Visiting Utah

Of all the states we visited, Utah was stunning. We spent three days there overall, the longest of any state on the trip and it was the state we saw the most of. Crossing into the state after a very brief trip through Colorado, we immediately noticed the 13,000-ft. La Sal mountains on our drive to  Arches National park. The mountains provided beautiful background scenery while tall red rock formations littered the landscape we drove through. It felt like we were in both the desert and the mountains. 

Once at Arches, we planned our route carefully as it was a long day with plenty of state to cover. We both regretted that we didn't do more hiking in Arches, but in the few hours we were there, we loved the arches we saw, the bright red and brown rock formations and La Sal mountains in the distance. 

It really felt like you could see for miles!

In the late afternoon, it was my turn to drive and I drove us north to Salt Lake City, about four and a half hours away. The road north took us through sparse land, coal towns, Native American land, and a small snowstorm. The temperature dropped to 26 degrees on the drive, a big dip from the 70-degree temperatures we had enjoyed in Arches National Park. Visiting family in Salt Lake and having the following day as a rest day with no driving and staying in the city was really nice. My aunt took us on a tour of the city and it was fantastic to visit with my uncle and cousins. The entire city is beautifully surrounded by tall mountains.

We saw the statehouse with its white marble, large paintings of  Mormons pioneers founding the state for religious freedom, and dozens of children filing through on a field trip. The religious founding of the state is so intertwined with the present-day's state government and culture. That seemed fascinating and unfamiliar. 

 The following day, (St. Patrick's Day!) we headed south to Zion National Park, a five hour drive through straight interstate where the speed limit was 80 mph. The weather became much warmer and I was surprised to see lilacs in bloom as we arrived at Zion. 

It's tricky to say that one location in this world is the most beautiful when there is so much diversity in landscape, but Zion to me was unlike anything I had seen before, and felt true to its name of God and Earth meeting. To me, it was one of most truly beautiful places I'd seen and the best national park of the trip.

Maybe it was the early spring, but there was something about the colors, the bright blue sky, the light green trees, the bright red rocks, the height of the mountains, the emerald pools of water and the rivers flowing through it all. We did quite a bit of hiking in Zion, wanting to see as much as we could. 

We stayed in Kanab, Utah that night near the Arizona boarder and headed south the next day.