Zion National Park ~ Day 3

Our morning hike was The Sand Beach Trail. 

 This hike was my favorite, it’s a soft sand trail that follows the Virgin River which turns emerald green in places. 

The trail ends at the magnificent Court of the Patriarchs. 

 We saw many mountain deer, a buck and more turkeys.

  We never saw another person throughout our hike, it was awesome.

In another spontaneous decision, we took a drive to Kolob Canyons.  We were excited that our gorgeous weather continued allowing road access to this beautiful area. Kudos to their awesome road crews! Most of the hiking trails were closed but it was so great to see the overlooks.

It was late when we finally finished so we decided to stop for an early dinner outside the park in Hurricane at Lonny Boy's BBQ.

Zion National Park ~ Day 2

Our second day began very early. We wanted to take some pictures at sunrise at  locations in the park. We saw very few people making this an excellent time to get some selfie photos.  

I highly recommend seeing the sunrise at Court of the Patriarchs.  

Sunrise was glorious.  

Our next photo stop was Temple of Sinawava where we were had complete privacy to take photos without any other visitors around. 

Following our photo time, we headed out for our first hike of the day.  We began at the Grotto following along the West Rim Trail to Scout lookout.

Honestly,  I didn't totally enjoy this hike. I don't want to discourage anyone from taking the hike because the views make it all worth it.

I just don't like hikes that are paved and it's mostly a paved hiking trail with several steep inclines. It is a good work out.

After our hike, we decided on a spontaneous drive to Bryce Canyon National Park.   You can read the review Here.

Our second night at the Red Rock Grill we were seated next to the huge windows with a view to die for.  I chose the Grilled Pork Chop and Hubby chose the same pasta dish he loved.  

Zion National Park ~ Day 1

First, a little background on us we are two retirees aged 60-70 and our experience may be different than yours if you're a younger group or family.

We spent three nights exploring this beautiful park. We are from the south and did not know what type of weather we should expect.  Friends told us to expect snow, that turned out not to be the case. We could not have asked for more beautiful weather for our three days in the park.

We stayed on the grounds in the Zion National Park Lodge. The views alone made it worth every penny we paid for the cabin. 

We normally travel on points and miles which we could have used in Springdale right outside the park. But we wanted the total experience of staying inside the park.  We stopped and bought breakfast items as well as some lunch items to bring with us. We budgeted for three meals inside the park lodge restaurant, The Red Rock Grill.

We totally enjoyed our cabin stay.  Go here for our review.  

Our first day we did two short hikes. The first hike was along the Sand Beach Trail which we walked from the lodge grounds. This hike follows along the side of the Virgin River, we just hiked two hours round-trip.

We saw several deer, some turkeys and totally enjoy the scenery.  

Next, we drove along the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway. The views on this highway were simply incredible!

We were totally excited to spot our first Longhorn sheep right outside the tunnel.  

I took several photographs while they ate and seemed to be enjoying this beautiful warm day in the sun.

Because it was off-season, there was very little traffic as we continued our way to the east entrance.

For our second hike we did the Riverside Walk at the Temple of Sinawava.  We continued a little bit longer past the handicap turn around, this hike was a little more challenging with a lot of steep inclines but pretty.

We ran out of energy just as the daylight was quickly fading.  We decided to head back to our cabin to get ready for Dinner.

After reading conflicting reviews regarding the Red Rock Grill at the lodge, I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty it was. I had the bison burger with sweet potato fries while Hubby decided on the Pa’rus Pasta with squash and other vegetables.  Both were very good.

2016 National Parks Road Trip ~ Glacier National Park

The drive into Glacier National Park was beautiful, with beautiful fall colors.  

Going-to-the-Sun road was picturesque.

We stayed 3 nights in a small cabin at Lake McDonald Lodge.

 It had to full beds & a bath with shower.  It was very comfortable for the two of us but I think it would be crowded with 3 or more.

The first day we arrived we enjoyed a beautiful sunset over Lake McDonald.

 It was late so we spent the evening exploring the historic Lodge.

Day 2 began with an absolutely devine sunrise of pink & purple.  

We drove to Apgar Campground for another view of Lake McDonald.

 I liked the rustic feel if the cabins here over the more modern cabins of Lk McDonald Lodge and loved the shops.

We drove through to the Camas entrance road and hiked the oxbow trail along a pretty duck pond.

 Dinner was a tasty huckleberry elk goat cheese burger, YUM!

Tuesday we drove Going-to-the-Sun road around Heaven's Peak.

We hiked the St. Mary Falls trail, it was an interesting hike with streams,creeks, cascades & a wonderful view of the falls.

After our hike we drove to Many glacier, the hotel was closed but the view of Many Glacier and Sherburne Lake was jaw dropping.

2016 National Parks Road Trip ~ Yellowstone ~ Day 2

Our second day in Yellowstone we explored the North and Eastern areas.  

We loved all the animals.

Bison

Elk

Bighorn Sheep

The Swan

 

There were numerous waterfalls, Rapids, Lakes & Rivers

Yellowstone River

Lake Yellowstone

2016 National Parks Road Trip ~ Yellowstone ~ Day 1

All day rain was predicted during our 2 Days in Yellowstone so we didn't get the opportunity to explore the hiking trails we had planned.  

Our first day was spent exploring the Southern and Western areas.  The geysers took the most time.  Each one more unique than the next.  We started with Old Faithful

Then we walked 8 miles exploring more geysers throughout the day

Each geyser was more impressive than the one before.

 

2016 National Parks Road Trip ~ Day 12 ~ Antelope Island State Park

The Great Salt Lake has been on my bucket list since I was a child and my Daddy spoke about how he visited through the army and there was so much salt he floated.

The water was too cold for swimming but we rolled up our pants & waded in the cold water.  It felt really good but there is a strong smell from the salt & algae.  The only sea life I saw was a few brine shrimp.

The view is just stunning.  The water looked like a sheet of glass.

We later stopped for a bison burger at the only cafe on the island.

Finally we drove around the island to meet some of the local residents.  One of the guys in the island was eager to meet us.

Some preferred to hang out with their own gangs.

These two antelope enjoyed playing in traffic while the Buck watched over them.