solo. So now, I have a group of firsts, first time to Utah, first time driving an RV and first time being completely on my own for more than just a couple of days. All three firsts turned out to equal a glorious road trip. The scenery was just amazing, the RV very doable and might I say, nice to have a portable bathroom. Being solo, I could have my own schedule for activities and eating. And, WHAT to eat. No whining from anyone! Nice.
First stop, Bryce Canyon. The desert elevation and cold did take some getting used to. My sinuses were not a fan. Turns out the RV heater wasn't working either, but it warmed up enough during the day that I didn't freeze to death. I stayed at the Sunset campground, which is walkable to many trails and the shuttle stop. I was impressed with the nice set up this National Park has, and something for everyone at every activity level. I hiked the Peek a Boo trail, which was beautiful and challenging with multiple elevation gains. Hoodoos everywhere.
Next stop, Moab area. Amazing scenery from Fall foliage mountain to salt flats, ending up at Green River. So many views, so many turnouts, that I just started ignoring places to stop, or else I'd never get to my destination! Next up, Canyonlands. The size of this park is astounding. I only stopped at a few short trails This is the place to go for some wilderness hiking. It was the only place I thought I could truly get lost if I didn't keep myself oriented to the topography. It's huge, it's not well marked along the smaller trails. That night, I tried my first 'dry camping' and discovered that I was one of many, many people with the exact same idea of traveling with an RV. I found a spot in Canyonlands that allowed parking, and had to squeeze into a spot down a long gravel road. Interesting and weird to have a litter of different sized RVs all over the place.
Following day Arches was planned. I got there early enough to land a parking spot at THE arches. A very visually interesting park, beautiful. However, not understanding why people flock to this one spot. There are other places just as interesting, but ok, I can mark this visit as completed. Second night to find another dry camping spot only to discover there were just no places near Moab proper. Ended up staying in Spanish valley , after driving around for three hours! There is definitely a trick to finding/knowing the 'good' spots to camp for a night. Looking at BLM land on a map, it would appear that there are many places to pull over. Not so in practical terms. There might be fences or land that is not possible to drive on otherwise.
Off to Monument Valley. I did like the expansive views. Unfortunately, the Valley of the Gods was closed due to COVID. It was peaceful here, and I didn't mind not having much to do. I enjoyed some nice starry nights and practiced some night photography, which is a steep learning curve. I successfully found the Milky Way, but could not get much depth or detail. Somebody will have to show me how to get my camera to do what I want it to do.
Next stop was the Paria River area. Geared up for finding the perfect slot canyon hike, as Antelope valley was also closed. BLM offices are perfect places to get sorted and ask questions, however most of the offices were closed and I drove some distance to find an open one, only to find out the hike that was recommended way back the way I came by 30 miles. Bummer.
Off to Wire Pass Trailhead, in the Paria River area. I almost bailed on this hike because the trailhead required driving on 10 miles in of unpaved roads. In an RV, that's 45 minutes of shaking that feels like the vehicle is going to break apart. The main thing that kept me going was there were literally very few places I could even consider turning around. In the end it was worth it. I discovered this particular slot canyon didn't really end. I kept expecting some dead end, or vista view and finally just asked people coming back my way. The answer was you turn around after you got your fill of slot canyon. Funny. That night I parked at the road entrance and was initially worried that I'd be a little freaked out by the dark and being all by myself. Turns out, I was never alone the whole trip. That's how many other domestic travelers were out there!
Last few random stops on my road trip included Coral Pink Sands, a stop at the desert botanical park in St. George and a short walkabout in Las Vegas (never been!). All told, 1500 miles of RV driving and a rather punishing pace to see everything I wanted to see this round in Utah. I could definitely spend some more time viewing the sites in this state.
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