Four Squared! A Soujourn through the Southwest

Trishness

My cousin Carol (from Pennsylvania) and I trekked through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and back into good 'Ole Arizona through 4 National Parks (Mesa Verde, Capitol Reef, Bryce and Grand Canyon, North Rim), several National Monuments (Grand Staircase Escalante, Glen Canyon, Aztec Ruins) and several State Parks to add to our hikes and journeys. It was AMAZING! We just drove back from the North Rim today and I will add to this thread as days pass to share this journey with all of you. We drove close to 2000 miles and passed through the most beautiful areas, hiked some awesome trails and saw the most amazing things......California Condors soaring in Marble Canyon, SNOW amidst the red and white hoodoos in Bryce Canyon, The snow capped La Plata Mountains of Southern Colorado and the sunsets from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon that take your breath away. My pictures can't do ANY of this justice but I will post them with excerpts from my journal as you join us on our journey.
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~~~Trish~~~

"Eastward the dawn rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eyesight into guess; it was no more than a glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of the memory and old tales, of the high and distant mountains." � J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of The Rings.

wanderingsoul · Joined: 19 Jul 2004 Posts: 2285 Location: Gilbert AZ

WooHoo .. another Dream materialized. Sounds like you had a Ball!!
Waiting to read your trip tales and of course the pictures, I'll bet they are wonderful

Glad you were able to experience it All and made it back safe and sound.
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Wanderingsoul (Michelle)

Positive Thinking Is the Spark that Makes Dreams Happen~~~Unknown

azbackpackr · Posted: 5/31/2010, 12:44 pm Post subject:

Glad to hear you had such a great time! Your mom and I became Facebook friends while you were gone!

azhiker96 · Joined: 05 Jan 2003 Posts: 1419

Cool trip Trish!
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It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. -- Carl Sagan

GeorgAz · Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 815 Location: Scottsdale

Awesome! Wish I had a buddy to do a trip like this, now that I have the time! : Mr. Green

How lucky you are.. maybe I'll have to import my old Pa. buds as well. Those areas are truly magnificent!!Sounds like a really amazing adventure!

GeorgAz · Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 815 Location: Scottsdale

Trish, waiting breathlessly for the wonderful photos you must have!! Cool

Trishness · Posted: 6/4/2010, 9:56 pm Post subject:

Will hopefully be posting pics this weekend. I've got almost a thousand pics to sift through and I started my new J-O-B this week.

I will say that my moniker is truly accurate and preceded me EVEN out of state. Chimney Rock Trail in Capitol Reef, I was heading down the trail and saw~~~~SNAKE! (harmless 3 footer) Upper Escalante River Trail~~~~~BIG BULL SNAKE!!! At least 4 feet long right by the trail. And this was AFTER I fell into the Escalante River taking my camera for a dunk and bashing my left knee and shin up on some rocks. Camera survived somehow but my knee is still swollen and bruised. But it was a great trip

Mr. Green

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~~~Trish~~~

"Eastward the dawn rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eyesight into guess; it was no more than a glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of the memory and old tales, of the high and distant mountains." � J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of The Rings.

Suz · Joined: 27 Nov 2005 Posts: 3186

Great adventure Trish! Wish I could have time off when you go.

Trishness · Posted: 6/5/2010, 9:59 pm Post subject:

I've posted my pictures from Bryce which was actually in the middle-end of our trip. I LOVE BRYCE!!!! We arrived here on May 24th around 12 noon and did a drive through starting at the farthest view point which is Rainbow Point at elev 9115......that's where we got all the snow pictures and met Tanya and Roland (our German friends) that we saw from view point to view point. They were the makers of the little snowman which they named "Dave" and made a new "Dave" at all the viewpoints. Delightful couple and a lot of fun. All the other pictures were taken inside the Bryce Ampitheater on either Peekaboo Loop (6 mile hike we did on 5-25-10) or Fairyland Loop (8 mile hike we did on 05-26-10). Bryce Canyon BLEW me away, it was soooooooo gorgeous. My pictures do it no justice and you really have to be there in person to experience it. Now that I'm back home after all the canyons we've been to, I have to say this is my favorite canyon.
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~~~Trish~~~

"Eastward the dawn rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eyesight into guess; it was no more than a glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of the memory and old tales, of the high and distant mountains." � J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of The Rings.

wanderingsoul · Joined: 19 Jul 2004 Posts: 2285 Location: Gilbert AZ

Nice pics Trish...thanks for sharing. It is beautiful isn't it. Looks like it was a really nice trip and I'm sure it was.
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Wanderingsoul (Michelle)

Positive Thinking Is the Spark that Makes Dreams Happen~~~Unknown

azbackpackr · Posted: 6/7/2010, 6:07 am Post subject:

That place looks awesome! What a fun trip that must have been!

GeorgAz · Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 815 Location: Scottsdale

Trish, my friends in SlC actually like Bryce better than Zion. Never having been to either, I'm sure they are both amazing. There is so much in Utah. I have a book called "Backroads and Beyonds" .You should borrow it!

GeorgAz · Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 815 Location: Scottsdale

Wow! Great pics! Love those hoodoos! Bet the air was clean and marvelous! Love the snowman! Very Happy

Nighthiker · Joined: 05 Jan 2003 Posts: 1714

Enjoyed the pictures, thanks for posting.

gpsjoe · Joined: 01 Feb 2004 Posts: 535 Location: Mesa AZ

Great picture set. Everyone needs to make at least one visit there. Excellent trails so you don't have to concentrate on that which is good because your head is doing 360 degree swivels while taking in that magnificent scenery.
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