My Two Rhetts

Fly Fishing at Silver Lake in American Fork Canyon

Babysitting

This is what happens when little girls don't have a sister...

5 Year Anniversary Trip

National Park Extravaganza

combining Rhett's two dream jobs:

Forest Park Ranger & Truck Driver

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For our 5 year wedding anniversary, Rhett planned a trip for 4 days, 3 nights. It was a secret and I didn't know what we were doing, but I knew he was excited about it. He even made me stay blindfolded for the entire 3 hour drive to our destination.

He led me out of the car as I tripped and stumbled my way into where we were staying. He let me open my eyes and I looked out the window and I had no idea where we were, it was in the mountains and in the distance I could see a forest fire. We were south of Moab, UT. Rhett explained our trip was what he called the Utah "National Park Extravaganza". We were going to see the majority of the national parks and monuments in the eastern lower half of Utah. I was excited, I knew Rhett would love this.
He mentions quite often how he would love to be a forest park ranger and work in the outdoors. He also loves road trips and driving. He was excited he'd get to drive from Utah to Missouri three times in one summer, so he could drive and enjoy the scenery, I would puke at the thought of driving through Kansas or Nebraska more than once in a year. So truck driving would also be a dream job, and this trip was an embodiment of both dream occupations. I was interested and excited too when I found out what we were doing.
We stayed in a isolated cottage/ cabin in the mountains. It was cute and cozy.



Our first day we went into town--Moab and ate at Eddie McStiff's. I had the best fish & chips I've ever had in my life. Then the touring started. I've made links to all the places we saw if you have interest in seeing the beauties of Utah. I think most people that pass through drive on I-15 and think it is a really ugly state. But it has some awesome beauty...and yes, I-15 is pretty ugly.

National Park Extravaganza



Canyonlands National Park:
Island in the Sky








Arches National Park
delicate arch






Canyonlands National Park:
the Needles







Natural Bridges National Monument









Glen Canyon Recreational Area:
lake powell








Goblin Valley









Capitol Reef National Park









Dixie National Forest:
Boulder Mountain






Bryce Canyon National Park





We'd already seen Zions on an earlier trip.

Canyonlands National Park

Day 1

Canyonlands National Park

island in the sky

Canyonlands was our first stop. There are three different sections. The north end is the "Island in the Sky" because it sits at a much higher elevation and the Green River and the Colorado River join at the southern tip, creating huge canyons and giving impressive views.

Arches National Park

Day 1

Arches National Park

delicate arch

Balancing Rock

The day was ending and the sun was starting to set. We quickly drove through Arches and got a quick shot of balancing rock. We hiked the 1.3 miles up to Delicate Arch. This was probably the thing I was most excited to see when I found out what our trip was all about. It's famous, all over our license plates, and I'd always wanted to see it.

Needles in Canyonlands

Day 2

Needles in Canyonlands

hike

The lower east third of Canyonlands National Park is known as the Needles district because it is covered with rock pinnacles of red and white stone. It was incredible. The drive was really impressive, but then you get in the Needles and your jaw drops.

We took a 12 mile hike. It was really fun. The only other long hiking I've done has been mountains, where the first half is all uphill and the second is coming down. This was great because it had both throughout. My favorite parts were climbing on the rocks, or squeezing through the cracks. If you are ever in this area, this is such an awesome hike.

Usually they recommend you don't hike June-August because it gets so hot. We were so lucky, it was overcast and sprinkled throughout the day. It was perfect weather.

The above right photo was this cave tunnel thing where all the hikers had made tons of trail markers. The whole trail is marked with occasional piles of rocks, and these were pretty funny.

SLOT CANYON

A long narrow slit in the stone makes a cool part of the hiking trail. It was cool down there, so we chose to take a break and eat.

By the way, poor Rhett carried our backpack the whole way. He hauled all our water and food. I just held my Gatorade so I could indulge myself quite often. It's nice to travel with a husband.

RETURN TO OZ

This river bed reminded me of the scene where Dorothy and the chicken have to skip on the rocks to get to the grass, then they eat the bucket lunches off the tree. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Our hike:

Began at Elephant Hill where there is a 3 mile stretch through canyons. Then we chose to loop Chesler Park. The terrain opens up into meadows with clumps of needles randomly, then you hit slot canyon, and loop back to canyons of needles.

This is a pretty easy hike. We are both out of shape and finished it in 5.5 hours including all our breaks. Rhett had a hiking GPS and we ended up averages 2 mph. There is a ton of climbing over and on top of rock, so if you had bad knees or ankles this might be a bad choice. But it is awesome.

Monticello LDS Temple

Day 3

Monticello LDS Temple

Because we were celebrating our anniversary, we have a tradition of doing temple sealings. Kind of like renewing our own marriage vows while helping other people. This temple was tiny compared to others we've attended and it was a great experience.

Purpose of temples in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Video explaining temples

Natural Bridges National Monument

Day 3 continued

Natural Bridges

Rivers eroded through the canyon walls in this particular area to create three natural bridges. You can hike down to each one, we decided not to after our monster hike the day prior. They also have preserved a Native American dwelling you can see.

Lake Powell or Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Day 3 continued

Glen Canyon National Recreational Area

aka north lake powell

Apparently I slept through the most amazing views. This area was Rhett's favorite of the whole trip and we have few photos because I was snoozing in the car. He woke me up, and I was so jealous of the boaters. I love boating, and only have had chances to go with friends, or church youth activities. I always wanted to go to Lake Powell for a week long boating trip on a houseboat, but this is probably the closest I will get. I remember my friend Erin telling me how time stood still in Lake Powell and how fun it was. It sounded magical then and I'm sure is pretty great.

Blah blah blah, it was really pretty.