This is a long one. Day five to day eleven. But it’s been an incredible week…
Okay, I know, picture overload. Yet since Vegas, we have done EVERYTHING. Not quite, but we have definitely packed a lot in.
I’ll try to keep this somewhat short and sweet, just to explain the photos and settings I guess. Plus I’m keeping all the photographs in date order too, so you can see what we did day to day!
So after leaving Vegas, we headed East to the Grand Canyon. Four of us had decided to fly above the Canyon on a helicopter ride, which whilst pricey at $274, was incredibly worth it. When the trees suddenly dropped away into the canyon, it just took your breath away.
Following the ride, we set up camp and took a trip to the edge of the canyon to eat dinner watching the sunset. Amazing.
The next day was hiking day, and a few of us chose to do the hour long hike to Ooah point on the South Kaibab trail. I have done the trail before, last time journeying further down to Skeleton Point on the six mike trail, yet I figured seeing as that was already a life experience ticked off, I didn’t have to kill myself again doing that hike. So the hour hike it was, and just as spectacular as before. We or back to camp, ate some camp food (spaghettii bolognese) and chilled for he evening making smores.
The next day we were off to Cowboy Camp, so took a detour to Lake Powell for a swim. Now the gate down to the lake was closed, so we battled with a 2 mile journey down, in the boiling heat and a lack of water. Not the best, and the walk back was even worse. But getting to the lake and jumping in was just amazing.
We got to Cowboy Camp around 4.30, unpacked in the Bunkhouse and headed to the ranch for a horse ride. The horses were super cute and just walked around the desert ranch, so peaceful and chilled. That evening it was Katys birthday, so after an incredible steak dinner followed by warm chocolate brownies, we had a party in the party barn. Lots of booze, naughty jenga, beer pong and dancing. Pancakes for breakfast really finished off the trip perfectly.
The next day we were off to Monument Valley and took a stop off at Horseshoe bend. Those are the two photos above of me sitting on the edge of a rock overlooking a lake a long way below. Absolutely breathtaking and we stayed there for a while snapping photos and taking in the scale of the place.
Then, on the way from Arizona to Utah, we met the road on which Forrest Gump stops running. One of my favourite parts of last years trip, as FG is one of my favourite films and the views are spectacular. We got a few funny photos of us running up the road and the obligatory jumping photo before heading off.
We got to Monument Valley, ready for a jeep tour around the park. Taking in the Mesa’s and the Navajos sacred areas, we were given an incredible steak and fried bread dinner before a sing song, Navajo dancing and Navajo stories. John, our lovely Navajo tour guide from Simpsons tours, finally took us to one of the Hogon’s – the traditional Navajo homes, and the majority of us slept on the sand inside, hot and sweaty but fairly comfortable. He woke us at 5am for sunrise and we watched the sun come up over the valley.
Getting back to the van after a cute continental breakfast, we were shattered but ready to roll. So we headed to Meelie Point, a high point that overlooks all of Monument Valley. We took a group shot and marvelled at the view before getting to Moab in the early afternoon. We headed to Arches National Park and did a short hike around, and I remembered why I adored Arches before. That evening, we bought salads and went along to Canyonlands, one of my absolute favourite national parks, as the colours are just phenomenal. Again, we watched the sunset as we ate and just chilled and chatted.
I decided I wanted to chill out the next day, so I opted for a pool day. Wearing my Triangl Bikini, I headed to the pool and sunbathed for a few hours before getting ready for the hike through Arches to Delicate Arch. The large Arch that you can see me an Saskia stood inside like tiny ants. It’s a trek up there but the view is worth it.
The day after, the majority of us went on a scenic raft down the Colorado river. So so gorgeous, but after braving a jump in, I have never felt cold like it. My entire body went numb as soon as I hit the water and I could barely speak. Totally freezing but such a cool experience.
We headed back to camp, got hot showers and Agnes cooked a Hungarian dish, Chicken Paprikas before we are brownies, and grilled bananas and chocolate on the fire. A good sleep after and were back in the van on the way to Bryce Canyon. These trips are aweioualy a trip of a lifetime. I hope you’re getting inspired!
Remember you can follow the trip on Instagram as I’m uploading my fave snaps on there as often as I can. Find me @inthefrow.
Catch you soon! X
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