Zion vs. Bryce

As we have travelled, Jeff and I have been gradually learning that we prefer visiting fewer places more extensively, as opposed to rushing from place to place just getting a taste of each location. In that vein, we decided to visit just one of Zion National Park or Bryce Canyon National Park on the way from Great Basin National Park in Nevada to Moab, Utah, and Zion won.

Zion had several things in its favor. First, my friend and glassblowing partner, Katie, who has visited and hiked both, highly recommended Zion. Second, geologists that we met in Winnemucca, NV and Baker, NV recommended Zion as more interesting. And third, Zion seemed to have a lot more variety in terms of landscapes and microclimates when compared with Bryce.

I do hope to return to the western US and visit Bryce Canyon National Park some day (not to mention the Grand Canyon), but the pull of Zion and Moab will be tough to overcome, given that our vacation time and dollars are not unlimited, and given how much we have enjoyed visiting them.

One of the treasures that we found in the vicinity of Zion was a little restaurant called the Red Coyote Cafe. By chance, we stopped there for lunch, and based upon how surprisingly wonderful and unique the lunch was, we went back for a breakfast the next day, and a dinner that same evening. The proprietor, Jan, was charming, and she gave us great advice in terms of where to go and what to do in the park.

Moab!

We are in Moab right now at the Canyonlands RV Park, which is conveniently located across the street from the Moab Brewery. We arrived here after the long drive from Zion on Friday, and we ate dinner at the brewery that evening.

We spent most of Saturday setting up camp, cleaning and organizing the RoVerhauler and exploring some of the charming shops in the town of Moab. We did a self-guided petroglyph tour in the afternoon, using information from a flier that we picked up at the Moab Visitor’s Center, and we had dinner at a great Mexican restaurant, Miguel’s Baja Grill. We happened to be here on the first evening of the 2008 Moab Art Walk, so we hit all nine sites on the art walk after dinner. I managed to restrain myself and only bought one piece, a lovely bracelet. It is made of silver metal and blue and green dichroic glass, and it was quite modestly priced.

On Sunday, we rode a local mountain bike trail in the morning and into the early afternoon, and then we bought tickets for a Colorado River Cruise for the evening, which included dinner. We road the classic Moab beginner’s trail, the Bar M loop. The dinner cruise was nice, but somewhat touristy. The food was hearty and tasty (mmmmm, spicy BBQ pork!), and we met a nice couple from Indiana over dinner. The cruise was very pleasant. The scenery was wonderful, and the view from the river was great. The “sound and light” show was a bit over the top, but interesting and informative nonetheless. The light show might have been a bit more spectacular if not for the brightness of the almost full moon last night, but the moonglow added a beauty of its own to the scenery.

Today, we started exploring Arches National Park. What spectacular scenery! And so accessible too! The roads are great, there are lots of pull-offs for photo opportunities, and numerous trails for those who want to get up close. We visited Balanced Rock, the North and South Window Arches, Double Arch and Delicate Arch. We skipped the Garden of Eden and the Devil’s Garden because we were sun-weary and hungry. I really hope that we will be able to make the time to visit those spots before we must head home. We met a nice couple, Lynn and Allison from North Carolina, on the trail to Delicate Arch. I hope that they will be in touch… they are planning to visit Zion next year, and we have some tips for them.

Registration for the Land Rover National Rally begins tomorrow afternoon at 4 PM. Rover people have been trickling into town over the past couple of days. Jeff has run into several people that he knows from other rallies, and we have met many new people as well.

In the morning, before rally registration opens, Jeff and I are planning to launch the kayak in the Colorado River. We spotted a public boat launch from the river cruise last night. We dragged the kayak and associated gear all the way here from MA, so we want to use it. We found the perfect spot from which to launch the kayak near Zion, but unfortunately, it was already late in the afternoon on the day before we were planning an early morning departure, so we’ll have to leave that spot for our next trip out.