Category Archives: Deserts

Canyonlands Boat Tour at Sunset

  By Anne Patrone | September 13, 2011 - 9:00 am | , , , , , , , , , ,
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Colorado River at sunset

Sometimes when I plan our trips, I use a friend’s suggestion or a recommended tour in a travel guide. But sometimes I discover a tour or place completely by accident – a random click of my computer mouse.

Thank goodness for random luck because it was how I discovered Canyonlands By Night & Day as I clicked my way around “Things to Do in Moab, Utah.”

Tour headquarters

Offering a variety of tours (jet boat, Hummer, ATV, and horseback riding) that explore the beauty of southern Utah, Canyonlands By Night & Day was an unexpected surprise.

We chose their signature tour (and the one they’ve been offering since 1963) – an evening boat tour and old-fashioned light show along the Colorado River combined with a “cowboy” style dinner.

Relaxing on the Colorado River

Skip the dinner since the food was nothing special, but be sure to go on the relaxing and scenic boat tour which culminates in an awe-inspiring finale that, for us, was only marred by the clouds blocking the starry sky.

We started off near sunset with a gentle cruise on a pontoon-style boat down the Colorado River.

Our guide told us humorous stories about the Moab area and pointed out strange rock and shadow formations on the passing canyon walls.
Boat guide on the Canyonland By Night Tour

Then, as the sun dipped below the horizon, and night fell, we settled back into our seats to watch an “old-fashioned” light and sound show. 

Canyon walls lit by a spotlight on a moving truck

I wasn’t completely sure what an “old-fashioned” light show meant, but it turned out to mean a large spot light on a moving truck which lit up the canyon walls as we floated back down the river to where we had boarded. There was a narrated story which covered the geologic creation of the are, the Native American history of the area, and the settlement by the Mormons, before ending with an emotional rendition of “This is My Country” (a song that has always been my favorite amongst the patriotic ones).

We ended the cruise in darkness and silence with the boat gently spinning around. For some reason, our eyes naturally lifted to the skies and through the clouds we could just make out what would have a blanket of stars on a clear night.  

Arches National Park – Natural Wonders

  By Anne Patrone | September 8, 2011 - 9:45 am | , , , , , , , , , ,
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Arches National Park in Utah

When I planned our Western US road trip, Arches National Park made the list because: 1) it was on Frommer’s 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up and 2) I wanted to see arches – those weird rock formations formed by water, ice, erosion, and underground salt movement seen in so many movies from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to the 2003 version of Hulk.

Home to the world’s largest concentration of stone arches, Arches National Park was, therefore, the best place to see arches.

The only thing I forgot??

Kids get cranky, hungry, and tired after a long hike and generally don’t want to see more arches after they had seen several on our morning Fiery Furnace hike.

After much pleading (and I admit, a small amount of bribery . . .), they finally agreed to . . . sigh . . . go see more arches – as long as it didn’t involve a lot of hiking/walking.

The terms agreed to, we headed over to Sand Dune Arch, which admittedly wasn’t as impressive as some of the ones seen earlier in the day.

Sand Dune Arch

However, the boys enjoyed playing in the sand like the kids they were.

Cool sand in a hot spot

As the complaining increased, we headed back to the entrance, making a small detour to look at one of the most photographed arches in Arches National Park – Delicate Arch.

Delicate Arch

To be honest, I had no desire to hike the rather rigorous (and completely unshaded) climb to Delicate Arch. BUT . . . I wanted a better view than we got at the Lower Delicate Arch Viewpoint. My youngest rebelled and chose to wait in the small amount of shade available at the bottom while my older son hiked the short (0.5 mile), but steep climb to the Upper Delicate Arch Viewpoint.

By this point in time, the rebellion spread, and I was lucky to get a drive-by photo of Balanced Rock.
Balanced Rock

To satisfy my “arches” obsession, I had to settle for sending myself a picture postcard of the last set of arches I wanted to see . . . the famous North and South Windows . . .

North and South Windows
Memo to self and other parents: One hike per day, then send the kids to the swimming pool!

Sixty-four places visited, 436 to go!

Photo of North and South Windows courtesy of Dave Boyer via Flickr.

Fiery Furnace Hike in Arches National Park

  By Anne Patrone | September 7, 2011 - 10:40 am | , , , , , , , , , ,
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Call me naive, but I didn’t realize that hiking the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park was going to be as amazing an experience as it was . . .

The Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park

Of course I was super prepared and had reserved a ranger-led hike through www.recreation.gov months before . . .

Our ranger for the hike into Fiery Furnace

. . . which had us walking in a single-file to avoid damaging the fragile ecosystem . . .

Heading into the Fiery Furnace

And I knew about the tight spaces and scrambling up and around rocks that might occur . . .

Squeezing through an arch

Tight spaces were everywhere

But I was unprepared for the enormous amount of information our guide supplied about this special desert environment, like this watering hole which supplies precious water for a wide range of animals . . .

Watering hole in Fiery Furnace

. . . the unbelievable arches formed from wind and erosion . . .

Arches within the Fiery Furnace
Kind of looks like a face???

. . . and the general beauty and silence we found in this special spot within Arches National Park. 
The quiet canyons of Fiery Furnace

Just be warned, though . . . hiking in the Fiery Furnace is ONLY allowed with a hiking permit or with an authorized guide . . . 

Hiking only with permits in the Fiery Furnace

. . . as a French family learned when they were discovered and then escorted out by our guide and fined.

Sunset at Bryce Canyon

  By Anne Patrone | September 2, 2011 - 9:00 am | , , , , , , , ,
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One of the best things about Photo Friday at DeliciousBaby.com is the chance to see some amazing photos taken by truly superior photographers. Whether it’s a unique camera angle in Camels & Chocolate’s sunglass shot, a beautiful photo montage by walkingon travels, or just a humorous pic that makes me chuckle (like To Europe With Kids’ April Fool’s Day shot . . .), I’ve enjoyed clicking my way around the Internet.

So for today’s Photo Friday, I thought I’d take one last look at Bryce Canyon and share how much the colors change at sunset.

My photos don’t compare to the professionals’, but I hope you enjoy Bryce Canyon as night falls . . .

Sunset at Bryce Canyon

Day's End

Sunset at Bryce Canyon

The Sun Sets

Sunset at Bryce Canyon

Night Begins


Check out more amazing photos at DeliciousBaby.com

Hiking the Hoodoos in Bryce Canyon

  By Anne Patrone | August 31, 2011 - 8:00 am | , , , , , , , , , ,
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Hoodoos in Bryce Canyon

There’s something so wonderfully fun about the word “hoodoo” (a weirdly shaped rock pillar formed by erosion) that even if Bryce Canyon National Park hadn’t been in Frommer’s 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up, we would have still visited this fabulous area in southern Utah.

Although the hoodoos in the Bryce Amphitheater are an impressive sight from the 0.5 Rim Trail, to really experience the weirdness of Bryce Canyon, I recommend doing what we did – taking a (relatively) short three mile hike into Bryce Canyon.

We followed Frommer’s advice, rather than the hiking guide put out by the National Park and went counterclockwise, starting at the trailhead for the Navajo Loop Trail, connecting with the Queen’s Garden Trail to exit at Sunrise Point. 

Navajo Loop Trailhead

In my honest opinion, it was the easier way for kids because the steepness at Sunset Point (where we entered) was way worse than Sunrise Point (where we exited), making for a less intense climb at the end when our legs were tired.

After we headed down the incredibly steep entry into Bryce Canyon, we immediately saw one of its most iconic rock formations – “Thor’s Hammer.”
Thor’s Hammer

Then came a series of switchbacks that had me wondering how difficult it was going to be to walk out of the canyon.

Switchbacks leading down into the Canyon

By the time we got to the bottom, we were halfway through our water (we had taken lots of breaks that weren’t really needed) and connected to our path out – the Queen’s Garden Trail . . .

The “gardens” in the Queen’s Garden

. . . so called because a rock formation that looks remarkably like Queen Victoria stands high on a rocky ledge overlooking her “garden” of rocks.

Queen Victoria in Bryce Canyon

Along the way, we had our first up-close and personal encounter with the wildlife of the west – a silly chipmunk that posed for our cameras . . . 

The scary wildlife of Bryce Canyon

. . . as we made memories of our own . . .

My two “animals” posing for the cameras
Bryce Canyon National Park . . . 63 places visited, 437 to go!