After seeing beautiful places such as Arches National Park, Bentonite Hills and many more, it was time for the last part of our road trip: Bryce Canyon National Park, Pink Sand Dunes, Grand Canyon National Park, and Shiprock! Read more about these beautiful places below.
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce National Park in Utah has the largest group of hoodoo rock formations in the world. Hoodoos are naturally eroding land formations that often are fantastically shaped. The native Paiutes tribe believes in a legend that the hoodoos are ancient people, who were turned into stone by a coyote to punish them for their bad deeds.
On our first afternoon at Bryce Canyon, we went to several lookout spots including Bryce Point, this lookout is built above the hoodoos and gives you great views!
The next day we started hiking in the afternoon. We did the Navajo/ Peekaboo combination loop from Sunset Point. This hike is around 8 km long and takes 3-4 hours. This hike is moderate and has some steep parts.
With a steep path leading down into the canyon, we started to make our way from the Navajo loop towards the start of the Peekaboo loop. We reached the riverbed and decided to hike uphill. The road brought us through the canyon. We stopped at several points for photos. Fairy Castle was one of our favourites spots. Halfway through the hike, we saw a washroom, located in the middle of nowhere it was kind of a funny sight.
The sun started to set, and we were still hiking. We decided to speed up and try to reach the start of the hike before sunset. Well, that didn’t happen. By the time we reached the Navajo loop, it was already pitch dark. With the light of our phones as a torch, we slowly made our way up. By the time we reached the top, people were stargazing near the benches of the lookout.
On our last morning, we came back to watch the sunrise over the canyon from Sunset Point. It was a magical site to see the sun raising and giving everything a warm glow.
Pink Sand Dunes
From Bryce, it was a quite long drive to Kanab, our next destination. So, on the way, we decided to stop at Pink Sand Dunes Provincial Park. We got some rain when we arrived. We waited for a while till we decided to go and explore. Bare feet we walked over the sand.
The weather didn’t improve, and we rushed towards the washrooms to shelter from the rain. We continued our route and reached Kanab late in the afternoon.
Toroweap (Grand Canyon)
The amount of rain in the last few days was concerning to us. We planned to drive to Toroweap Overlook, which is in the Grand Canyon. This is a 3-hour drive through a remote area with no connection.
We decided to go for it! Packed with some extra food and water we drove towards the start of the route. We had to cross a point that often would be flooded after lots of rain. Luckily the water was not too high. On the way, we saw a few other travellers and some farmers with their cattle.
After 3 hours we reached Toroweap lookout. Every day only a handful of people are allowed to enter between sunrise and sunset. We entered after getting our ticket and we drove over huge rocks and sandy roads. This bumpy road is not for the faint-hearted.
We reached the lookout and we saw the Grand Canyon for the first time. The canyon is 915m deep at Toroweap lookout and gives incredible views. We found a spot beautiful, private spot, with a gorgeous view over the canyon. Together we decided this is it, here are we going to renew our vows.
I changed in the car into my wedding dress. We grabbed the camera gear, my bouquet, and each other’s hand. The moment was finally here! After kind words, some tears and many photos we realized the weather was changing.
We decided to quickly change and make our way back to our hotel. Halfway it started to pour, and we ended up in the middle of a thunderstorm. I got startled by the thunder next to the car. We had to drive through a flood zone, so we were kind of worried to make it through now the roads already changed into huge puddles of water.
Luckily, we drove with a high 4x4, but for a couple of seconds it was nerve-racking, but we made it through!
Grand Canyon
After our adventure at Toroweap, we drove to the entrance of Grand Canyon National Park. There was still rain and thunder in the sky. After 15 min we could enter the park and start to explore! The iconic Grand Canyon gets over 5.9 million visitors each year, but if you go off-season it is not too busy.
We decided to use this day to go to Lookouts and check in to our Airbnb.
The next day the weather was still not great, so we spent so time at the local Starbucks with many other travellers. We ended up uploading many photos through the Wi-Fi and buying some gifts in the store next door.
On the third day, the weather finally improved and it was time to shoot some pictures! The layers of the Grand Canyon in combination with hazy sunlight were just magical to watch. We saw bald eagles fly and play above the canyon and we shot many photos of them.
We found a more private spot to watch the sunset. It was magical to see the colours change over the canyon (from golden hour to blue hour)!
Standing looking at the Canyon I realized how at home I felt in this part of the USA.
Oldest trading post in Navajo Nation
During our road trip, we have seen many trading posts along the way. But the Hubbell Trading Post is the oldest operating trading post in the Navajo nation and also a national historic site. Inside you find beautiful handmade Native American Art, groceries, grain, coffee, Ganado rugs, hardware, and horse tack.
Shiprock
Our last stop during this road trip was Shiprock, New Mexico. I dreamed of visiting this place and I was so happy it worked out during our trip!
Shiprock is over 27 million years old and over 7000 ft high, which makes the rock formation visible from far away.
The beautiful rock formation is sacred to the Navajo people and is called Tse Bit’a’i which means: “rock with wings” or “winged rock”. We arrived at the end of the morning and drove our car near Shiprock, and then it was time for some photos, and flying our drone to see this magical landscape from above!
After a great time capturing the beauty of Shiprock, our USA trip came to an end. I loved spending time in these beautiful and sacred places, with my favourite person, and I hope we come back to the USA very soon!
With a smile :)
Nicole
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