Utah - Zion & Bryce

Back in late April, I (David) had a work trip in Las Vegas. I went a few days early to visit some family in town and then to head out to some national parks in Utah for the weekend. My friend's Jon and Elaine joined me in Las Vegas for the trip along with their toddler Gwyneth. I'm always incredibly excited to spend time with these folks, they're some of my favorite people. ^_^ As an added bonus, this was my first trip with a toddler and I learned a lot of useful tricks that will be helpful when my nephew Alex gets a bit older!

There are many national parks in Utah. This trip we visited Zion and Bryce Canyon. I love the west! The big empty spaces, variable weather, elevation and wildlife are all really interesting to me, as an east-coast person. Zion Canyon is one of the most amazing national parks I've visited, and I'd highly recommend anyone visiting Las Vegas take the few hour drive out to Utah to check these places out. They're way better than some casino.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a tons of pictures, but here's some of the highlights of the trip! Starting with Bryce Canyon and ending with Zion.

Sadly, this was the most snow I'd seen all year

Bryce Canyon is full of hoodoos and fins

Some snow at the top of the Canyon, around 9,000 feet

I think this is a bristlecone pine. They can live for up to 5,000 years! This tree was possibly alive before the pyramids were built.

Look over there, Gwyneth, it's daddy!

It was pretty cold, she wasn't thrilled about being in this thing until I started jumping up and down...which isn't super fun (for me anyway) at 9,000 feet.

At Bryce canyon, accommodations are limited. There's a town right near the entrance that's pretty small, but with a few chain hotels and restaurants. Unfortunately, there was really nothing good to eat. I'd recommend you camp, or plan to not stay in this area overnight. Accommodations near Zion are much nicer and you can plan to do both parks over a couple days (which is what we did).

Some of the trails were still closed for the season, due to snow. There was one medium-difficulty trail open that wasn't too long so we spent the morning hiking into the canyon. It's a really different view looking out, then it was looking down into the canyon.

I found this in our hotel nightstand. I assumed there'd be a Book of Mormon...but why is it in Italian?!

Woot! Go GT!

This area was called Wall Street, I guess it looked like skyscrapers to people in the early 20th century

Aww...too much excitement for one day! Man, I look in my 30s in this picture...

After spending a day in Bryce Canyon, we headed off towards Zion, which is on the way back towards Las Vegas. The main route follows a small verdant canyon, which is a nice change from the orange/brown Bryce Canyon. On the way there we stopped at the Wild Boar Bistro (which may have closed) in Glendale, Utah. They had great grilled cheese sandwiches and some local Utah beer on tap.

Utah brewers seem to enjoy taking jabs at the establishment!

The Wild Boar Cafe had some weird roadside mannequins!

After lunch, we drove the rest of the way to Zion. It was raining so we didn't get a chance to stop in Zion on the way in. The accommodations and food options in Springdale are much better than in Bryce, and we were able to find a good dinner and rest up for a full day of hiking the next day before our drive back to Vegas.

During the warm months, Zion doesn't allow people to drive into the canyon. Instead, they operate a really exceptional shuttle system that goes from Springdale all the way through the canyon, stopping frequently. It's a really excellent system that helps preserve the serenity of the park while ensuring that we don't have to pave over more of the land than is necessary for parking lots. As a city planner, I approved!

There must be an unspoken rule about beverages sticking it to the man in Utah!

Zion shuttle system

The canyon is pretty wide near the entrance near Springdale

End of the trail at the Virgin River. You can walk through the water into the Narrows if you're interested. Not a good idea in April, the water was pretty cold.

The rain the day before really greened up the park!

Here's the Virgin River again!

By afternoon, the sun shone brightly on the east canyon wall, which made for nice pictures.

Spring has sprung in Zion!

Common view in the canyon. Very beautiful scenery.

This puddle of water entertained her for a good 5 minutes

Too cute, but fully standing in a puddle...

This is from the north part of Zion called the Kolob Canyon

Panda on the loose!

Bounce! Bounce!