“Road impassable when wet.” I roll my eyes at this statement. I have been to enough national parks and monuments to know my limits and how cautious the National Park Service has gotten. Little did I know that park service’s warning was more than the usual overreaction. I had quite an adventure while camping at Echo Park in Dinosaur National Monument.
Utah Rocks! That phrase seems to be everywhere nowadays. I would call Utah the state of rocks. Its most prominent features are all rocks. Visitors come from around the world to see Utah’s rocks. I have been obsessed with this state since long before I before I started my 59 national park quest. I have wanted to visit Utah (aka Angel’s Landing in Zion) since I was in high school. I have visited this state several times since I started college. I took an internship that didn’t really interest me for the solo reason as it got my close to Utah. I then took the long way home from Colorado to Florida with a trip to Utah on the way. There are plenty of things to do in Utah. Here is my MatD’s Ultimate Utah Bucket List
“Your pass has expired.” My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe it. My America the Beautiful National Park Pass had expired. It feels like just yesterday that I bought the pass and now it is expired. I got over my shock and reached into my wallet and handed my credit card over. Time to pay $80.00 for another park pass.
I sat near a 1,500 foot vertical drop and admired the view. It had taken me almost 8 years of plotting and planning to make this trip a reality. The view from Angel’s Landing exceeded expectations and was worth the wait. The early explorers were right.
I was at the Bryce Canyon National Park Visitor Center waiting for the park movie to start. I am turning the pages of the hiking guide trying to decide what trail to hike. A small article titled “Hike the Hoodoos Challenge.” To complete the challenge, one needs do one of two things to hike at least 3 miles of on benchmark trails and/or collect a picture or rubbing of 3 benchmarks. Once completed return to the visitor center and collect “a special reward.” It didn’t say what the award was or limit it to only kids. Therefore, challenge accepted since I planned on hiking more than 3 miles.