Why
The most straightforward answer perhaps is that I needed a break after recovery (at least mentally) from my recent bike accident. Further, it’s shoulder time – less crowd, less cost. I also have not travelled much during the Fall.
Plan & Itinerary
1 week road trip
Why not flying? Other than I actually like driving in which I can take the time to meditate and focus on listening to audio books, fly and rent a car isn’t exactly easy this year. Other than possibly cancellation and trip delays, flying isn’t exactly cheap even to hubs like SLC & LAS. Car rental was outrageous!!! Costco.com was quoting me for more than $600 for just 3 days!
A combination of factors, plus the flexibility that driving my own car provides (in addition to scheduling also I can drive one way to places. For example, from Zion to Great Basin I would not have done so had I rented a car instead)
Though, Great Basin was a last minute plan in which I will discussion in detail later. Though, I could probably have extended given that I got to know I was laid off that week when I was in Bryce Canyon watching sunrise.
Day 1
Had a late start, only managed to leave home at around 11am even on a Sunday. I think work has probably stressed out me a bit even though it’s not all about long hours.
Not really much to talk about given it’s just a full day drive. Buffet was nice, not the best, but it was only $22.34 including tax/tips.
Stayed at Holiday Inn Nampa using IHG 21,000 points.
Day 2
Still quite a drive from Idaho to Utah. Pretty dull until SLC
The only sight plan is to go through the Nebo Loop Scenic Byway
I did a little half mile hiking trail around Forebay Recreation Area
It’s definitely much more snowy to my like. Nevertheless, it’s a hidden gem probably most people don’t know. It’s definitely worth the slight detour from SLC.
The biggest issue I had was not knowing the road condition. For one thing it’s a Monday so naturally there wasn’t much traffic and I didn’t see anyone coming from other direction. Another is that this is winter travel. I think the lesson here is always prepare more as in research the elevation and snow condition. I managed to get through not without sweat.
After the loop it’s a short drive to Salina, UT. It’s relatively close to Capitol Reef. The biggest thing was the cheap Super 8 Motel there. It’s probably one of the best I’ve had (it even has a breakfast) for meagerly $63.20!! What a treat!
Day 3
The fun finally started! I got up really early (I think when I travel I always tend to be very productive – early start)
Early morning was cold, I think it was below 30F for sure.
There’s actually no entrance booth at Capitol Reef unlike most other parks.
Decided to do a short hike to warm up my body
| Cassidy Arch | 1.7 mi (2.8 km) | 670 ft (204 m) | Strenuous | Natural arch, slickrock, canyon views |
I met two hikes on the Arch trail and got to know the changing weather condition where the snow storm is going to hit this part of Utah soon. This made me thinking I should start hitting south sooner so I don’t get stuck in the area.
One more quick trail to complete the park tour
| Hickman Bridge | 0.9 mi (1.4 km) | 400 ft (122 m) | Moderate | 133-foot natural bridge, canyon views |
After that I started the all famous UT-12 Scenic Byway
Right passed midway, the weather became quite nice. Clear blue sky. Though the Scenic Drive is located elevated so still windy and cold!
Unfortunately, I was bit tired (also the nice 60F weather didn’t help :D) from early trails and the river trail is quite far (6Mi) so after a quickly break. I decided to head towards Bryce
A few more photos before situated down in Bryce City. Ruby Inn offers both alright food and lodging options.
If I had my camping gears, or didn’t to deal with snow storm I’d probably look staying a night somewhere on UT-12 since I had a few other trails I would like to do. Most lodging options are closed off for the reason now. There wasn’t really many options for < $100 option. I happened to have a credit card promo with AMEX that took $30 off my Best Western stay.
I had dinner buffet at Ruby Inn restaurant ($33.62) and stayed at Best Western Plus Ruby’s Inn ($103.44 – $30 = $73.44)
Day 4
Again early start (though not even to see sunrise)
Finally decent lighting to start the iconic Queen’s/Navajo Combination Loop (2.9 mi)
It is at this time my manager phoned me. I didn’t pick up since I was on the trail, but I knew it’s probably about layoffs. (Think about why someone would call when I am on vacation on a Wednesday early morning?)
Got back to my car. Heard the chilling news that my last day would be Friday.
Now, I had the option to stay longer. I could potentially roam around America south. I have already been to Arizona and Texas, it would take another 1,000 miles to probably get to south eastern states. The combination of fuel cost and costly hotel stays (why didn’t I bring my camping gears ehhhhh) helped me to decide to continue my planned routes.
Those above were from Scenic drive to Yovimpa Point. After that, it’s time for Zion! (Continue on UT12 towards UT 89, and finally reaching to Mount Carmel Junction)
UT-9 here I come!
After the history tunnel!
After the scenic drive, it was quite late already (2:30pm). I had planned taking a short biking trip instead of relying on the buses in Zion. Combination of saving time on logistics and avoiding potential rain later that day. I decided to just quickly hop on a bus and head to the West Rim trail connects to Scout lookout. (4.2Mi, 1000ft)
I didn’t take many photos since the rain fall was imminent.
At this point, I was the only one at the Angles landing checkpoint (you need a permit to get up there). I was really exhausted at this point, though it’s no one’s checking permit at this point now.
Took more photos on the way down
It’s getting quite late now after I got back to the Visitor center via the Zion bus and rain really started pouring in as soon as I hopped on the bus. I got really lucky there!
For some reasons I decided to visit the local supermarket to grab some snacks for dinner. It turned out to be a mistake, the supermarket is 3 times more expensive than a regular one and I probably would have spent less with way better food had I just gone to a bar nearby instead. ($17.86 for some frozen tasteless snacks)
I used IHG certificate to stay at the Holiday Inn Express Springdale – Zion Natl Park Area, an IHG Hotel
Day 5
Continue on to Valley of Fire as originally planned.
Though it’s part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, but the State park has an entrance fee of $15. The state museum also had a $6 charge
It’s quite wet, I almost decided not to go. Lucky, rain stopped right before the exit on I15
Continued on to the Scenic Drive towards The White Domes
I decided to continue to Ely, NV for the night. In part was I’ve been to Vegas already and there wasn’t much to do but casinos. Also, it was quite pricy to stay around Vegas for some reasons.
After arriving at Ely, it’s already pitch dark (7pm). The burger restaurant that I wanted to go was closed for some reasons, instead I decided to go Mexican again at a casino.
What I didn’t know was I should have checked in first to get the coupon, then I would have had two drinks instead of one (buy one get one for free! not that I needed the extra drink. When I do long hike and drive days, I tend not to consume much alcohol. Strange world)
I once again used IHG certificate to stay at Holiday Inn Express & Suites Ely
Day 6
After spending the morning hours filing paper work and sent out farewells, I decided to continue to Great Basin national park. This was actually unplanned until the day before as I was looking into routing options back to WA.
One possibility is to drive 6 hours west towards Lake Tahoe and take advantage of the AMEX fine hotel & resorts credit. I think it might have been a better choice instead of driving back to Idaho and got stuck right before Snoqualmie pass. Oh well.
The biggest deciding factor was Great Basin cave tour was at 1pm only, if it would be just really late to get to Lake Tahoe at that point, I could stayed in Reno or so but that would probably take 2 extra nights on the road without much sight seeing opportunities.
Not too bad from Ely to Great Basin with the bright sun shining over the sky.
After arriving at the park, I had some time to kill until the cave tour. I decided heading to nearby trails. (surprisingly, there were quite a few campgrounds at the park were still open, I wonder what would be nice to glaze over the stars at night there)
Finally, long waited cave tour!
The Ranger who led the tour was fantastic, it was her first day doing her own tour! Amazing.
I do think the Great Basin is a bit underrated comparing to Carlsbad Caverns. Though, having to wait for the tour is a bit annoying. There’re 9am tours on weekends only. I think if I knew this information in advance, I would have planned the trip slightly better.
5hr drive to Twin Falls, ID
It really after 8pm when I got to town. Initially I wanted to go to a brewery, but it turns out there’s a line and it’s a boutique restaurant. Didn’t feel too fancy that night, and decided to head to a garage style food hall @ 2nd South Market.
Since it’s Friday night, the bar counter was quite busy (all seating was full at the bar). I opted to get my food first.
The smoked ribs were tasty, and the price portion was very generous. Twin Falls is such an affordable city it appears. The beer was only $4 (+$1 for tips)
I stayed at the Holiday Inn Twin Falls, an IHG Hotel for $116.64
Day 7
Just a long drive home on I84
The most unfortunate part of the day was that the blue sky over both Seattle and Eastern WA side blindsided me on double checking the weather conditions over Snoqualmie pass (I did ask Google, and it fooled me somewhat by saying Bare & Dry)
I only found out the changing conditions on I90 approaching the pass that the snow conditions were really bad over the pass. Soon after the pass was completely shutdown due to multiple spinoffs and accidents.
I decided to turnaround to Ellensburg to stay for the night. Had I knew this would be the case, I would have taken the scenic route towards Portland via Columbia Gorge, which would have been a gorgeous drive and I didn’t have to be miserable figuring out how to get back via I90
That Saturday was just bad luck. Not only I had to book somewhere unplanned for an extra night and constantly having to get up at night to check weather conditions, but also I somehow had my windshield cracked. My tire resulted in a leak after parking at the hotel too.
I stayed at Comfort Inn Central University South. Everything else was booked, probably due to a combination being a Saturday night and i90 closure. I ate McDonalds for the night.
As soon as I checked into my hotel, the pass was open again. Obviously this is all hindsight. When it was closed, the message sounded quite bleak, “unknown time to open again”. The snow had stopped at that point, it was cleared in an hour to back to open again. It would have been better than to wait until next morning since it snowed equally bad.
The lesson here is really, check pass conditions on hourly basis. Typically interstates do clear the snow pretty quickly. If forecast is continued snow, detour. If forecast is clear and dry, wait.
Summary
Overall, it’s a fantastic to tour Southwest again during Fall time. The snowstorms have definitely caught me off guard a bit since I was not counting late fall and early winter being in such extremes, especially in Utah.
Expenses
| Day | Food | Lodging | Gas | Other | |
| 1 | $22.34 | $105 | $70.56 | $12.13 | |
| 2 | $20.60 | $63.20 | $127.14 | ||
| 3 | $33.62 | $73.44 | $12.13 | ||
| 4 | $17.86 | $95 | $65.99 | ||
| 5 | $34.49 | $95 | $53.98 | $27 | |
| 6 | 23.28 | $116.64 | $56 | $2.49 | |
| 7 | 10.38 | $110 | $124.53 | $39.4 | |
| Total | $162.57 | $658 | $498.20 | $93.33 | |
| Grand Total: | $1,412.38 |
Other: beverages/water/snacks