After a great time in Yellowstone National Park, we had a long drive ahead of us to reach our new destination, Salt Lake City, Utah. We arrived at our hotel in the late afternoon and took it slowly till the next day. The next morning it was time to get some groceries and a dried flower bouquet, later more about that. And then it was time for our next stop: Bonneville Salt Flats!
Bonneville Salt Flats
With all the rain of the last days, we were both concerned about how the Salt Flats would look like when we would arrive. We decided to go anyway. We arrived in the late afternoon, and it was a big lake of water instead of a dried Salt floor.
At first, we were disappointed but we decided to go with it. There was no wind, and the water gave beautiful reflections.
Barefoot walking on the salt flats felt so freeing! While the sun was setting the colours changed into dreamy pastel tones. My favourite person drove our truck on the Salt Flats and flew the drone above the landscape. Time seemed to pass in a different rhythm while the sun was slowly setting.
Bonneville Salt Flats is located next to the road and has many parking spots and washrooms to clean the salt off your skin afterward 😉
Bentonite Hills
After the sunset at Bonneville Salt Flats, we drove to our new stop; Bentonite Hills
When we were planning this trip, I already knew that I wanted to see Bentonite Hills. It was in my top 3 locations that I saved for this road trip.
We arrived late in the evening, and we had no idea of the beautiful view from our hotel window. We stayed next to Capitol Reef National Park, which was beautiful but with our planning we were not able to spend enough time there.
From Capitol Reef, there is a small steep road you can take to start on the off-road drive to Bentonite Hills. We had to cross a river and go over sandy and bumpy roads. This road is only accessible if you have a high 4x4 and the water in the river is not too high.
My favourite person literally walked into the river to see how deep it was before we drove our truck through the river :)
After more than 30 minutes we reached the location. We first came here in the early afternoon to see what it looked like.
Bentonite Hills has colorful geologic mud layers (hues of brown, red, purple, gray, and green) formed in the Jurassic times. Bentonite clay is made of altered volcanic ash. The different layers you see on Bentonite hills come from the mud absorbing water and then drying again.
The next day we came back just before sunset to fly the drone and make photos. It was just us and 3 other people.
The colours popped when the day slowly changed into the early evening. With the round shapes and bright colours, it felt like we were on a different planet!
Arches National Park
Even when you drive to this National Park and wait in line to enter, you already realize how spectacular this National Park is.
With a road that climbs up to this massive red mountain and after the first turn you already want to take photos of the view! In front of you is a beautiful desert landscape while the road leads you between giant red rocks. The only sound I could make was awe!
As the name of this park suggests there are a lot of Arches to see. We spent our first afternoon mainly exploring to see which places we want to come back to the next morning. During the middle of the day the parking lots were filled with cars and so were the trails. Later in the afternoon, it became quieter.
The next morning, we woke up in the pitch dark. When we reached the parking lot it was so dark that we had to use my phone as a torch. While we hiked up the mountain, we realize how busy it was. More than 50 people were climbing the mountain with us. The climb was longer than we thought. By the time we reached the top, the light came through and we rushed to reach the top. The last turn showed us where we came from the delicate Arch!
Sunlight and big clouds gave us a cotton candy sunrise and we sat down and enjoyed the view.
View from the hike on the way down (in the right corner you can see the parking lot).
After a short break, we went to the Double Arch to make a shot that I had in mind. Luckily it worked out and we enjoyed the sunset with rainbow (!) before returning to our motel.
Monument Valley
Known from movies this iconic place was high on our list! When we drove through the landscape and the rain poured down, I got goosebumps. We are here!
Monument Valley is located within the Navajo nation. The landscape has iconic shapes and is sacred to the Native Americans.
After waking up in our hotel we started our day with a scenic drive along the iconic rock formations. The weather was warm and dry again, and with the camera in one hand and my phone in the other, we started our drive. It is a one-way loop that took us 4 hours with stops and photos. You can also book a tour if you prefer not to drive yourself.
Seeing the landscape from up close I could feel a different energy here. We took several photos and spoke with the local artists selling their jewelry and art. Bring cash if you want to buy something, we learned it the hard way :(
Later that afternoon we drove to the iconic road in Monument Valley to watch the sunset. What a magical place!
The next morning, we woke up early. For a good reason, we did our first photos of our wedding shoot in Monument Valley! In my next blog post, I will share a bit more about this.
In the afternoon we went to the town because we had seen several murals that we liked and wanted to check them out.
Horseshoe Bend, Toadstool Hoodoos, and Lake Powell
From Monument Valley, we drove to Page, Arizona. From here we had planned to go to Horseshoe Bend and Antilope Canyon. We didn’t visit Antilope Canyon because of the Covid restrictions that still were in place here.
So, we had some extra time to relax. Both of us were tired and it was hot in Page, so during the middle of the day we took it slow. On our first evening, we went to a Mexican restaurant, and it was delicious! During this trip, we ate Mexican food a couple of times, and I loved it.
Later that evening we got a coffee on the go and watched the stars near Lake Powell.
The next day we visited Toadstool Hoodoos. It is a nice short hike from the parking lot through the hills to get here. The dessert tones of the rocks and the soft light in combination with the Hoodoo shapes make it worthwhile.
We woke up early the next morning, to watch the sunrise at Horseshoe Bend. It was already quite busy, but we found a spot to watch the sunrise over the rocks of the bend. From the point we were standing, it was 300 m down to the Colorado river. We could see some small boats and people camping inside the canyon.
It was magical to see the rocks turn bright orange while the sun was rising!
Our last afternoon we spent next to Lake Powell. The orange tones in combination with the blue from the water make it a gorgeous place to visit! Many people were in the harbor with their boats to go on the lake, it looked like fun!
The last part of our USA adventure will follow in my next blog post: Part 3, Grand Canyon and Bryce National Park!
With a smile,
Nicole
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