Travel Tales: Akron to LA 2014 - Day 6

(Photo credit: memyselfandtheinterstate.com)

We woke up with the plan to hike into Bryce Canyon. The car was covered in ice and that did not bode well for a hike since we were not adequately dressed for such low temperatures.  We did not want to put ourselves in harm's way and I did not want to be rescued a second time from Bryce! We decided to continue to our next stop south where the weather was much warmer.

We arrived in Zion National Park early in the morning and were happy we made the decision to arrive at that time. We went on a few hikes and were able to find parking for the first half of our visit. By the middle of the afternoon, the traffic was heavy. Finding a parking place at the various viewpoints was extremely difficult. Driving the road was challenging. Visitors would create their own parking places along the road and sometimes driving by those cars was stressful. We were at the park on a day when the shuttle was not running. During the summer and on weekends and holidays the rest of the year, motorists cannot drive through Zion. They must take the shuttle. At first I was glad that we would be able to take the car, but I soon realized why the shuttle was necessary.

(Photo credit: memyselfandtheinterstate.com)

Zion is a beautiful park and is more developed than the other Utah parks. That aspect brings more visitors to the park. Attendance at the other park and been low that week, so when we encountered the crowds at Zion, I sometimes felt like we were in a new section of DisneyWorld. I prefer the solitude of Canyonlands and Arches.

Since we were leaving the park earlier than we anticipated, we decided to continue on our journey to Los Angeles which was six hours away. Traveling on the day before Thanksgiving was not the best of ideas, but we would try to get as far as we could. Even if we got in late, we were excited by the aspect of avoiding another night in a hotel. Since we were prepared for horrendous traffic in LA for the holiday, we were amazed that we had no traffic at all. The perfect end to a perfect trip. For those who have not had the experience of touring the national parks of Utah, make the time at some point to have the pleasure of doing so. The trip was one any traveler would treasure and we intend to return to explore the parks again.