So going over the trip, hoping that some of you may get some ideas... We were out a long time- 29 days, and +5200 miles. The goal was to hit 6 NP sites- Badlands, Devil's Tower, Grand Teton, Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon, and North Rim Grand Canyon. To get there we, took a route that took us to see the Field of Dreams site (which was cool, as little leaguers were playing), Corn Palace, and the largest popcorn ball. Fun stuff.
On the way out, the only repeat city will be Sioux Falls- would like to see the falls in the spring with some run off.
As I posted a month ago, the Badlands were pretty amazing. We stayed at the lodge, which was ok, or good when looking at what else was available close by. Wall Drug is just a massive tourist site. If you go to the Badlands, try to go to the south side of it, where barely anyone goes. It's an interesting drive up a large bluff, and the top is worth it. Did hiking and drive touring in one day, so two nights. BTW, if you go, hope you have good weather, they did a really cool astronomy talk every night.
On the way to Devils Tower we stopped at Mt Rushmore. It's 4 guys carved into a mountain stolen from the natives. Take it as you will. Good to see it once, but that's enough.
Devils Tower was also spectacular. Just a simple shape, but how it fully got there is still a mystery. Which was interesting to read about. And gave us some things to ask climbers- as we stayed at the "lodge"- which is more a B&B than a lodge, hosted by a bunch of climbers. Hiking around the tower was both short and tough- but we did both the close and wide hike in one day. One day we had good weather, so that I broke out our telescope. Then the clouds blew in...
On the way to the Tetons, we stopped at Thermopolis, WY. I think I posted this would be a cheap way to see Buffalo and hot springs. Not as spectacular as Yellowstone, but much less crowded. There are some great petroglyphs to see, as well as a pretty incredible dinosaur museum. Lots of fossils found right there.
We were then at Grand Teton National Park for 3 nights, celebrating my birthday and seeing where I worked 36 years ago. The Tetons are really amazing to me- my favorite NP, but I did grow up really close by in Idaho. Hiked twice to see different views of the range, and rented a kayak to go on Jackson Lake. The view never gets tired for me. The weather was really great, too- so clear that my wife woke up one night to... and could not go to sleep since she so very clearly saw the Milky Way. Pretty amazing to stay in the Jackson Lake Lodge- easily the best lodge of the entire trip, but it cost, too. Good food, good bar, amazing views. While there, we also took a trip up to JD Rockefeller National Parkway to see Flagg Ranch Resort- where I worked in 1987. Sadly, the resort I worked at burned more than once since I was there, and it was totally gone. The new resort is up on top of a hill, and the memories live on there- nice to talk to people who have been told lots of stories from people like myself.
After a couple of days with my family in Idaho, we drove to Bryce Canyon NP. Long enough drive that we spent 3 nights there so that we had two days to hike and explore. Good thing we did, as we did stuff every day. This is a pretty spectacular park, and you can get right down into it to experience the unique geography. It's really a hard place to describe, so go and see it. Again, we stayed at the lodge. And had the least favorite experience there- mostly because of the food. Thankfully, the lodge is really close to the entrance, and a newly formed Bryce Canyon City which is made up of Ruby's resort. Which was really cool, actually. I mostly expected a super touristy place, but prices were reasonable, food was good, and everyone was friendly. Made up for the Lodge's restaurant issue (which we never went back to).
Zion is a short drive from Bryce, and entrance is very regulated to keep crowding down. This made staying at the lodge really nice to avoid the huge crowds. There are a number of pretty iconic hikes at Zion, but we just did the Narrows- which is just hiking up the canyon mostly in the river. Thankfully, we had good weather (read no flash floods). Unlike Bryce or Grand- the Zion Canyons are almost vertical rock canyons carved by the rivers. Being at the bottom of it makes you feel pretty darned small.
Southern Utah- Northern Arizona make up the Grand Staircase- where you can see about 1B years of stuff- the youngest at Bryce, the oldest at the bottom of the Grand. This area was pushed up about 50M years ago- roughly the same time the Teton's formed. I mention this now, as the drive to the North Rim is where you can see a really cool view of almost all of the staircase.
The Grand Canyon is, well, grand. Almost too much so. It's really hard to grasp the size of what you are looking at, it's so big. You know that the river is about a mile down from the south rim, add another 1000 from the north. When I was here in 1991, I had the same tough time coming from Zion and Bryce. We did hike one day, which was cool- NOT to the river- no where close to being in shape to do that, and it was really really hot. Every day, there was a medical evacuation thanks to the heat. Thankfully, we took a drive that I didn't take before, seeing some overlooks that gave better perspective. The last one was the highest viewpoint of the entire park- we were 3000ft over the rim we could see to the east- and you could just look down on it. Really cool. That really wrapped up our NP visits really well.
The way back, we followed the freeways that parallel Rt66. Years ago, we took R66 from outside Chicago to Tulsa and had a great time. And had penciled in a drive of the whole thing in our Alfa in retirement. Well, we dropped that idea after seeing that from NM to OKC, R66 is literally right next to the freeway except for towns. And there are not many towns. We know it's not in great condition, so the prospect of doing 50mph in a sporty car on rough roads for hours and hours ended. We saw it, stayed in a couple of Rt66 Motels and that was enough. It's noticeably down from when we went in terms of originality.
It was a great trip, and we have some ideas to see the other NP's in southern UT and northern AZ along with a stop at Rocky Mountain.
(for the 5200 miles, our well packed Ford Escape averaged 32mpg, if anyone cares)
