Utah

Day 1: Van life begins

How can we travel safely during this COVID-19 pandemic? That’s what we’ve been asking ourselves ever since we reluctantly cancelled our carefully crafted trip to Indonesia, where we planned to celebrate Bea’s grad school graduation. We’re completely aware that the minor inconvenience of a cancelled trip doesn’t compare to the suffering of so many people who lost loved ones because of this virus. But still, we wanted to find a way. There had to be a way. We couldn’t just stop exploring the world forever, could we?

The answer to our question came while reading a Geekwire article about a new Seattle startup named Cabana. Cabana outfits Ford Transit vans with a bed, fridge, sink, toilet, shower, and optional stove, and rents them by the day to travelers. Bookings are easily made online, similar to Airbnb, and the vans are available for contactless pick-up at various parking lots throughout the city. Each van has a stylish and functional interior, plentiful storage, and free wifi. This was clearly a concept and a business we wanted to support. We were immediately sold. A self-contained mobile home? Sign us up.

After going more than a year without traveling (the longest stretch since we met 15 years ago), we definitely had itchy feet. Actually, we had itchy everything. So it felt surreal — almost emotional — to finally pick up our van today. Cabana promises to thoroughly clean and disinfect, and indeed the van was spotless. But just in case, we aired it out for a few hours and cleaned it again while wearing masks. We’re cautious like that. By the time we packed the van and departed, we felt safe and genuinely excited.

Our first day on the road went smoothly. The van is only 20 feet long, so not much longer than an SUV, which makes it vastly more maneuverable and enjoyable to drive than a standard RV. We traversed the green forested Cascade mountains, the Yakima valley vineyards, and the rolling hills of northeast Oregon, ending the day after dark in southwest Idaho. Tired out from a full day of packing and driving, we were glad we could park at a rest stop and eat, pee, and go to bed without ever getting out of the van. This is the future of travel, we thought. This is brilliant.

• Van: Cabana
• Night: Snake River View rest stop, Idaho

Day 2: The first hints of Utah magic

We started the day at sunrise — though you wouldn’t know it from inside the van because all the windows can be covered with blackout shades. (Whoever invented blackout shades for camper vans deserves a medal.) After a quick breakfast, we were back on the road. Today’s drive started out in farmland, with occasional herds of black cows dotting the fields of yellowed grass. Bales of hay stood ready to… do whatever farmers do with hay in the fall. We’re city people; we have no idea. Arriving in Salt Lake City in mid-afternoon, we were greeted with an impressive view of the downtown skyline against its dramatic backdrop of rugged mountains. We stopped just long enough to pick up a delicious late lunch from Tulie Bakery — their pastries are exceptional — then continued on.

By late afternoon, we started seeing the first tantalizing hints of the landscapes that Utah is famous for: red earth, rocky canyons, and flat-topped mesas. The scenery was changing fast. We drove up the steep slope of the San Rafael swell just as the sun was starting to set, and parked at the Spotted Wolf Canyon viewpoint where we got a fantastic view of the winding road crossing the canyon below. The light was perfect, the air was crisp, and we were finally, genuinely on our way. Drone time, dinnertime, then bedtime.

• Lunch: Tulie Bakery, Salt Lake City
• Night: Spotted Wolf Canyon view area, Utah

Day 3: Among an alien army

Traveling during a pandemic has one huge advantage: there are no crowds. We hear that Goblin Valley State Park is generally teeming with tourists at this time of the year, but we instead experienced the beauty of its strange rock formations in blissful solitude. The “goblins” in this park are like an army of triangular-headed aliens that were plopped on Earth by a spaceship, then quickly petrified before they could complete their mission. They form rows and rows of oddly-shaped stone creatures just waiting for the activation signal that will re-animate them when it’s time for them to take over the planet. We’re assuming that signal hasn’t been sent yet. Probably.

We spent lunchtime at a viewpoint overlooking this army of invaders. Lunch was noteworthy partly for the surreal view and partly because we prepared a delicious meal with vegetables we had brought from home (thanks to our local CSA — supporting local farms even while traveling). We enjoyed walking among the goblins in the afternoon, weaving between them like we were exploring an alien sculpture garden, and sticking around until sunset for the best light. We decided to spend the night at a nearby RV camp so that we could easily replenish the van’s water supply — one of those practical considerations of van life that you don’t think about until you need to.

• Goblin Valley State Park
• Night: Duke’s Slickrock Campground & RV

Day 4: Mars on Earth

Today it feels like we spent the day on Mars, though in reality we explored the area around Factory Butte. Factory Butte itself is absolutely stunning — it looks like a massive stone fortification on top of a giant mound of eroding lava, something out of a fantasy novel. We had seen photos and were drawn to its majestic beauty. But we were also pleasantly surprised by the other, less-well-known geological features in the area. Exploring some of the off-the-beaten-path places nearby, we saw rock formations that would be major tourist attractions anywhere else in the world. Seriously, any one of these formations would have its own parking lot and visitor center in most places. But this area is so packed with bizarre, unexpected shapes and colors that they go unnoticed.

While planning this trip, we tried to strike a balance between including some of the “must-dos” while leaving plenty of room to explore lesser-known areas. Today was all about exploration and spontaneous discovery, which is definitely our preferred way to travel. No crowds, no time limits, no predetermined path — just us, the van, and whatever we stumble upon.

We decided to spend the night parked just off Coal Mine Road, a well-maintained but completely deserted gravel road that offers a fantastic view of Factory Butte. As we type this, the sun has just set, the clouds are glowing pink, and the even, soft light allows us to see every crease and fold of this massive rock formation. It’s like watching a slow-motion reveal of geological drama. We couldn’t have asked for a better view to put us to sleep, or a more peaceful place to spend the night.

• Factory Butte
• Night: Coal Mine road

Day 5: Dawn at Factory Butte, Swiss cheese cliffs, and singing canyons

Watching the dawn gradually illuminate Factory Butte was a fantastic way to start the day — the changing light transformed the massive formation minute by minute. Shortly after sunrise, we departed on our drive to Boulder (Utah, not Colorado), crossing the beautiful stratified cliffs of Capitol Reef National Park. We then decided to take a little detour and drive along the Burr Trail, a path used by Mormon pioneers to move cattle from the mountains to the valley. This scenic road, paved only in the 1980s, took us between the vertical red sandstone walls of Long Canyon, punctured by holes reminiscent of Swiss cheese. Along the way we were glad to spot the entrance to Singing Canyon hidden behind some cottonwood trees. This narrow canyon doesn’t go very far, but has dramatic sheer walls and cathedral-like acoustics — the name is well-deserved. Plus, there were rock climbers rappelling down into the canyon while we were there, which added to the drama.

Considering how tiny Boulder is (population: roughly 200 people), we were pleasantly surprised by the great food we got there. We had a casual but delicious lunch at Burr Trail Grill before our afternoon drive. On returning to town, we picked up a fancier dinner from Hell’s Backbone Grill, where they serve meats and vegetables from their own farm. Farm-to-table at its finest. We got the food to go, so we could eat at a scenic overlook on the way to Escalante, because why eat indoors when you have all of Utah as your dining room?

Driving from Boulder to Escalante along Scenic Byway 12, we were treated to a constant barrage of impressive landscapes. At one point, the road twists along a narrow ridge with sheer drop-offs to both sides and a panoramic view in every direction, which was exhilarating. Wow!

• Lunch: Burr Trail Grill
• Burr trail
• Dinner: Hell’s Backbone Grill & Farm
• Scenic route 12
• Night: Escalante Cabins & RV Park

Day 6: Nature’s sculpture park

We started the day by picking up a lunch for later at Mimi’s Café — they have great sandwiches and croissants. Then we drove out of Escalante on Hole in the Rock Road, which leads to several scenic spots and great hikes. Our first stop was a hike to Zebra Slot Canyon. The trail took us through a beautiful desert landscape filled with funky-shaped geological features and spiky vegetation — so different from the Pacific Northwest where we live. But the real star of the show was the slot canyon at the end of the hike. This particular canyon starts out wide enough for both of us to walk side-by-side, but quickly narrows to a point where only one of us fits… and only if we turn sideways and hold our backpacks over our heads. As if that’s not challenging enough, the canyon starts out filled with ankle-deep water and proceeds to frigid waist-deep water. (Did we mention it’s freezing?) And then the walls get so close together at their base that we have to scoot along with our feet on one wall and our backs on the opposite wall, like the world’s most uncomfortable Spider-Man impression. The reward for enduring these challenges? The most beautiful undulating red-and-white zebra-striped walls that give the canyon its name. The patterns are mesmerizing, almost hypnotic. It was definitely an adventure, and well worth the frozen extremities!

In the afternoon, we explored Devils Garden, an outdoor sculpture park created by Mother Nature. All the pillars of stone in this area have gray bases, rust-colored middles, and tan tops, arranged in a variety of odd shapes that look almost deliberately artistic. We hung around for sunset, and finished the yummy sandwiches from Mimi’s while the light painted everything golden. Capping off the day, we parked the van in a secluded spot off the road and watched as the stars and the Milky Way galaxy emerged overhead. No light pollution out here — just us and the universe.

• Zebra Slot Canyon
• Lunch: Mimi’s Café
• Devils Garden
• Night: Dispersed camping close to Devils Garden

Day 7: Rabbits vs. photographers

We headed over to Devils Garden before dawn, to take a photo of a group of stone pillars from a location that is very popular with photographers at sunrise. We fully expected to have to squeeze in among a crowd of photographers, in the dark, carefully navigating the extended tripod legs and the protruding long lenses. Instead, it was just us… and a couple of cottontail rabbits chasing one another around the formations. We had the entire place to ourselves. At least there’s some silver lining to the dark cloud of the pandemic — the popular photo spots are actually accessible.

We drove back to Escalante, had a relaxing lunch on the patio of the Escalante Mercantile, and then continued on to Kodachrome Basin. This state park is known for its sandstone chimneys and vivid red and white contrasting colors — the kind of colors that seem too saturated to be real. It’s a small park, but it did not disappoint. The layers of rock sediment deposited at different periods are clearly visible to the eye, making for a visually pleasing composition. Or, as Eric explained in his best pretend-scientific tone, “there’s strong evidence of paleo-Mesozoic pre-Cambrian monolithic stratification here.” (Translation: the rocks have stripes.)

• Lunch: Escalante Mercantile and Natural Grocery
• Kodachrome Basin State Park
• Night: Pines Rest Area (near Bryce National Park)

Day 8: Rebels at Sunset Point

We had heard from other people who have visited this area that Bryce is their favorite national park. After experiencing it for a day, we can completely understand why. We arrived before sunrise and went straight to Sunset Point (yeah, we’re rebels like that). We waited for the sun to peek over the mountains and gradually reveal the landscape in front of us. We could hardly believe our eyes when we saw row after row of delicate spires spread out in the wide canyon below where we stood. There were white, pink, and rust-colored spires, some pointy and others knobby, all beautifully illuminated by the dawn light. The formations — called hoodoos — looked like an army of stone sentinels standing at attention.

We spent the morning hiking around the canyon, eventually heading to a more secluded area to have a picnic lunch away from the increasing crowds. We were surprised by how crowded the park became by noon, even during an ongoing pandemic. Apparently everyone else had the same idea we did about safe outdoor travel. We were so glad we arrived early, both for the sunrise photography and to experience the park in relative solitude before the masses arrived.

In the afternoon, we headed to Kanab in southernmost Utah, close to the border with Arizona. We picked up dinner from Wild Thyme Café and had a relaxing meal at Dark Sky RV Campground where we’ll be spending the night. (The name is accurate — the stars here are incredible.)

If you’re following our posts with the goal of planning your own trip to this part of the world, you might want to consider going to Zion. We’re skipping it because we’ve been there before, and also because we’re not eager to join the crowds at national parks during a pandemic. Zion is absolutely beautiful and well worth a visit though, especially if you can go during the off-season.

• Bryce Canyon National Park
• Dinner: Wild Thyme Café
• Night: Dark Sky RV Campground

Day 9: Geological circus acts

Today we decided to hike to an intriguing rock formation known as the Wahweap hoodoos. It’s a 9-mile (14.5 km) hike that’s mostly level, following the sandy and rocky dry riverbed of Wahweap Creek. We got up well before sunrise, drove one hour to the trailhead, and started the hike just as the sun was rising. This turned out to be a wise decision, since it gave us cool temperatures and some shade for the start of the hike. The return trip under the fierce sun was significantly more slow going. It wasn’t difficult to find our way, but we were glad to have the AllTrails app to track our progress using GPS and see which way previous hikers went. Technology in the wilderness: we’ll take it.

The hoodoos are absolutely spectacular — the most beautiful ones we’ve seen so far. There are three groups of hoodoos, and the last group is amazing. They look like delicate white fluted columns, each one balancing an oversized brown rock on top like a circus performer balancing plates. It’s as if the natural forces of erosion have created a bizarre circus act that’s been running for millions of years. The stone bases that support the hoodoos look unreal, undulating with gentle lines that appear to have been carved by cascading water over eons. At first sight they look soft and fuzzy like a plush fur throw — we had to touch them to assure ourselves that they’re indeed made of hard rock. (They are. Obviously. But our eyes refused to believe it.) We had the hoodoos all to ourselves, and thoroughly enjoyed exploring this surreal playground for photography. We have no idea why this hike isn’t more popular, but for now it’s a secret gem, and we’re not complaining.

After the hike, we made our way to Page, Arizona, where we had an unhealthy but oh-so-tasty fried chicken dinner at BirdHouse, and parked in the Walmart parking lot for the night. (Please don’t judge us. We were tired.)

• Wahweap hoodoos hike
• AllTrails app
• Dinner: BirdHouse
• Night: Walmart in Page, Arizona

Day 10: Seeing past the Instagram clichés

Last night’s camping spot may not have been glamorous, but it was certainly convenient for our sunrise destination: Horseshoe Bend. This beautiful bend in the Colorado River has become wildly popular in recent years due to the cliché Instagram shot of a woman wearing a wide-brim hat sitting on a red rock overlooking the bend. Or the shot of someone’s legs and shoes dangling off the rock overlooking the bend. Or the shot of a woman wearing a long flowy dress (sometimes a wedding dress) walking near the rim overlooking the bend. You know the shots. In fact, variations of this shot are so overdone that we seriously debated whether this was a place we wanted to visit. Would it be worth fighting through the Instagram influencers?

Well, we’re certainly glad we went. Yes, it’s a popular destination, but we could hardly contain our excitement when we first spotted the steep walls of the red canyon and the elegant curve of the river bend below. Absolutely stunning. It looked particularly serene and peaceful under the soft light just before sunrise, before the crowds arrived. A woman sat down cross-legged on a high rock close by and started meditating, completely still and focused. We felt at peace too. Maybe there’s something to all those Instagram shots after all — the place really is worth the hype.

We continued on to the edge of Monument Valley, where we were transported right into the set of an old-fashioned western movie: endless plains of sagebrush with towering red rock mesas jutting up on the horizon. We half expected to see John Wayne riding across the landscape. We explored the area in the afternoon and shot photos of the sunset, watching as the light turned the already-red rocks into impossible shades of orange and crimson, before turning in for the night at the Monument Valley KOA campground.

• Horseshoe Bend Overlook
• Monument Valley Tribal Park
• Night: Monument Valley KOA campground

Day 11: Why did the photographer cross the road?

For sunrise, we photographed a Monument Valley landscape that’s known for its appearance in the Forrest Gump movie (where Forrest ended his cross-country marathon run): a straight road leading to a vast plain with three funky-shaped red buttes in the background. This photo is often taken from the middle of the road, which requires some bravery (or foolishness). There was one other photographer who was crazy enough to get up at the crack of dawn just to shoot a silly road — so we took turns. Whenever there was a lull in traffic, one of us would rush to the middle of the road, adjust a tripod, and shoot, while the other photographer watched for approaching cars. At the next break in traffic, we would swap. It was very effective, and nobody got run over, which we count as a success.

Satisfied with our sunrise photo shoot, we made our way to Moab, with stops along the way at Goosenecks State Park and Mexican Hat Rock. Moab is a mecca for outdoor adventurers — mountain bikers, rock climbers, hikers, you name it — and it felt surprisingly busy after spending so many days in remote parts of the state. The upside was the food: a great lunch at the Quesadilla Mobilla food truck, and our first grocery resupply of the trip at the excellent Moonflower Community Cooperative store. We’d been living off the snacks and pantry staples we brought from home, so fresh produce felt like a luxury. We drove up to the “Island in the Sky” area of Canyonlands National Park and watched sunset from Green River Overlook, then parked for the night at Lone Mesa Campground.

• Lunch: Quesadilla Mobilla
• Moonflower Community Cooperative
• Canyonlands National Park
• Night: Lone Mesa Campground

Day 12: Arches and canyons… and crowds

This morning we joined the throng of tourists photographing Mesa Arch. We got to the trailhead more than an hour before sunrise, and there were already several cars in the parking lot. Clearly we weren’t the only ones with the bright idea to arrive early. We were able to set up our tripod in a decent spot near the arch, but we were soon surrounded by a crowd of photographers jockeying for position. Seeing the sun rise through the arch was spectacular — the underside of the arch glows orange from reflected light, creating an absolutely stunning effect — and the photos are going to be awesome. But the number of people around us detracted from the experience a bit. This confirms our inclination to minimize our time in national parks and discover more off-the-beaten-path locations in Utah.

We explored some more of Canyonlands in the morning, then decided to check out the area along the Colorado River in the afternoon. We drove within an imposing red canyon alongside the beautiful meandering river, stopping at every viewpoint to take it all in. The Colorado River is really long — 1,450 miles (2,330 km) to be exact — so we only saw a very small portion of it today. It’s impressive how much impact it’s had on the landscapes around it, having carved out the canyon here in Moab as well as the Grand Canyon and many others on its way from the Rocky Mountains to Mexico. Patient erosion over millions of years creates some pretty dramatic results.

In the late afternoon, we found a nice shady spot to camp at the Goose Island Campground, where we’ll be spending the night. After so many days of dispersed camping in remote locations, having an actual designated campground felt almost luxurious.

• Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park
• Night: Goose Island Campground

Day 13: Balanced rocks, irresistible quesadillas

We started the day by photographing Balanced Rock in Arches National Park. Just before sunrise, this precarious rock formation looked beautiful silhouetted against the La Sal Mountains — it really does look like it could topple over at any moment. We then checked out a few of the park’s other features, including the Windows and Delicate Arch. Arches has the highest density of natural stone arches in the world, and it’s not hard to see why it’s such a popular park.

We headed back into the town of Moab to get lunch and groceries before moving on. We were intending to try a new restaurant, but Quesadilla Mobilla was so good that we couldn’t resist going there again! Sometimes you find a place that’s just perfect, and you have to embrace it. Once we had resupplied, we began our homeward journey, driving north as far as the quaint historic town of Helper (great name for a town, by the way), where we got a site at Castle Gate RV Park.

• Arches National Park
• Balanced Rock
• Night: Castle Gate RV Park

Day 14: The scenic route home, with reminders of Bolivia

Today we continued our long drive from Utah back to Seattle. We made sure to stop in Salt Lake City for a quick look around and a bite to eat. We were impressed with the mix of green parks, historic architecture, and modern design. The city library is a particularly striking contemporary building that looks like it was designed by someone who really loves geometric shapes. We got excellent sushi and tempura from Takashi for lunch, then hit the road.

Never content to take the shortest path, we went a hundred miles out of our way to swing past the Great Salt Lake and cross the vast Bonneville Salt Flats to the west of SLC. The endless white plain of salt brought back fond memories of our adventures in Bolivia, where we crossed the Salar de Uyuni (the biggest salt flat in the world). That expedition required four-wheel drive vehicles and took several days; our drive today was considerably shorter and easier — no risk of getting stuck in the middle of nowhere. After the salt flats, we got to see a portion of northeastern Nevada, then southern Idaho — where the rolling hills and farmland seemed almost jarring after so many days among strange rock formations in southern Utah. It was like driving back through time to normalcy.

• Lunch: Takashi
• Bonneville Salt Flats
• Night: Blacks Creek Rest Area

Day 15: Weather roulette and the joy of coming home

It seems hard to imagine that just two days ago we were uncomfortably hot under the glaring afternoon sun of southern Utah. During today’s all-day drive, we experienced just about everything else Mother Nature has to offer: morning rain showers in southern Idaho turned to gusting winds in northeastern Oregon, then fog so thick we could barely see the car right in front of us, and then a light snow flurry in eastern Washington. It was like driving through four seasons in one day. The snow resumed as we climbed over Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascades, dusting the dense evergreen forest with white and clinging to the mountain peaks. The sun was low in the sky by that time, giving pink and red hues to the rows of clouds that surrounded the mountaintops. It was such a dramatic contrast to the desert landscapes and cloudless blue skies of the last couple of weeks, and also a beautiful welcome back to the Pacific Northwest.

It’s amazing to think about all the places we saw in two weeks (and 2800 miles of driving), and we have a renewed appreciation for the wide range of experiences that are within driving distance of Seattle. It’s also awesome that we could spend so many days in a van that’s not much larger than our home’s bathroom and enjoy each other’s company so much! Living in 80 square feet together is apparently something we can handle. We’re glad we did this trip, and equally glad to be home — where we have more than one room and a shower that doesn’t require strategic planning!