First stop in Vegas, where we ate like pigs (2 nights, 2 different gourmet steak restaurants), and saw "Ka", a Cirque du Soleil show. During the day, Vegas sucks, so we went hiking at Red Rocks.
Next we headed to the Grand Canyon, which I had never seen before. After spending an incredibly cold night in their campground (31 degrees!), we hiked the Bright Angel trail down into the Canyon. We made it about 4.5 miles down, to the Indian Springs campground, near the bottom of the canyon, but not quite all the way to the river. We wanted to get back to the top in time to pick up our dog from the kennel where she had to stay because dogs are not allowed on the trails. All in all, it was still a good 9 mile hike, at pretty high elevation, so no small feat.
Ever since the first time I saw a picture of Antelope Canyon, I knew that I wanted to visit it myself. So after another freezing night of camping at the Grand Canyon, we headed over to Page, Arizona, where the beautiful Anetelope Canyon resides. It is a slot canyon, meaning that it is basically just a crack in some sandstone, carved out by water over time. Light comes through the openings in the top of the canyon and illuminates sections of the crack with vivid colors. The canyon is on Navajo land (some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen), so you join a Navajo-guided tour in Page, and then drive the short distance to the canyon. More pics on my online photo album, if you're interested.
After visiting Antelope Canyon, we headed towards southeastern Utah through Monument Valley. It was a great intro to the landscape in southern Utah, where it seems like there is a stone monument everywhere you look.
We made it to Moab that night, checked into a hotel that allows dogs (we were done with the freezing nights of camping), and then headed out for a hike the next day. Although we eventually wanted to see the National Parks in that area, dogs are not allowed on the trails in those parks, so for our first day, we picked a trail outside the parks that Lola could hike as well. We ended up picking an 8 mile loop that leads to a hidden arch, called Uranium Arch, after the uranium mining that used to be done in the area.
Next day: Lola went to doggie day care and Pete and I headed to Arches National Park. We hiked several trails, but the longest (and best) one was the Devils Garden Trail, a 7 mile loop that takes you past about 10 different arches, and through a playground of red rockpiles and rock fins. Very fun.
Day 3 in the Moab area was kind of overcast. We drove out to Canyonlands. The park is huge, but fairly inaccessible without a high-clearance 4WD car, and there are not very many trails. So we took in the views and then headed out, making our way towards Grand Junction, Colorado, where Pete had some work to do.
While in Grand Junction for 2 days, Pete worked and I went hiking with Lola. We hiked about 6 miles each day, and then Lola would crash for the rest of the evening.
Then we headed towards home, with another stop in Vegas on the way, including of course another fancy steak restaurant and a show. This time we saw Le Reve, which was a very cool show that combined acrobatics with water. The stage was basically a giant pool, and people were lowered down from the sky, and into and out of the water. Very visually cool. Dinner was at Craftsteak, which was amazing. I highly recommend it. We had the chef's tasting menu, which included 4 different appetizers, 2 steak entrees, 4 desserts, and wine paired with each course. Don't even ask how much it cost, but it was so worth it. Delicious.
The next day, we finished the last leg home. A really great trip, and a great way to kick off my sabbatical. We'll see what i do next!
