Monday morning we were up early and packing the car to leave our cozy little cabin in Moab. We had all grown to love Moab and our little cabin so we were a bit sad.
We spent a few hours in Canyonlands NP with a fun stop at Mesa Arch and a short 1 mile hike before continuing on to one of my favorite places to hike- the Rim trail in the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands. We had a long day of travel ahead of us so we only did a couple miles worth. The kids were having so much fun scrambling up and around all of the bouldering places.
We were headed toward Bryce Canyon and decided to take the scenic route. 5+ hours was ahead of us (plus stops). Heather spotted Capital Reef NP on the way so we stopped there for a bit. It was much more worthy of a stop than I had anticipated. I look forward to a return trip and camping there in the future.
The drive from there through Escalante National Monument and Dixie National Forest was unbelievable! The scenery along the winding road was breathtaking. (I have learned since that this stretch is named Devil’s Backbone.) We took some action cam video of it that Grace will be editing upon our return. It was a truly unique winding drive as we went through desert landscapes, unearthly geologic wonders, and summitted an 11,000 ft mountain range. It was a very unexpected bonus on our travel day.
We settled into our campground with enough time to hit the pool and cool off before enjoying a makeshift dinner and campfire. Noah was very happy for smores!
Heather and I continue to be very proud of the kids on this trip. They have been ripping through books whenever there is an opportunity — hours and hours in a car don’t phase them at all. They have been remarkably flexible and helpful with our on-the-go schedule. Two National Parks, a National Monument and a National Forest all in a day 😉
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