Sneak Peak: Petrified Forest, Southern Utah, and Death Valley!

Reflections in Lake Manly (flooded Badwater Basin), Death Valley National Park, California

I’ve found that I’m mostly likely to travel in the autumn months, and this year was no exception! After hiking 230 miles in September and early October, I promptly began planning another trip for November, the center of which would be to try and hike South Rim to Colorado River to South Rim in the Grand Canyon. We did a lot more than that attempt, including a dozen or more hikes we hadn’t planned on at all, but that’s the way trips go, especially when you’re trying to work around weather!

My first attempt at light painting - the Painted Desert Inn in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona — My first attempt at light painting – the Painted Desert Inn in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

We started out hiking in Petrified Forest National Park. I first visited the park in 1995 and have been back a couple of times. However, it never wowed me. This time, the park completely blew my mind in terms of beauty with its wilderness routes (A trail? No way! Get lost? You bet!) Onyx Bridge was our first find.

Views from above Onyx Bridge (the wall of the wash rises above the long log), Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona — Views from above Onyx Bridge (the wall of the wash rises above the long log)

Then we tried to follow the Wilderness Route. I finally gave up and used the excellent GPS coordinates given by the park (available as a printout at the visitor center). This was one of my favorite trails on the entire trip; stumbling across pockets of petrified wood, discovering fantastic badlands, and the overall good views were a real highlight!

Petrified logs along the Wilderness Loop in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona — Petrified logs along the Wilderness Loop

The next day, we visited several viewpoints, including seeing the old Studebaker along the old grade of historic Route 66.

The old Studebaker along the Route 66 grade, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona — The old Studebaker along the Route 66 grade

I don’t think we’d ever visited the Puerco Pueblo before…

A BNSF train near the Puerco Pueblo, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona — A BNSF train near the Puerco Pueblo

Though we had visited Newspaper Rock, we did it again to get some photos.

Closeup of Newspaper Rock, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona — Closeup of Newspaper Rock

We parked by the Teepees for our second favorite trail of the visit: Blue Forest Trail. Talk about spectacular!

Hiking along the Blue Forest Trail (unofficial official route), Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona — Hiking along the Blue Forest Trail (unofficial official route)

We also hiked to Billings Gap. While nice, it didn’t quite live up to the hype and we totally lost the trail on the way back.

Rock formations and badlands in Billings Gap, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona — Rock formations and badlands in Billings Gap

While we were there, we hiked the paved Blue Mesa Loop. Again, it was nice, and it brought back memories of doing in an ancient stroller back in the 90s.

Petrified wood along the Blue Mesa Loop, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona — Petrified wood along the Blue Mesa Loop

On our way south, we stopped at Agate Bridge…

Agate Bridge, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona — Agate Bridge. You’ll be happy to know that the concrete support was made in the 1930s.

…and then hiked the Giant Logs Loop.

One of the Giant Logs, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona — One of the Giant Logs

A great finish to the day was the Crystal Forest. It was such a lovely evening, and the logs here are quite nice.

A colorful log in the Crystal Forest, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona — A colorful log in the Crystal Forest

From here, we drove up to the Page area. Our first hike was the Beehive Trail (sometimes called the New Wave). Storm clouds and golden hour made it pretty epic!

The New Wave on the Beehive Trail, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah — The New Wave

Back in 2011, I decided that Skylight Arch was a must-see attraction near Page. We found a lot of fallen arches, but not the one we were looking for. This time, armed with GPS coordinates from Glen Canyon National Recreation Area website, plus a little help from some volunteers patrolling the area, we made it to the arch. And it was worth it!

Skylight Arch in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah — Skylight Arch

There were still a few more hours of daylight, so we drove over to the short hike to the Nautilus (named for the seashell, not Captain Nemo). It was an incredible and very fun formation.

Entering the Nautilus formation, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah — Entering the Nautilus formation

On our final day in the area, we decided to hike the almost-unknown Resurrection Canyon (I can’t say it’s completely unknown since I found it on AllTrails). Talk about a hidden gem! We hiked twice the purported mileage because we explored so many side canyons.

Rock formations in Resurrection Canyon, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah — Rock formations in Resurrection Canyon

We wanted to drive from here to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. But the weather forecast for the entire area included snow showers where there wasn’t rain. So instead, we drove west… to Death Valley. (One of the things we’d established before leaving home was that some of the group wasn’t interested in Death Valley (I’m always interested in Death Valley, and if you want to know why, click here). So this was a decision based on logic more than a real desire to go there.) We ate breakfast at Zabriskie Point…

Golden hour at Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California — Golden hour at Zabriskie Point

…and then took the gorgeous Red Cathedral Canyon Crest Route.

Hiking along the Red Cathedral Canyon Crest, Death Valley National Park, California — Hiking along the Red Cathedral Canyon Crest

In the afternoon, I dragged the group to Harmony Borax Works and Mustard Canyon to get some photos.

One of the 20 Mule Team borax wagons at the Harmony Borax Works, Death Valley National Park, California — One of the 20 Mule Team borax wagons at the Harmony Borax Works

Then we drove down to Badwater Basin. I’ve been keeping tabs on the situation in the park since Hurricane Hillary closed down the park for 2 months back in August. So I knew there would be water flooding the valley. But I wasn’t prepared for the sheer beauty of Lake Manly. It was absolutely surreal, a once-in-a-lifetime experience I’m so glad I got to do! In fact, it was so incredible that we blew off the rest of the afternoon’s plans so that we could go wading (now I’m glad I brought along our water shoes!)

Jumping for the sky at Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park, California — Jumping for the sky at Badwater Basin

The next day, we drove up to Dante’s View…

Views of Lake Manly and Death Valley from Dantes View, Death Valley National Park, California — Views of Lake Manly and Death Valley from Dantes View

…and then hiked to Coffin Peak. There’s no real trail, but the views are great.

Views of Death Valley from Coffin Peak, Death Valley National Park, California — Views of Death Valley from Coffin Peak

Grand Canyon was looking like it had a weather window of sunshine, so on our way out of the park, we drove the Greenwater Valley Road (a new experience for all of us).

Greenwater Valley Road, Death Valley National Park, California — Greenwater Valley Road

And since this post is getting very long, I’ll post the second half of the trip (including whether or not we were able to do Rim to Rim) early next week!