On a cold weekend in January, we visited the Moab area. At Arches National Park we hiked the Windows Trail to Turret Arch, North Window Arch, South Window Arch, and Double Arch. We also hiked Balanced Rock Trail. In Canyonlands National Park we drove to the various overlooks, had a winter picnic lunch, and hiked the Mesa Arch Trail. Everyone enjoyed having Mesa Arch all to ourselves, and being able to earn some Junior Ranger badges. We also enjoyed a nice dinner at Zax and stayed in a Casita at the Hyatt Place. The weather was sunny and there was just enough snow on the ground to provide some nice contrast with the rock formations.
We spent the Labor Day holiday weekend around the Vernal area where we toured the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum, drove through Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area and over the Flaming Gorge Dam, explored the Taylors Flat area along the Green River, and hiked the Desert Voices Trail in Dinosaur National Monument. We also tried to visit the Historic John Jarvie Ranch, but unfortunately the hours posted online were not correct and they were closed. Later in the month, we followed the route of the original Lincoln Highway west through Magna and Grantsville to Wendover.
We spent the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the small community of Helper. We toured the Helper Museum, drove some scenic backroads along old railroad lines to see the remains of mining ghost towns, and walked the riverwalk trail along the Price River. We enjoyed seeing the many unique murals, restored buildings, and neon signs along Main Street. A few miles outside of town we hiked to Gordon Creek Falls and also saw the impressive remains of the Gordon Creek Trestle Bridge. During our visit, we stayed at the historic Key Suites Hotel, and in the evenings, we walked across the street to the Helper Train Station to see the westbound Amtrak California Zephyr.
In the nearby town of Price, we toured the Prehistoric Museum on the campus of Utah State University Eastern and had a great meal at Ruben's BBQ. Before leaving the area, we also explored the remains of the Historic Coke Ovens in East Carbon.
Benjamin's father visited in July, and we explored several areas around Utah. First, we toured the Butterfly Biosphere in Lehi to see the many exotic butterfly species. The conservatory and insectarium has over 1,000 live butterflies from around the world. Benjamin, his dad, and Elizabeth also took a few day trips around the state. One day they drove to Vernon and spent a morning at the Wonderstone Quarry collecting beautiful pieces of wonderstone before having lunch and purchasing several unique sodas at the Silver Sage in Vernon. In the afternoon they visited Camp Floyd State Park Museum in Fairfield, which served as a Pony Express Station. The next day they drove the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway into the Uinta Mountains and hiked the Mirror Lake Trail. They also visited Provo Falls, enjoyed donuts from the Mirror Lake Station in Kamas, and played a round of mini golf at Scratch in Orem.
Later in the month, we drove to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area and the Sheep Creek Geological Area in Ashley National Forest. After enjoying the scenic drives and the overlooks at the Red Canyon visitor center, we spent a night in Vernal. The next day we hiked the Fossil Discovery Trail and the Hog Canyon Trail at Dinosaur National Monument. We also toured the Quarry Exhibit Hall where Elizabeth enjoyed seeing all the dinosaur bones.
At the beginning of May, we drove to southern Utah to experience the rare and stunning Gunlock Falls at Gunlock State Park. These waterfalls only occur in years of exceptional snowfall (Utah had more snow this winter than any previous year since records have been kept – over 300% of normal). After enjoying the beautiful waterfalls cascading over the red rock, we then drove south through Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area. The next weekend we visited the Parowan Gap to see dinosaur tracks and an impressive Petroglyph site.
We spent the President's Day long weekend in Moab. While there, we hiked several trails in Arches National Park including the Park Avenue Trail, Broken Arch Trail, Skyline Arch Trail, Balanced Rock Trail, and the Windows Loop Trail. We also saw Sand Dune Arch, Turret Arch, and toured the visitor center. Outside the park, we hiked the boardwalk at the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite.
During the month of September, we visited the Morrison Charcoal Ovens near the town of Lynndel and the Enola Gay Hangar at the Historic Wendover Airfield Museum. Benjamin and Elizabeth toured the Museum of Natural Curiosity in Lehi, and Tiffany participated in the Princess Pedalfest bike ride for anxiety in Midway. At the end of the month, we took in the beautiful fall colors at Cascade Springs in Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest.
At the start of the month, we attended the events of the Wasatch County Fair, including a rodeo, carnival, and parade. Benjamin and Elizabeth took a few day trips during the month including hiking the cave trail at Timpanogos Cave National Monument (where they saw tons of snails) and touring the Bingham Canyon Mine (the largest man-made excavation and deepest open pit mine in the world, which has produced more copper than any other mine in history).
One of Tiffany’s sisters also visited this month, and we toured the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City. Finally, at the end of the month, some of Benjamin’s family visited and we attended the Brick Slopes Lego Convention and toured the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium.
At the end of July, we drove the 46 miles of Nine Mile Canyon to see rock art in the Book Cliffs area. We also had a great lunch near Myton at the Hideout Steakhouse. Spending a night at the Buckhorn Resort in Huntington, we all enjoyed the many amenities including pickleball, batting cages, playground, and more until a storm came and it started pouring rain. We also stopped at several overlooks in the San Rafael Swell along Interstate 70 and purchased some famous Green River melons to take home.
Over the Father’s Day weekend, we drove the scenic Chalk Creek Road to the boundary marker at the point where the Utah panhandle begins and the state borders Wyoming in two directions. We also discovered several of the Utah Explorer Corps markers, which are located at a point of interest in each county throughout the state. Some of these locations included Devil’s Slide near Morgan, the High Adventure Park in Ogden, Cascade Springs near Midway, historic Woodruff, and Brigham City (where we indulged at the Idle Isle Candy Shop).
In Garden City we spent some time at Bear Lake State Park, had some famous ice cream shakes, and enjoyed a meal at Cody’s Gastro Garage. We stayed at the Blue Water Beach Resort (which was undergoing a change of ownership) and unfortunately the weather did not cooperate which prevented us from spending much time on the beach. During our stay, each day was cloudy, rainy, and we even met a brief snowstorm on our way down the Logan Canyon Scenic Byway.
At the end of the month, we travelled to the four-corners region for a long weekend. On the way, we stopped for a picnic lunch at Swasey's Beach near Green River then stopped at Moab Giants and hiked the dinosaur trail to see over 100 full-size dinosaur replicas. In Blanding, we toured the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum and saw the Five Kiva Ruins south of town. Arriving in Bluff, we spent several nights at the Bluff Dwellings Resort enjoying the pool, playground, and other amenities around our pueblo.
The next day we visited several areas of Bears Ears National Monument including a hike to see the Butler Wash Ruins and a stop at the Mule Canyon Kiva. We also visited Natural Bridges National Monument where we saw the three natural bridges: Sipapu, Kachina, and Owachomo. We hiked down beneath Owachomo Bridge, which is the oldest and smallest bridge in the park at 106 feet high with a span of 180 feet but only being 9 feet thick. After Natural Bridges, we drove south through more of Bears Ears National Monument then stopped at Muley Point in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area before driving down the Moki Dugway and back to Bluff where we observed the rock art site at Sand Island Recreation Area.
Our final day, we hiked the Little Ruin Trail to see the ruins at the Square Tower Group unit of Hovenweep National Monument (including Stronghold House, Hovenweep Castle, Square Tower, Hovenweep House, Rim Rock House, Twin Towers, the Eroded Boulder House, and more). After a picnic lunch we drove the short distance to the Cajon unit of the monument to see more ruins. In the afternoon, we drove through part of Bears Ears National Monument towards Monument Valley where we saw several rock formations near the Arizona border. It was getting very windy and blowing a lot of dust and sand so unfortunately, we were not able to stop and explore any of the overlooks or rock formations. One evening in Bluff we enjoyed a nice meal at the Cottonwood Steakhouse.
At the end of the year, we toured the special 'Zoo Lights' at Utah's Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. We also spent a day in St. George where we drove through a snow-covered, but still beautiful, Kolob Canyons Unit of Zion National Park and saw the dinosaur tracks at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site.
We visited the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary near Kanab which is the largest no-kill animal sanctuary in the country. While at the sanctuary, we stopped at the Angels Landing, Angels Rest, and Angels Overlook areas in the scenic Kanab Canyon. North of Kanab, we enjoyed a dinner at the Thunderbird Restaurant (home of the Ho-Made pies), purchased a nice piece of Utah sandstone at the Rock Stop, and spent a night in a tiny house at the East Zion Resort in Orderville. In the morning, we enjoyed a pastry breakfast at Forscher German Bakery before heading home.
Early in the month we hiked the Nobletts Creek trail in Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, which was a beautiful hike with wildflowers, rock formations, and springs. A few days later, Benjamin and Elizabeth (and some visiting family members) rode the Deer Creek Express on the Heber Valley Railroad.
Later in the month we visited Helper where we drove the Skyline Drive through Manti-La Sal National Forest and toured the nearby (and newly designated) Jurassic National Monument before driving to the San Rafael Swell to see the Little Grand Canyon and Wedge overlooks, a dinosaur footprint, the Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel, and a historic swinging bridge over the San Rafael River (the last remaining suspension bridge in Utah). After spending a night at the impressive Buckhorn Resort in Huntington (where we even had a chance to practice our swings in the batting cages) we then took another scenic drive through the national forest following the Energy Loop National Scenic Byway.
At the end of August, we visited the Moab area where we drove the La Sal Mountain Loop State Scenic Byway through Manti-La Sal National Forest, stopped to view the Bull Canyon Overlook and the impressive dinosaur trackway, enjoyed a picnic lunch at Lions Park, and took Elizabeth on her first visit to the Four Corners Monument.
On various weekends in June, we did several different activities around Utah. First, Tiffany spent a morning hiking the 7.5-mile Provo-Jordan River Parkway around the west side of Deer Creek Reservoir in Deer Creek State Park. We also visited Cascade Springs in Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest where we hiked the path through the impressive natural springs.
Also in the National Forest, we drove the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway through the Uinta Mountains to Bald Mountain Pass where we hiked part way up Bald Mountain. Unfortunately, even in June we ran into quite a bit of snow and the trail was impassable beyond about 11,000 feet so we had to turn back just short of the summit. We then stopped at Mirror Lake briefly before returning on the byway out of the mountains. The temperature was over 30 degrees cooler in the mountains, and we had a great time.
The final weekend of the month we visited the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover where Elizabeth enjoyed running across the flats. We also stopped at Great Salt Lake State Park to see the lake and walk along the shore, but the smell was so bad and there were so many bugs that we didn't stay long.
During the week of Columbus Day, we visited all 'Mighty Five' national parks in Utah. We first drove to the Price Canyon Recreation Area near Price and did a short hike to an overlook. Then, we drove to Moab where we took in several of the overlooks at Dead Horse Point State Park and hiked to Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park.
The next morning, we visited the Devils Garden area of Arches National Park where we hiked to Landscape Arch, Pine Tree Arch, and Tunnel Arch. In the afternoon, we drove the scenic drive through the buttes and mesas in Valley of the Gods near the town of Bluff. We then visited the overlook at Goosenecks State Park before driving up the Moki Dugway through Bears Ears National Monument and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to Hanksville where we stayed in a nice cabin for the night.
We hiked through Goblin Valley State Park the next morning, then drove to Capitol Reef National Park for some pie at the Fruita store. In the afternoon, we drove Scenic Byway 12 through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and saw the petrified trees at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. After driving to Bryce Canyon National Park, we met up with a Friend who also happened to be visiting the area and we all hiked the Mossy Cave Trail to a waterfall. We spent the night in another nice cabin in the town of Tropic.
The next day we did a scenic drive through Zion National Park then drove to Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area where we saw many Joshua Trees. In the afternoon, we visited Snow Canyon State Park where we hiked to a slot canyon and played in the sand dunes. On the way to Cedar City for the night, we stopped to visit the Mountain Meadows Massacre Site.
On our final day, we drove part of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail outside of Cedar City, then visited The Creamery in the town of Beaver. Finally, we stopped for a picnic lunch along the lake at Yuba State Park.
Over the Labor Day weekend, we drove to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area with Tiffany's mother and hiked to several of the overlooks around the Red Canyon area. We also stopped at the Flaming Gorge Dam and spent a night in Vernal. On a separate weekend, we toured the Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden with Benjamin's sister.
Because of the global pandemic we did not take any trips during the first six months of 2020. The final weekend of June we were finally able to take a short trip to the Vernal area where we visited Dinosaur National Monument for Elizabeth’s first overnight trip.
In June, we went boating with Benjamin’s family at Deer Creek State Park and rode the Heber Valley Railroad for the summer solstice celebration. In July, we toured Nine Mile Canyon near Price where we saw tons of petroglyphs and ruins in a very scenic canyon.
On Saturday, May 11, we attended the Golden Spike Sesquicentennial Celebration and Festival at Golden Spike National Historical Park. This celebration of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad also took us to Ogden where we saw the recently restored Union Pacific Big Boy and Living Legend steam engines.
Finally, we visited the Utah State Capitol where we were able to see up-close the original 1862 Pacific Railway Act signed by President Abraham Lincoln and three of the four spikes used at Promontory Summit at the completion of the railroad.
On a fall weekend, we drove to Kodachrome Basin State Park where we hiked both the Angel's Palace Trail and the Grand Parade Trail. We also drove through Dixie National Forest where we saw some great fall colors and encountered a mob of free-range sheep. We hiked the Cascade Falls Trail in the forest, then drove through Cedar Breaks National Monument to Brian Head Resort where we spent a night.
The next day we drove to Kanarraville and hiked the incredible Kanarraville Falls Trail. The trail had us hike in the creek, through slot canyons, and up a few waterfalls. At the end of the month, we toured Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City.
On a visit from Benjamin's father, we visited Golden Spike National Historic Site, saw the rockets in the Orbital ATK Rocket Garden, viewed the Spiral Jetty art formation in the Great Salt Lake, did some bird watching at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, drove to the Bonneville Salt Flats, played a few rounds at Top Golf, and toured the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium.
We spent a weekend in St. George where we visited Snow Canyon State Park, hiked to some dinosaur tracks in Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, and toured the Red Hills Desert Garden.
We attended the Wendover Air Show at Wendover Airfield in western Utah. The show featured demonstrations of F-18, F-35, T-33, and many more aircraft. Tiffany’s family attended the show with us.
While a friend was visiting, we drove the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway and stopped at Provo River Falls, Bald Mountain, Slate Gorge, and several lakes. We also visited Capitol Reef National Park and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument where we drove the Burr Trail Road into the backcountry, through Long Canyon and down the Burr Switchbacks to the Waterpocket Fold District where we hiked into Surprise Canyon. In Fruita, we stopped at the orchards to pick some apricots.
We spent a weekend in the Moab area with Tiffany's sister. We drove through both Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park, and we hiked to the Upheaval Dome, Mesa Arch, and Corona Arch.
Benjamin's father visited over Christmas and they drove to Moab to see both Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park in the winter. Both parks were covered with a layer of snow, which was a nice contrast to the red rock formations, and there were fewer crowds.
We drove to Moab where we hiked through the Fisher Towers, then did some astrophotography of the super moon in Arches National Park. We also drove scenic Highway 128 along the Colorado River.
We took a boat cruise on Lake Powell at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area where we sailed to Rainbow Bridge National Monument. We also drove through Zion National Park and spent a night at the Thunderbird Lodge (home of the Ho-Made pies).
Benjamin's sister visited for a week at the end of May, and they visited Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, the Hogle Zoo, Loveland Aquarium, Temple Square, and other sights around Utah.
We spent a weekend at Capitol Reef National Park where we hiked to Hickman Natural Bridge and enjoyed some pie at the Fruita store. We stayed at the Capitol Reef Resort in Torrey and had a wonderful meal at Cafe Diablo.
We drove to Eden and took a skiing course at Powder Mountain Resort, then spent the rest of the day skiing on our own. When we returned to the parking lot, we found that our oil pan had broken, so we spent the rest of the night trying to get back to the city. At the end of the month, Tiffany returned to Powder Mountain Resort to ski with a friend.
We visited Goosenecks State Park near Mexican Hat. From the overlook you can see multiple bends of the San Juan River, which gives the park its name. We also drove south to Monument Valley Tribal Park on the Utah/Arizona border.
We took a scenic drive to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area and the Flaming Gorge Dam in northeastern Utah, then drove to Vernal where we toured the fossil quarry at Dinosaur National Monument.
We spent a weekend at Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort near Sevier. After spending an afternoon riding ATVs through Fishlake National Forest to see the Silver King Mine and Bullion Falls, we spent the night in a renovated Union Pacific Railroad caboose. The next morning, we biked the Candy Mountain Express bike trail to Sevier and back.
Later in the month we hiked to Silver Lake in the Lone Peak Wilderness area of Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. We also attended Oktoberfest at the Snowbird Resort with Benjamin’s mom.
During the 4th of July weekend we went camping at East Canyon State Park where we enjoyed our time fishing and rafting on the reservoir. The next weekend we camped above 10,000 ft. at Cedar Breaks National Monument where we also hiked and attended an astronomy program.
Also in July, we drove to Wendover and toured the historic Wendover Airfield. The airfield is the home of the Enola Gay hangar and has the prop airplane from the movie Con Air. Several movies have been filmed at the airfield including Con Air and Independence Day.
At the end of the month, we attended a Major League Soccer game where REAL Salt Lake defeated Houston Dynamo.
We spent a weekend adventure-seeking with a friend in the Moab area. First, we took a Hummer Safari through the slickrock formations on Hell’s Revenge trail. Next, we went whitewater rafting on the Colorado River, then went hiking in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.
At the end of the month, we visited the ancient ruins at Hovenweep National Monument, saw the Sipapu, Kachina, and Owachomo Bridges at Natural Bridges National Monument, took a scenic drive through Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and saw the rock formations at Goblin Valley State Park.
We spent a weekend in Moab where we took a morning hike to Delicate Arch at Arches National Park. It was a bit foggy, but there were hardly any other visitors which was nice. For Valentine's Day, we took a Hot Air Balloon flight from Park City north through the Snyderville basin. There were several other balloons that launched at the same time and we thoroughly enjoyed our hour-long flight.
We drove to Bryce Canyon National Park for a weekend. The weather was nice for December and we were able to hike several miles of trails. We also drove Scenic Byway 12 through part of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Benjamin and his father drove to Vernal and toured Dinosaur National Monument and the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum. We also toured the Museum of Ancient Life in Lehi, drove to Antelope Island State Park where we watched the sunset with bison, visited Bridal Veil Falls, and took some scenic drives through the mountains. At the end of the month, we hiked to Ensign Peak for some great views of Downtown Salt Lake City.
Over the July 4th holiday we rode the Heber Valley Scenic Railroad into the mountains with some of Tiffany’s family. We also visited Antelope Island State Park, the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium, and downtown Park City. At the end of the month, we visited what was then called Golden Spike National Historic Site (now called Golden Spike National Historical Park) and drove to the Bonneville Salt Flats.
After moving to Utah during the first week of June, we hiked to and toured Timpanogos Cave National Monument. We also drove to Moab for a weekend where we visited Canyonlands National Park, viewed the overlooks at Dead Horse Point State Park, and hiked to Corona Arch.
At the end of the month, we participated in a three-day camping trip to Zion National Park. Zion offers many great hiking opportunities, and during this visit we were able to hike up to the viewpoint at Angels Landing and hiked to each of the three areas of the Emerald Pools. After the camping was done, we did some scenic driving through the Kolob Canyons unit of the park.
Finally, in Salt Lake City we toured Utah's Hogle Zoo and the Leonardo Museum.
We flew to Salt Lake City, then drove south to Capitol Reef National Park. Just outside the park in Torrey we had an incredible meal at Cafe Diablo. We also toured the Utah Olympic Park in Park City and visited Gardner Village in West Jordan, where we had another nice meal at Archibald's Restaurant.
We flew to Salt Lake City for Tiffany to attend an interview. While there, we drove to a snowy Antelope Island State Park to see the Great Salt Lake. We also drove into the mountains to see the 'This is the Place' monument. In downtown Salt Lake City, we visited Temple Square, the Cathedral of the Madeleine, and attended a performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the LDS Conference Center. We enjoyed meals at Red Iguana and Crown Burger. Benjamin also visited the Olympic Cauldron Park and saw the stadium and torch used during the 2002 Olympic Games.
We drove south along the Colorado River to Moab on the Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway. In the Moab area where drove through Arches National Park and hiked to Sand Dune Arch and the Upper Delicate Arch viewpoint. We then drove south through Monticello and Blanding to the Four Corners Monument.