Sarah WallockIn 11 days, my boyfriend and I drove from New York to California, hoping to find the best food, most interesting places and manage to fit in some of the best hikes. We ended up having a really rewarding adventure.
We were nervous to do BLM camping because we had never done it before. From our GPS coordinates, we couldn’t really tell what we were getting into. It was raining and the sun was setting as we drove to a forest service road. We found coordinates for in Kaibab Forest and right as we turned off the highway we saw a beautiful elk just standing feet away from our car. We set up our tent among maybe 5 other groups scattered on the road and watched the sunset that night and the sunrise the next morning.
Early on our tenth day, we headed into Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. Our “America the Beautiful” National Parks and Recreation pass really came in handy, as we visited multiple national lands areas- although some were privately or locally owned. The pass was $80 for 200 sites, while each has entrance fees of around $30 so it is a good deal. I had heard that the Grand Canyon was overrun by tourists and infrastructure and it was. But getting there so early in the morning (8 am) gave us an advantage with fewer people and less heat. After doing the Rim Trail, we wanted to descend into the canyon to see another vantage point and escape some of the crowds. We went a mile or so down Bright Angel Trail and saw many backpackers returning and families hiking. We really enjoyed the Grand Canyon and would’ve loved to go rafting through it or backpacking in a cooler season.
After our morning at the Grand Canyon, we went up to Lake Powell, Arizona and stopped at Horseshoe Bend on the way. Horseshoe Bend was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. It was such interesting topography and color hues. Unfortunately, this too was so crowded and hot. They were building another parking lot to accommodate the high numbers of tourists. It was pretty chaotic. Next time, it would be fun to go boating through the bend, which is only offered by some tour companies and pricey. But generally, we were satisfied with our experience.
In the afternoon we went swimming in Lake Powell. Then we camped up in Utah (on the border between the states) at Lone Rock Campground with probably 100 other campervans/tents. Lastly, we went to Antelope Canyon on the final morning of our trip- day eleven. This will be found in its own post. By the end of the trip, we had been to 17 states in 11 days. If you missed Parts One, Two or Three, they can be found in the links.
