New Friends In New Places

We’re no strangers to the beautiful landscapes of Southern Utah but there are definitely places we haven’t seen, visited, or even know of. Bryce Canyon National Park was one of those places up until a few weeks ago. We’ve had intentions of heading that way before. However, we always seem to get caught in Zion and hadn’t actually made it as far as Bryce. Fully aware of our potential trap that is Zion National Park, we told ourselves that though we were driving through… we weren’t there for Zion this time. We HAD to make it to Bryce.

With our destination set in stone, I began checking boxes off our trip checklist: Set a date, choose a route, find and save potential camp spots, look up good food in the area, etc. I took a break from the planning and found myself scrolling through instagram, like I sometimes do, and saw that Caleb, his brother Sam, and dad Rob were driving from Oregon to Arizona and would be in Southern Utah around the same time as us. I reached out and we made plans to meet up in Bryce Canyon so he could check out our ambo build.

The first day of the trip was spent driving from Southern California to Utah. Once there we decided to spend the night on BLM land just outside the entrance to Zion. We drove in a few miles into the public lands and arrived at a cliffs edge which we decided was a good place to back the ambulance up to for the night. We utilized the few remaining rays of sunshine to watch Elliot run around and explore our home for the night.

I got a fire going while Kelsey made dinner. We ate, sat by the fire, and looked up to the stars until we could no longer keep our eyes open… and that was the end of Day 1.

The following morning, Elliot and I went on our usual morning walk while Kelsey made breakfast. I found an easier less bumpy way out during the walk so we took that route as we left camp and began our journey into Zion.

Confident in our determination to make it to Bryce, we decided it was safe to stop in Zion for a short while. We kept it mellow and walked the Pa’rus trail. This is an easy 3.4 mile out and back trail that runs parallel to the Virgin river. One, if not the only, favorite pastime of Elliot’s is throwing rocks into water. We had to stop for a while and let him live his best life.

Sitting there, watching him always reminds me how fortunate we are. We could have sat there forever but we were determined to arrive at our destination and now had plans to meet people so we jumped back into the rig and hit the road.

I get a lot of enjoyment seeing how landscapes change over long stretches of highway. The drive from Zion to Bryce did not disappoint. The road takes you from the valley of Zion, through farmland, into pines, through red rock arches, and finally… through the iconic rock formations of Bryce Canyon National Park.

Caleb and the gang were already in the park when we arrived so we reached out to coordinate the meet up. We linked up with them at Fairview point and spent a while soaking in the amazing views of the canyon.

Since this was our first visit to Bryce, we aimed to see as much as possible during our limited time there and concluded that driving through the park for the afternoon was the most efficient plan of action. We were able to check off the popular stops like Rainbow Point and Natural Bridge while we still had daylight.

Side Note: I continue to find it difficult to fully capture the places we get to see and experience. I’m learning that sometimes you just have to be there and see it for yourself… I truly encourage you to do so.

As late afternoon quickly turned to evening, we all decided to end the day at Sunset Point and headed down what we thought would be an easy 1.3 mile loop. This is where things go left when they should’ve gone right. I still don’t know if it was due to closed trails or wrong turns but we ended up taking a much longer walk than anticipated. We found ourselves one mile into the canyon with no end in sight. We had no other option than to keep hiking, confident that we’d emerge at the top eventually. Where we would end up? Nobody knew.

After a few more miles and a lot of lost/regained elevation, we finally emerged and found ourselves closer to Sunrise Point than Sunset. Luckily for us, the two aren’t too far from each other so we began the final stretch to our original destination.

This wrong turn took us deeper into both the canyon as it did into our awe and appreciation of the land. Though it’s impossible to see it all in one day, I gained a much better sense of what was on offer because of it. It’s always humbling... sitting in an area so vast and absorbing just how small you really are.

In the end, I finally stood at Sunset Point and took in the final views as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. We all jumped back into our vehicles and made way to camp for the night which consisted of good food, a warm fire, and great conversation. The perfect end to a solid day.

The morning after is a whole other story… see that here.