American Road Trip - Part 5/6 - Utah

Time of Visit: May 2022

As we continued west, lush mountains gave way to craggy, arid hills.

This might be the most representative picture of all of Utah.

Vegetation nourished by the Colorado River, flowing just north of Moab.

After grabbing a quick lunch in town (which has a surprising abundance of good food options), we went to the nearby Canyonlands National Park.

It's worth checking out if you're in the area but doesn't hold a candle to the Grand Canyon, to be honest.

Arches National Park, the highlight of the Moab area, had implemented a timed entry system to distribute the entry of visitors more evenly throughout the day, so we couldn't get in until mid-afternoon, but that left us plenty of time to explore every nook and cranny of the less-trafficked Devil's Garden Trailhead.

I have an unwise zeal for drinking untreated water as long as it looks clean. After doing so in Vail three days prior, I began suffering the consequences today and spent the whole day downing Pepto-Bismol.

Otter Creek Reservoir, located in a surprisingly lush (by Utah standards) valley.

The original plan was to hike several trails around Bryce Canyon, famous for its hoodoo formations, but I could only make it 50 feet out from the trailhead to get this picture before retreating to the porcelain throne.

top 10 images taken moments before disaster

We didn't spend much time in Zion due to extreme heat, but the main road through the park was nice enough.

After arriving in Vegas, we needed a respite from our week of burgers, and made a beeline for Chinatown, where the food options were more varied and delicious than all the previous week's towns and cities combined. With a bowl of pho, my stomach illness seemed to disappear.

Thank you Phở Số 1.