Wow, planning is hard. I'm trying to keep myself to a timeline so I don't show up in New York on Labor Day but there is so much stuff to see, I keep finding myself inching further and further west. As much as I would like to see the Pacific Ocean, I must head east. I'm not too sure I've left myself time for things like, setting up my tent, eating, showering, doing laundry and other mundane things. My previous roadtrips have consisted of driving all night, sleeping a couple hours and hitting the road before sunrise. I'm not sure how long I can maintain that pace. Anyway, we last left off at Glacier National Park.
After leaving Glacier I'm going to drive down to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in Idaho. These mountains look gorgeous and I hope to get out and hike at least one trail. Two scenic byways take me thru this area and I'll take one over to Craters of the Moon National Monument. I am most excited to explore their lava tube caves. One of the smaller caves is the picture below. I'm camping there and driving to Twin Falls, Idaho where I'll check out some waterfalls (duh).
Then it's off to the City of Rocks backcountry byway, Golden Spike National Historic Site and the Great Salt Lake. I'm camping on Antelope Island which is in the Great Salt Lake (hopefully not submerged). I've heard the lake is hot, dirty, buggy, smelly and gross but it's a tourist trap and I'm going in (not my head, the salt is not kind to bodies so I've heard. I grew up a freshwater species). I'm going to swing through Salt Lake City but I'm not into Mormons or the Winter Olympics so I'll just do a drive by (I've heard big cities have lots of those).
Then I'm heading down to the Capitol Reef national park. There is a backcountry trail that leads through the park, through Grand Staircase Escalante and over towards Bryce Canyon and it's supposed to be one of the most scenic roads in the U.S. This area is notorious for slot canyons and frankly I won't be hiking any because flash floods scare the crap out of me. Grand Staircase Escalante is very inhospitable and apparently is one of the most remote regions in the U.S. As I don't want to descend into Woman vs. Wild, I have decided to do just one hike. I picked Calf Creek Falls because they look STUNNING (see top pic above)! I'm pumped to jump right in because it's a long, hot hike. From there I am driving over to Bryce Canyon and on to Zion National Park. I'll spend one night at Bryce and two nights in Zion because I want to make sure I see everything. Next up LAS VEGAS!
I'm meeting my friend Jess at the Grand Canyon so I decided to kill some time and hit Las Vegas. I got a dirt cheap hotel room at the Excalibur which is right in the heart of the Strip so I can just park there and walk everywhere and not worry about parking or public transportation. I actually found a hotel for $10 but it was north of the Strip and apparently the name gets literal in that area. Yes, I will gamble and no I will not enjoy it but as least I can say I did it. There's tons of free stuff to see and do so I'm not worried about losing too much money. The average high in Las Vegas in July is 106 degrees (average!). If I don't pass my audition to be a showgirl, I'll leave Friday morning July 17th. I'll hit the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead and be at the Grand Canyon, eagerly awaiting a recognizable face. Heaven knows I probably won't be recognizable by that point...
haha! I used to live in Twin Falls...did I tell you that? The bridge is neat too. Its kind of a dusty crap-hole of a town to live in, but the water falls should be going pretty good by then. The canyon on the way into town was filmed in the 2nd Indiana JOnes movie. Dont see it, lots of snakes. Not so many that i've seen around the canyon itself though :)
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