We recently travelled to the Western U.S. visiting the three places that interest us most in one trip: South-West, Yellowstone and Olympic National Park.
Trip dates – late April to early May; 17 days in total.
Itinerary: Las Vegas ( 1 night) – Valley of Fire- Springdale ( 1 night)- Zion- Kanab (1 night)- Lower Antelope Canyon- Horseshoe bend- Page ( 1 night)- Wave- Bryce( 1 night)- Cottonwood road- Page ( 1 night)- South Coyote Buttes- White Pocket- Page ( 1 night)- Coal Mine Canyon- Grand Canyon ( 1 night)- Monument valley- Mexican Hat ( 1 night)- Goosenecks SP- Moki Dugway- Fire House- Moab ( 1 night)- Island on the sky- Dead Horse SP- Salt lake city ( 1 night)- West Yellowstone ( 2 nights)- Coueur d`Alene ( 1 night)- Spokane- Quinalt lake ( 1 night)- Forks( 1 night)- Seattle ( 1 night).
It was our second time in the Southern U.S., so we weren’t determined to check off all the must-sees of the region. We just went to the places we either skipped last time (quite long ago), or didn’t know even existed back then.
There are plenty of great reviews about the USA in general and Western States in particular, with stunning photos, exact coordinates and detailed descriptions. Some reviews can be easily compared to guide books, sometimes even to some serious academic research.
So I think there’s no point copying out the practical info. I’d rather post some photos from the trip with comments here.
So, we arrived in Las Vegas, stayed overnight and the next morning left for Zion.
On the way we stopped at the Valley of Fire and spent half a day in that beautiful and unusual place. Though, if we had visited it at the end of our journey after the colorful Cottonwood road, South Coyote Butts, The Wave and the White Pocket, we would have probably been less impressed.
We stayed overnight in the town of Springdale, a few miles away from the entrance to Zion. Here, not long ago, they opened the Michael Fatali gallery, who became famous for his photographs of some unique places like the Subway and the Mystery Canyon. For his works he uses a Hasselblad camera and Cibachrom film – a wide resolution slide, used for the professional commercial photography. One can hardly see any color noise on the printed pictures, and every detail is extremely sharp – it’s a stunning hyperrealistic effect.
The locals hate Fatali, saying that he is ready to do anything to make his masterpiece, even commit crimes against the ecology of the area, e.g. starting a fire under Delicate Arch to make a dramatic photo. However, his bad reputation doesn’t affect the artist’s revenue (a print is $10-40; the original slide is up to $400,000); among his buyers are Bill Clinton and other celebrities.
The new Pueblo Indian style gallery is located in downtown Springdale on the right (in the direction of Zion).
In Zion we went on the Angels Landing trail, but once we reached Scout’s lookout we decided to switch to the East Rim trail instead.
The Lower Antelope canyon was scheduled for the next day (we’ve been to the Upper one before and wanted to avoid the crowds there). The Lower one was busy as well, yet it didn’t make you feel like you were in the May Day demonstrations.
And after that we to the Horseshoe – as always.
The next day was the day of the WAVE! We participated in the Kanab lottery twice, on the second day we won the permit.
The place is magnificent and unique. On the way there. Getting closer and closer.
And here it is.
Around the Wave you see some weird colorful formations.
The next morning was devoted to Bryce.
After Bryce we took Cottonwood road towards Page. The road was very colorful. It’s impossible to drive there after a snowstorm or rain, but the drive in dry weather was very enjoyable.
We had a South Coyote Butts permit for the next day, so we combined it with the White Pocket.
We wanted to save the trouble of renting a four-wheel drive car and booked a tour from a local agent. We checked the prices on paria.com and vermillioncliffs.net (recommended by the park’s website); the first one gave us the price of $175 per person – definitely better than the competitor – and we started off!
At 7 a.m. we were at Paria Outpost (close to House Rock Valley exit to South Coyote Butts), got in a four-wheel drive Jeep and arrived after 1.5 hours along a difficult road (but easy for our driver and the guide).
And here it was – an emotional shock. Before visiting the Wave, we saw many pictures and knew what to expect. But no photo can possibly convey the beauty of such a unique geological phenomenon as the South Coyote Butts.
It is no comparison to the magnificent real-life view!
Having spent most of the day in Coyote Butts, we made an effort to leave this fantastic place and went to the White Pocket. If someone plans to visit these two locations within the same day, I recommend doing it in this exact order – most of the time for the Coyote Butts, and a couple hours for the White pocket. The white pocket is quite a compact site, so it won’t take you long to see it all, especially with a guide who takes you to the most beautiful parts.
The following day we were to reach the Grand Canyon, watch the sunset and take the South Kaibe trail the next morning.
On the way we stopped at the Coal Mine Canyon.
The Grand Canyon at sunrise. And the start of the trail.
Then including all the stops:
Monument valley (looking down from the observation deck, we had no desire to go to the bottom)
Moki Dugway
Fire House – we really liked it.
From Moab we went to Dead Horse point where a major mess-up happened – the camera broke and all the following photos were taken by a compact camera, purchased in the nearest Walmart.
Yellowstone
Mammoth Hot springs
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone with the waterfall
Castle Geyser from the upper geyser basin
A beautiful road taking us in the direction of Washington State through Montana and Idaho.
We stopped in Spokane to see the famous Japanese garden.
Olympic NP welcomed us with beautiful weather.
Quinault lake with the lodge.
Hohe Rainforest
Forks – Second Beach – End of the journey.
