We flew into LAS, picked up our rental car, and drive to Hurricane, UT to spend the night.
We arrived early at Zion to see the sunrise into the canyon. We took the tour bus out to the end of the canyon, and hiked to where you leave the trails for the river to reach the narrows. We worked our way back through the canyon toward the entrance, taking several hikes along the way.
We drove to Panguitch, UT, checked into our hotel and took a short nap.
We drove to Bryce Canyon National Park to see the Milky Way at night in the dark skies. We drove out to Sunset Point to take photos and watch the stars.
We drove back to Bryce Canyon before sunrise the next morning to catch the sunrise. We took pictures at Sunrise Point, then worked our way up the canyon to the top, at over 9000 ft. of elevation. We took several hikes along the way.
We left Bryce Canyon and drove through Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument. We stopped at the Visitor's Center, as well as several view points along the way. It is mostly a drive-through park, though there are slot canyons if you have an off-road vehicle.
At the end of Grand Staircase, we stopped in Capital Reef National Park, drove along the "reef" for a while, then visited the Ancient Pictographs.
We spent the night in Green River, UT.
We got up the next morning and drove to Arches National Park to spend the day. We drove through, took several hikes, culminating in the shorter hike to Delicate Arch.
We left Arches and drove 45 minutes to Canyonlands National Park. It is mostly a drive through park. We went all the way to the end. We took several hikes along the way.
We left Canyonlands and drove to Salina, UT to spend the night.
We woke early and drove across the Great Basin, headed towards Nevada. We saw the sunrise, as well as a few herds of pronghorn antelopes.
We arrived at Great Basin National Park, and drove to the top of the mountain. I got to hike a mile at over 10,000 ft. elevation.
We drove across Nevada into California, to the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We stayed at Mammoth Lakes, CA, a ski resort town.
We got up early and drove across the mountains to Yosemite National Park. We took in several hikes and viewpoints along the way.
We drove down to see the Mariposa Grove of Sequoia trees in the National Park. You have to take a bus back to the grove, then hike through it.
We drove back to Yosemite Valley and stayed overnight in a Yurt in Half Dome Village.
I got up early and drove up to Glacier Point to see the sunrise over Yosemite Valley.
We drove through the valley to El Capitan, where we climbed the moraine field to the base of the mountain and watched climbers.
We drove back out Highway 120 to Mammoth Lakes to stay overnight.
We got up early and drove to Death Valley National Park. I spent some time finding the Joshua Tree (of U2 fame), visited Zabriskie Point, and went to the Devil's Golf Course, among other sites. We drove through the park a new way.
We stayed overnight in Las Vegas and ate a $13 prime rib steak.
