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Open Roads Forum > Roads and Routes

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MPond

Thousand Oaks, CA

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Posted: 08/07/11 12:45am

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This year we spent a month on the road, traveling through Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. Along the way we hit many great spots, including the UT-12 Scenic Byway, Moab, UT, Ouray, CO, Mesa Verde NP(Cortez, CO), Monument Valley, UT, Sedona, AZ, and Bullhead City, AZ.

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We had a route plan when we started out, but it evolved over the course of the month. The map above is the route we ended up taking, as opposed to the route we planned.

We've been back just shy of a month now, and it's taked me that long to get these pictures organized, resized, etc... so that I could create a quality

Trip Report. We had over 2800 photos, so I've tried to narrow it down to the highlights here. If you're interested in seeing more, you can check out the following site: RoadTrip2011

Now this is my first Trip Report, so please let me know if I've made any mistakes...

I should also note that we had some technical difficulties with the camera and lost a few pictures along the way... (I'm not certain, but I think the 2-year-old got to it and accidentally deleted some of them). Because of that, we downloaded a few from the internet, which were similar to the ones we lost. All in all, 98% of the pictures in this trip report are ours.

Please let me know what you guys think. [emoticon]

Edit: I realized that the first few posts are mostly of my kids - but I promise - they do get much more scenic. [emoticon]

* This post was edited 08/07/11 12:54am by MPond *

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MPond

Thousand Oaks, CA

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Posted: 08/07/11 12:51am

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Beginning our month-long journey, we set out on the road toward Las Vegas for an overnight rest stop before moving on.
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My trusty co-pilot...
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We took the kids to the Mirage in Las Vegas for dinner and to see the Volcano Show
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The Las Vegas Motorcoach Resort was a nice place to stop. The next morning we packed up and headed for Utah
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MPond

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Posted: 08/07/11 12:53am

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Arriving at Zion in the early afternoon, we decided to head into the park for some hiking.
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Hiking to the Lower Emerald Pools
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After a long day, the kids were all tuckered out.
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MPond

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Posted: 08/07/11 12:56am

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Leaving Zion we took UT-9 through the Zion-Mt Carmel tunnel (1.1 miles long);
We had to detach the Jeep because we were over the 50' length restriction
[image]

MPond

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Posted: 08/07/11 12:57am

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After the tunnel we spent some time in the Zion Backcountry
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Checkerboard Mesa
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MPond

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Posted: 08/07/11 01:00am

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From there we made our way north to Red Canyon and headed East on UT-12, which connects Bryce Canyon NP to Capitol Reef NP, with the Grand Staircase Escalante NM and the Hogsback in between. Known as the "Scenic By 12", the route covers some of Utah's most spectacular
country.

This road is more about the Journey than the destination.
[image]

We made a short trip into Kodacrome Basin, and then we realized we'd been here before - 7 years ago. It wasn't our favorite park then either, so we turned around and moved on to bigger and better things.
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MPond

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Posted: 08/07/11 01:03am

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After a quick stop in Escalante, we continued along the UT-12 to the Hogsback - Utah's "Million Dollar Highway"
[image]

MPond

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Posted: 08/07/11 01:05am

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After the Hogsback we continued up Boulder Mountain, and the terrain changed quickly as we climbed to 9,400 feet.
[image]

MPond

Thousand Oaks, CA

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Posted: 08/07/11 01:12am

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We stayed the night at Thousand Lakes RV Park in Torrey, UT, and then headed on to Capitol Reef the following morning. Not knowing exactly where to stop in the park, we stumbled upon Panorama Point.
[image]

We then continued on to the visitors center, where we detached the Jeep and took to 10-mile scenic drive through the park. I really think Capitol Reef would be as popular as Bryce or Zion if it weren't so far from the major highways. But then it would lose some of it's appeal, especially if you had to take a shuttle to see it with the rest of the crowds like you do in Zion. Thankfully, the crowds are small and the sights are stunning, especially driving through Grand Wash and Capitol Gorge.
[image]

On the way back we stopped to check out the Gifford Farmhouse.
[image]

BobsYourUncle

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Posted: 08/07/11 01:25am

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Really really great batch of pics!!
Makes me want to grab my TT and go follow the same route you took.
Thanks for sharing.
Your co-pilot is awesome too!

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