A Trip through some Western Parks
At Kayenta we drove north on Highway 163 through Monument Valley to Goulding. We stayed at the historic Goulding Lodge and had dinner there as well - excellent Navajo fry bread tacos (huge). This is Marion Mitchell Morrison (AKA John Wayne) country, but much as I like the Duke and his movies (Stagecoach, Yellow Ribbon, etc.) the scenery is what this place is all about. After checking into our rooms we drove over to the nearby Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park and carefully maneuvered our way over their absolutely horrible roads through their absolutely magnificent park. If you ever decide to visit Monument Valley and just drive through it on Highway 163 (as many folks do) you will have to realize that you have missed the very best part of the valley. The Navajo park is the heart of the valley and is a must see. If you do not want to take your own vehicle into the endless series of bumps and crevices then by all means park and get on one of the pickup buses that bounce through the clouds of dust in a manner unintentionally designed to emulate a ride on a nineteenth century stage coach being chased by hostile persons on wild horses. John Ford would be proud of you.
Morning in Monument Valley was our first overcast day, but the place was still magic. We had a very good breakfast at Goulding's Lodge and drove northeast on Highway 163 through Mexican Hat and then turned north on Highway 261. The sky cleared and the views back into the valley as we climbed up the side of the mountain were spectacular. Once we were back on top of the world we connected with Highway 95 and turned west to Natural Bridges National Park. Two of the three natural bridges that are in the park are easily seen from the view points along the road and we recited the differences between windows, arches, and bridges. I had disobeyed one of my cardinal rules when driving around this part of the world and was running low on gasoline. We checked the map and fortunately found that Hite was in reach. This part of the trip is outside of the natural park system, but is every bit as beautiful as most of the parks in America. After gassing up in Hite we drove through the Glenn Canyon Recreation Area and then on to Hanksville.
At Hanksville we turned west on Highway 24 and drove through Capitol Reef National Park without stopping until we reached the Capitol Reef Best Western Motel on the other side of the park. Fortunately we were able to book two of the last rooms that were available. There are a number of good accommodations in the village of Torrey, but this Best Western is the one that I like the best because of the smashing views from the balconies. Now that we had our beds it was time to head back into the park. We spent the rest of the day admiring the spectacular scenery and even got in a few short walks. After our explorations it was time for dinner and it should be noted that Torrey, Utah, has one of my all time favorite restaurants - Gary Pankow's Cafe Diablo. Capitol Reef is one of my favorite parks for a multitude of reasons, but I would visit Torrey even if the park did not exist - the restaurant is that good. Ambiance - excellent, service - excellent, wine list - excellent, food - excellent, location - exotic.
After a good breakfast at the motel's restaurant we headed south from Torrey on Highway 12 through the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This is dramatic country with a road 
that has an attitude. At some points one can look straight down into the abyss on both sides of the two lane road. As had been the case all along on this trip, the wildflowers were out in profusion. We had to pass on Kodachrome Canyon due to time constraints, but we did manage to visit all of the major viewpoints in Bryce Canyon and to exchange opinions as to exactly how the wind had created the hoodoos. From Bryce we took Highway 12 west through Red Canyon to Highway 99 where we turned south to Highway 9 which is the eastern entry into Zion National Park. Here we took our time driving through the eastern portion of the park and then checked into our Best Western in Springdale on the southern edge of the park. After getting our bags to the room we went back into the park and took the park buses through the main valley with various short walks at some of the stops. We all agreed that Zion is spectacular. Toward the end of the day we had a beer at the park lodge (a place that I have never been able to get a room during any of my various visits) and then headed back to Springdale for a good dinner in one of the many restaurants located there.
Unfortunately I had business to attend to and we could not include Las Vegas in this trip. It would have made a perfect stop after Zion. Instead, we took Highway 9 out of Springdale, hooked up with Interstate 15 and blew through Vegas without losing any money. After we passed all of the glittering temptations we turned north on Highway 160 to Pahrump. At Pahrump we turned southwest on Highway 178 through Shoshone and into Death Valley. When we had gone over Vail Pass earlier in our trip we were only a couple shy of 10,000 feet above sea level. In Death Valley at Bad Water we were 282 feet below sea level. We drove through Artist's Drive and admired the colors, stopped by Ashly's Mill and wondered at the stamina of the men that had processed the gold, visited the Borax flat and tried to visualize what it was like to work there in one hundred plus degrees of heat and then checked in to our rooms at Furnace Creek. Based on previous experience in Furnace Creek, I had been anticipating mediocre meals, but was pleasantly surprised by an excellent dinner and superb service. Breakfast the next morning was a buffet and a bit pricey, but very good as well.
The following morning we completed our tour of Death Valley by driving Highway 190 past the sand dunes at Mesquite Flats and through Panamint Springs and Keeler to Lone Pine. At Lone Pine we turned north on Highway 395 and followed the eastern edge of 
the Sierra Mountain range to Mono Lake. After a brief stop at the lake we headed west on Highway 120 into Yosemite Park via the Tioga Pass. At the pass we were back up close to the 10,000 foot level again and we all remarked at how fast California can change from desert to snow covered mountains. It had been a late spring this year and the wildflowers were not out in the high country, but the streams and rivers were brimming with fresh snow melt. We drove down into the crowded valley floor and admired the waterfalls. All of them were flowing at rates that we had never seen before and there were several new ones that we had not noticed on any of our many previous trips to the valley. There was, of course, nowhere to stay in the park so we settled for a light dinner at the bar in the Ahwanee Hotel and went on our way via Highway 120 to Groveland where we checked into the historic Groveland Hotel. Comfortable beds, lots of teddy bears, and a very good buffet breakfast the next morning.
Much of the last day of our sojourn was spent in gold country. We took Highway 49 north through Sonora, Angel's Camp, Jackson, Sutter Creek, and on to Coloma where we visited Sutter's Mill and the spot where John Marshall found the gold nugget that set off the gold rush. After Coloma we continued north to Interstate Highway 80 and then turned west through the maze of roads to Highway 101 and Healdsburg. In Healdsburg we tasted wine as one is expected to do in wine country and then had dinner in one of our favorite small plate restaurants - Willi's. After that it was back home for all of us. A great trip through a great land. We made a date for same time next year only this time with more time, fewer destinations, and more walking.
Previous | Continue to the map...
