five in two.....

I've been driving back and forth from San Diego to Ft. Collins for over 25 years. 8 years ago, not of my own free will, but to celebrate Adam's 30th, I went to Zion National Park for my first visit. But all the other UTAH national parks, remained unvisited by yours truly until this month. Investing in that annual pass at Chaco Canyon in OCTOBER has made all the difference in my drive to visit all the national parks over the next couple of years. For this particular pass back to Colorado, I decided to make a contest of it. How many NP's could I see in 48hours?

this journey began at Follow your Heart in greater Los Angeles

missed seeing Fabry by an hour, but grabbed a delightful pizza in Vegas

blazed the Virgin River Gorge at dawn

 

National PARK #1 - Zion

tunnels are always fun for me

I saw much of the park I missed 8 years ago.

the narrows were closed so I just drove the roads

more tunnels

could that be an archway someday in the future?

ole checkerboard mesa

drove through Red Canyon to get to Bryce

no shortage of stunning views

National PARK #2 -Bryce Canyon - I'm a sucker for a natural bridge

twisted canyons

and more twisted canyons

approaching Capitol Reef

National PARK #3 - Capitol Reef

went on a long hike down a wash into Capitol Gorge

natural amphitheatre

vast open areas that I would not have wanted to explore as a pioneer

parts of it almost seemed skateable

loved all the different layers of sediment

Hickham natural bridge lays in a different part of the park

much easier to view once you pass through it...

National PARK #4 - Canyonlands  0 mesa arch at dawn

silly me thought I'd have it to myself on a weekday

looking out through mesa arch

another broad panoramic view from the north end of the park

looking out to where the Colorado River meets the Green River

National PARK #1 - ARCHES - avenue of the gods

let's count the arches I took in... #1 broken arch

#2 sand dune arch

#3 - parkway arch

#4 double O arch - at least I think I found it....

#5 black arch - look hard, it's there

#6 navajo arch

#7 partition arch

#8 landscape arch - {my favorite}

#9 north window arch

#10 double arch

#11 - who knows what the call it, but I saw it !

getting out to Navajo and Partition was pretty crazy

so the final tally...... 5 national parks in under 48 hours... after all the hiking I was ready for a soak in Hobo Hot Springs, so I headed there instead of busting my ass to get to Rocky Mountain National Park - save that one for another time....