Trip Out West - UTAH!!

Oh, how I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Utah scenery!! Even more so with snow capped mountains in the background.

Maybe because it's so unique and nothing like what we see at home. WOW!! I hung my head out the window in awe and took LOTS of pictures.

I'm having a tough time picking out my favorites. Let's start with our 1st hike to Corona & Bowtie Arches.

Wow! So neat.

Epic Josh pose. But LOOK at those flowering cacti!? All flowers were in full bloom! More flowers to come.

Corona Arch. Amazing!! Notice the tiny people.

Bowtie Arch with boys for perspective.

Tough to beat that one! And we're not even in Arches yet.

The road back to our hotel just a few minutes away to check in. The Colorado River on the left.

Arches National Park here we come! We started with their longest 7m hike called Devil's Garden.

A rock cliff with a view.

Navajo Arch, one of our favorites. We entered from the other side into a windy cave. This is from inside.

When Jackson finds a hole, he must try it out.

Landscape Arch, another neat one.

Upward hiking on smooth rock faces.

A terrible group pic with a view.

Addy found a scorpian on the trail. This is the stick she tried to touch it with.

He found another one. HaHaHa!

On the loop back. One of my favorites for some reason.

I like this one too. City girl lost in the dessert.

Utah beauty at the end of Day 1.

The next morning we got to Arches before the toll booths were even open.

And visited the short hike section of the park.

Such peaceful hiking so early in the morning with less crowds.

Notice Jackson between the North & South Window Arches.

The tallest in the park, Double Arch. See my red sweatshirt for perspective.

Jackson arch contemplation.

Next, the Fiery Furnace. Not advertised as a public hike but the very best in the park!

We had to get a permit by paying a fee, listening to a video and meeting with a ranger. To be displayed at all times on Josh's backpack.

This place was so unique and maze-like. Tons of tight places and areas to explore.

We ran into the 9:00 guided tour but once they passed, we were alone except for 2 other couples. One asked us to take their pic so they took ours.

Before beginning this hike, the ranger explained that it is physically demanding. And asks if you can squeeze through tight spaces...

Shimmy between rock walls by holding yourself off the ground and pushing against the sandstone walls with your hands and feet...

Walk along narrow ledges above drop-offs...

Walk and climb on irregular and broken sandstone...

And get lost!! They are going into a cave made by giant fallen sandstone rocks.

The magnificent Yucca plant!

These 2 were in their element. Jackson said it was his favorite hike.

The views were beautiful. Reminded me of the Narrows in Zion. Made you feel very small with such huge canyon walls towering above.

There were several areas of water but not much. And tons of greenery. If the path wasn't sandstone rock, it was made of sand.

This was our cloudiest day but thankfully it didn't rain and the temperature was comfortable.

This was the only area we kinda got lost. This crack was the right way.

Josh checking out the wrong way. Trying to get us to check out the view. Don't fall into the cracks, it was a deep drop.

Slot canyons everywhere. It's rare that I get so many pictures taken of me.

Man made stairs?? One of the only signs nearing the end of the hike. We also saw a natural bridge and several large arches along our hike but I did't have room to include them.

On our way out. Even Addy liked it, after getting used to exploring and not really getting lost! I kept the all trails map on my phone just in case, and we needed it at least once.

We had lunch then drove 30 min to Canyonlands National Park. The kids slept in the car while Josh and I took the short hike to this view. Very similar to the Grand Canyon.

We also took their most famous hike to Mesa Arch. Tons of people were there and it was not our favorite. The kids were done hiking so we skipped the rest.

Sunset UTV Tour of Hell's Revenge. #1 attraction on Trip Advisor and highly recommended by my friend Stephanie.

Josh got to drive so he enjoyed this the most! He had to meticulously follow our guide and the other 2 UTVs in front of us.

We went along cliffs, up and down steep rocks, and it was very bumpy in the back. We stopped every 30 min or so to enjoy the scenery.

The view of Hell's Revenge. There was a "road" through the sandstone to follow.

This is one of several REAL dinosaur tracks!! WOW! The guide said he knows where multiple others are located in the area.

Addy was not a fan when we 1st started but she eventually warmed up. Too adventurous for my gentle girl.

A gorgeous view of the Colorado River.

I liked riding in the front way better! It was way less bumpy. Cool experience. Glad we did it!

Last day in Arches. Do you see what I see?? The most iconic arch of all. On every Utah license plate.

Doesn't even do it justice. Notice the snow capped mountains in the background. It was early in the morning so there were less people and a kind of quiet respect for this one.

Side view.

Me in the pic for perspective.

The hike back down the 3m round trip trail.

If you can call it a trail. This was an area of flat downhill rock.

After lunch, we began out last and final hike in Moab. This one was our UTV guides favorite in the area.

These flowers were everywhere. There was even one on top of Delicate Arch. HA!

This hike had more water than others and looked similar to a NC hike.

Almost to the end of the 4.3m Grandstaff Trail.

The Morning Glory natural bridge. Notice the rock rappellers.

Two lizards, larger than ours in NC, but Addy still caught one!

Thank you Utah for such a fun vacation!!