Southern Utah Trip

Mark and I planned a camping trip to City of Rocks, but then found out it was supposed to be really windy, rainy, and possibly snowy. We decided on a whim to go to southern Utah instead and have an adventure like Bailey and I did over spring break. BEST CHOICE EVER! We had three days of amazing trail running and hiking, perfect weather, and made tons of memories! We drove down on Thursday afternoon and got there at about bedtime. We slept in the car at a view area just like Bailey and I did. We woke up early Friday morning and the fun got started!

Canyonlands Day 1:

Our first stop once we were in the park was Mesa Arch. We saw it shortly after the sunrise, so it still looked really cool. 

Mesa Arch

Next we did an incredible 13.6 mile trail run called the Murphy Loop! We went down into the canyon by Murphy's Point, and made it to the White Rim Road. We followed the road for about a mile and then turned off and started up a wash that would lead us to the climb back out of the canyon. Once we were back at the top, we continued to the Murphy Point overlook so we could see where we had just been. Every part of it was awesome!

Getting into the canyon was quite a trail. We went down a cliff! It looked scary, but was actually a very nice, established trail. One of the coolest parks of the hike!

We made it down! Now we could start running.

It was a whole different perspective being in the canyon and looking around at the huge surrounding cliffs. Very beautiful!

So cool!

We made it to the White Rim Road! When Bailey and I were there a few weeks earlier, we kept saying that we wanted to go down to the road. Yay, I made it there!

Starting through the wash to get back to the climb up.

The wash was really fun!

Almost ready to start climbing out!

The climb up was tough, but we did great.

This is the Murphy Point Overlook. We could stand there and see almost the whole trail we had just been on.

A view of our hike.

A view of the canyon from Murphy's Point.

Once that run was over, we went to the other viewpoints and did all the shorter touristy hikes. 

The White Rim Overlook. This is one of my favorite lookout points. 

We recreated the same selfie that Bailey and I took a few weeks earlier. Same exact rock and everything.

The White Rim Overlook

We recreated this picture too! :)

The Grandview Point Rim Walk was another one of our favorite.

The Rim Walk

 The last place we went that day was the Upheaval Dome. We hiked out to the overlooks, because we were doing a long hike/run around the dome the following day, so I wanted Mark to see what it looked like from above. 

Upheaval Dome

We covered 22 miles that day and had a blast! Mark decided it would be a waste of time to drive all the way out of the park and then back in the morning. since we were sleeping in the car anyways, we decided to stay in the park at the trailhead overnight. We weren't sure if we were allowed to do this, so I was a little paranoid that a park ranger was going to knock on our window in the middle of the night and make us leave. We tried to be really sly about things, until I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and set off the car alarm. Oh my gosh, that'll get your adrenaline going! So funny! I laughed about it the whole next day!

Canyonlands Day 2:

We started the second day off with a very adventurous hike/run. Mark liked it even more than the one the day before, but I can't decide. It was equally awesome and totally different! It was the Syncline Loop, and it went all the way around Upheaval Dome. It was 11.8 miles (including taking a little detour to go into the crater). We started off with some gradual downhill running for the first few miles. Then we hit the riparian area which was super cool. Next we had to go through a huge boulder field and down a canyon cliff....like literally down the HUGE cliff. We kept looking for the next pile of rocks we were following, and we would both say, "Are you kidding me? There is no way." Once we survived that the rest was smooth sailing. 

The start of our run.

We went down a canyon with giant cliff walls on both sides of us. The echoes were so cool.

This was the start of the crazy part!

We had to climb through some fun stuff. 

This part was a bit scary. You can't tell from the picture, but Mark is going straight toward a huge drop off. He doesn't do great with that kind of stuff, so he crab walked down and then hugged the wall once he got down. He kept telling me to hurry up, but I was laughing too hard at him. 

We made it down. I was pointing up at the last part of what we came down.

The spur trail that lead into the crater.

The trail into the crater followed a really cool wash with big canyon cliffs on each side.

The crater!

We took this selfie for Bailey to show her we made it to the crater. 

Starting the second half.

The last mile and a half was an intense climb out of the canyon. We got really high really fast!

Climbing out!

Getting higher, and you can see the cool area we had just come from.

After the big run/hike, we finished touring the Island in the Sky part of Canyonlands. We did one more 6 mile hike that wasn't as exciting, plus we did all the little hikes and view points.

The Aztec Buttes were really cool. 

Aztec Buttes. These granaries were over 1000 years old and still in really great shape.

Our last hike was the Neck Springs Loop. We were exhausted by this point and just wanted to be finished.

Good thing it ended with this view!

Another great day! We logged another 22 miles! We got done early enough to drive home, but Mark wanted to stay for one more day.

Dead Horse Point:

Sunday morning we went to Dead Horse Point. I've never seen views quite like that! We parked at the visitor's Center and walked the whole loop around the park. We just walked nice and easy to give our legs a break. It was still 9 miles, so we were very ready to be done for the weekend. We logged over 50 miles, and that's a lot for us old people, especially at the very beginning of our trail running/hiking season. So worth it though!

Big Horn Overlook

Hahaha, this is how Mark had to look over the edge!

Rim Overlook

Shafer Canyon Overlook

Shafer Canyon Overlook

Meander Overlook

Dead Horse Point

Dead Horse Point

Everyone should visit this place at least once in their lifetime.

Basin Overlook

 And that's a wrap! I want Bailey to go to Dead Horse Point, so I've already got our next spring break trip in the works. Possibly this paired with Arches National Park. She's been to Arches before, but she doesn't remember much about it. We'll see...planning is half the fun for me!