turns out we filled up Arturo's small SUV
Day 01: Silicon Valley to Lamoille Canyon, NV
Long drive the first day, 9H+ of driving. First stop in Truckee:
would have been nice if we could have gone in
Day 02: Lamoille Canyon, Wendover Airport, Salt Lake City, to Moab
We got up did a nice hike around Lamoille canyon:
unfortunately got there 20mn too late to be able to visit the SLC Google office
Day 03: Moab's Canyonlands
After arriving late at night in Canyonlands, we barely got a spot at a dry campsite and went to Canyonlands the next day:
Day 04: Moab's Arches National Park
The next morning, we got up early to go to Arches NP before all the crowds (the park entrance actually closes at a certain point if enough cars are inside).
landscape the most impressive arch for me
chipmunks were everywhere, this one wanted our lunch
first arch I got to be on top, of
Day 05: Moab's Canyonland 4WD Backroads with a Jeep
We rented an expensive $300/day jeep rubikon and went on fun roads:
we were hoping it would hold for a bit longer
we got some feet cleaning fish for free :)
Day 06: Goblins Valley and Little White Horse Slot Canyon towards Bryce/Zyon
It was time to leave Moab and go towards South Western Utah (Bryce/Zyon). On the way, we stopped at Goblins Valley. Very cool formations:
we found an interesting and challenging path inside the goblins. We were hoping we'd get out eventually
after a challenging path, we did get out eventually
some rocks had bits of iron and looked like chickenpox
Day 07: Petrified Forest, Bryce Canyon, and Zion's Kolob Canyons
Escalante Petrified Forest SP was nearby and worth the 1H hike we did around to see the petrified trees from the Jurassic Period:
Arturo made good use of the facilities :)
Day 08-09: Nevada's Great Basin and Wheeler Peak
That was it for our time in Utah, we drove back to the Nevada border (close enough that our cell phones would routinely connect to a UT cell site and change timezone back and forth). We did a hike around the pretty dry lakes and the Wheeler Peak glacier:
then 2h20 more to get back down
Day 10: Across Nevada's US-50: America's Loniest Road
By then, it was time to head back. We headed for Minden, just east of Tahoe and took US-50, across a few very small towns and long stretches of lonely road. We did have a few stops on the way, one of them was Ward Charcoal Ovens, an interesting remnant of history: Our first stop after the ovens was the train museum in Ely (see this page for more): After that, it was back on the road:
poor kitten was scared, and for good reason
our monster burger took over 20mn to make
we thought about riding those dunes, but there was no one to rent any equipment
Day 11: Day Hike at Kirkwood
After a night in Minden, we stopped by kirkwood on our drive home for a nice hike to Thunder Mountain (click for the full page): We started the day with a blood moon before sunset: