ROSE FAMILY JOURNAL

In 2016, David and I went on a five-day trip to Utah after scoring cheap flights from Indianapolis to Salt Lake City. We were young, with very little extra cash, and optimistic that we realistically could see everything there is to see in Utah (and the Grand Canyon) in five days including days we travelled. Here was our original plan:

–Day one: Fly into Salt Lake City, rent a car to drive to Maple Canyon and rock climb for a day. That first night, drive to St. George and stay the night at a BLM dispersed campsite or campground in the tent we packed.
–Day two: Spend the day rock climbing in St. George, Utah and then drive to the Grand Canyon. Stay the night at a BLM dispersed campsite near the Grand Canyon.
–Day three: Spend the day in the Grand Canyon and drive to Moab, Utah for the next night.
–Day four: Spend the day rock climbing in Moab, and driving up to Salt Lake City for the night.
–Day five: See Antelope Island and the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City before flying out that afternoon.

If you have ever driven around Utah, visited national parks, or tried out dispersed camping or first-come first-served campgrounds, I have to imagine you are laughing at this planned at the last minute itinerary. Almost none of this worked out for us the way we envisioned it, and making a trip to the Grand Canyon is way more driving than you can imagine. Here is what we ended up doing:

Day one: Rented a car and drove to Maple Canyon. Everything worked out as planned, and we were having a blast. We drove to St. George and it was dark out already. We checked out three BLM first-come first-served campgrounds and they were all completely full. We ended up staying the night in a hotel after feeling completely exhausted from travel, climbing, and driving.

Day two: We had a better understanding that getting a campsite might not be as easy as we were expecting, and feared it would be more difficult around the Grand Canyon. We decided to skip out on climbing around St. George that day and head straight to the Grand Canyon. We did stop and hike around a few areas on our drive out there. It was beautiful every where we looked and it was hard to keep our jaws off of the ground with how amazed we were! We made it to the Grand Canyon North Rim, only to find out to get to the actual Canyon was another hour plus of driving after entering the park! Fortunately, we had about an hour before sunset when we made it to the rim. We used that hour with intensity and efficiency. We ran through trails to get to the views of the canyon, and were absolutely stunned by the reality of it. Finding a spot on the rim to watch the sunset over the canyon was an absolute highlight! After sunset, we ate dinner at Jacob’s Lake Inn, a meal we still talk about to this day. Then we drove back into the Kaibab Forest, with a constant fear of deer running into our car’s path, and found a place to camp on the side of the road.

Day three: We woke up before 5am to an intense rainstorm and our tent coming off the ground. So we quickly threw everything in our car (wet and unpacked) and started our drive to Moab. Along the way we saw the Horseshoe Bend in the Colorado River and Monument Valley. While we were exhausted and so clueless, these were truly some of the most beautiful places on earth we have ever seen. We made it to Moab and ended up not even trying for a campsite and finding a hotel.

Day four: Since it had rained the day before — and the first time it rained in over three months — our plans to climb on sandstone in Moab were squandered. Talking to a local climbing gym worker, we decided to change our plans and drive to American Fork, closer toward Salt Lake City, for a day of climbing. We were stuck on the road at a standstill for over three hours due to a terrible, fatal accident involving a semi-truck. We were devastated, and we took turns being disappointed and being the one to remember how amazing this trip has been despite the setbacks. We did make it climbing in American Fork and found our way to a hotel back in Salt Lake City.

Day five: We slept and we showered and we ate. We did see the Great Salt Lake that day, but that was all we made plans to do before flying home.

It was the best, most incredible time for us as we grew closer together through travels, setbacks, amazing adventures, and so many laughs. The trip ended up costing far more than we naively envisioned! But we learned so much. We learned how to better plan out trips that involve visiting national parks and to have a better plan around camping when we want to sleep in our tents out in the Southwest.

I think about all of the changes I would have made now, knowing how to better prepare vacations, but when we look back, I would not have changed a thing! This trip and experience was our best teacher. Check out our highlight video from that trip together!