2020 Vacation Part 1 Jacob's Perspective

By Jacob

The idea of our trip began over six months before we left on our massive 4,700 mile journey to ten states and seven national parks. We had one place on our list that we wanted to see, Yosemite National Park in California. The next question was whether we were going to fly or drive there. Over the past few years I have begun to love the road trip as a way to see America. When I was younger I always wanted to fly places but as I have gotten older I appreciate driving more. I convinced the family to do a road trip by proposing three different routes to get to Yosemite. I was hoping by showing what we would just fly over they would be convinced to drive.

The 1st route was simple, straight there and straight back. We would optimize our time by spending nearly two weeks of the trip in Yosemite. This was the least appealing to me because there are so many amazing places in the west to visit. The 2nd route was to head more north. On this trip we would visit Oregon and Crater Lake National Park and Lassen Volcanic National Park. This route would add two states to my list Nevada and Oregon. The 3rd and most appealing route was a southwest route that would take us through southern Utah and Nevada.

My family agreed that the 3rd route was the best way to go. The original plan was to take I-70 west through Colorado to Utah and down I-15 to the northern part of Zion National Park, the Kolob Canyon section of the park. We would then travel to Las Vegas and spend some time there. We would then head through Death Valley National Park and towards the west coast. We would meet with Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, at Monterey and head north to San Francisco and the bay area. From there we would head east to Yosemite. Finally we would return home.

Once we picked the 3rd route I could start my in depth research. This was the first vacation where I had taken over the planning of our itinerary. Mom booked the hotels as I figured out the hikes and places we would see. We first decided that we would stay in Dillon, Colorado. The town was just on the west side of the Eisenhower Tunnel and Continental Divide. In my research I discovered Colorado National Monument, this was on the west side of Colorado almost to Utah near the town of Grand Junction. It was close to I-70 so I decided that this would be a cool first attraction to the trip. The monument features many canyons and scenic vistas that looked incredible. The park also featured a 27 mile long road called Rim Rock Drive. I thought this would be a great starter to our vacation.

Now we would enter the state of Utah. The itinerary had once again been involved here too. Now we were going to get off I-70 at Utah-24 and head south to visit another national park. Capitol Reef National Park is the least visited of the mighty five, the five national parks of Utah. It features some arches stunning rock formations through a 60 mile long fold in the crust of the planet. The park got its name from the Mormon settlers who thought a large rock formation resembled the capitol dome in Washington D.C. It is also called a reef because the word reef meant a barrier. Apparently the 60 mile water pocket fold was difficult to cross so it was called a reef. So they combined the two to create Capitol Reef National Park. I decided we would do the Cassidy Arch trail not far from the visitor center. The trail was 3 miles total and featured the large Cassidy Arch. With that Capitol Reef became the first national park on what would become a seven park trip.

Hickman Bridge Capitol Reef National Park

The last stop of the day would be Bryce Canyon National Park. We would stay in the town just outside the park called Bryce City. Bryce Canyon National Park has been on my bucket list for several years so the idea of visiting was exciting to me. I picked the best trail in the park, the Navajo Loop Trail. The trail is 1.5 miles long and goes down into one of the amphitheaters of the park. On either side you are surrounded by massive rock formations called hoodoos. The trail would take us to an area called Wall Street, a series of switchbacks flaked by the massive hoodoos. We would also take the scenic drive road to Natural Bridge and other gorgeous vista points on the drive.

The next morning we would drive to another bucket list park, Zion National Park. The park was spectacular and rivals Yosemite for its beauty and pure grandeur. We would do a Riverside Hike there and then drive directly to Las Vegas. We would visit the Hoover Dam and stay at the Luxor, the pyramid hotel on the strip.

The next day we would head to Death Valley National Park. This was once a park that I was worried about. It is one of the lowest, hottest and driest places on the planet. I like really hot weather so I knew I would enjoy it but I had to be considerate of the rest of the family. So I only planned a few stops and no hike. Badwater Basin, the lowest point on the continent, 283 feet below sea level. Zabriskie Point, a vista point featured in the Star Wars show the Mandalorian and on the cover of a U2 album. Finally, the visitor center. Then we would be heading for Bakersfield, California.

This is the end of Part 1. I will continue in Part 2 talking about planning for the second part of the trip to the Pacific Coast Highway and San Francisco.