Summer National Park Trip
Mattias Ward
I was at home, in my room, sitting at my desk, thinking about summer vacation. I kept thinking about what summer has to offer: the beautiful, warm weather; the sky, bright blue; more daylight; not having to worry about school and spending time with friends. I couldn’t wait for summer! It was April, so summer was still a couple months away, but kids were starting to talk about their plans for the break, so it was fresh in my mind. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for the break. Due to the pandemic, it was unlikely I would travel on a plane, so I had to think about fun places that were fairly close by. Another effect the pandemic had on planning any trip was the fact that most activities we did would have to be outdoors. These restrictions forced me to think outside the box.
A couple years prior, I traveled with my grandpa to Bryce and Zion National Parks as well as to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was one of my favorite trips, and it really helped me develop a love for National Parks and the outdoors. It got me thinking: What if I planned a National Park road trip? The trip would be outdoors and COVID safe, the weather would be super nice, and there are a bunch of National Parks close by! So, the journey began.
I wanted to make sure we saw a good amount of National Parks. Some of the main one’s I wanted to see were Yosemite, Zion, and Bryce Canyon. I’d been to all these before, but because they’re so big I felt there was still a lot more to see in each of them. I started looking at ways we could see all three parks, as well as other ones along the way. My family wanted to go to Tahoe as well, so I had to find a way to weave that into the trip.
After a lot of research and many hours looking on Google Maps, I finally found the route I wanted to take. First, we would go through Yosemite on the way to Mammoth Lakes. At Mammoth, we’d visit some nice lakes and explore Mammoth to see if it might be a good skiing spot in the future. After visiting Mammoth, we’d drive through Nevada to Great Basin National Park before getting to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks in Southwestern Utah. We’d finish up our journey in Western Colorado. On the way back we’d see some more National Parks in Utah and go through Salt Lake City and Lake Tahoe to break up the drive home. If all went well, the trip would be really fun. Now all I had to do was find places to stay.
It was tough. Because everyone had been cooped up at home the previous summer, a lot of people had the same idea as me: A National Park Road Trip. Unfortunately a lot of places were already booked. In fact, hotels and lodging weren’t the only things reserved, some National Parks closed their entrances at 7:00 am, because by that time, all of the parking spaces in the park were taken! Nonetheless, I continued looking for places, even if there weren’t many. After a couple more weeks of looking, I finally found places to stay!
“Dad! I found places to stay!” I shouted, just loud enough so he could hear me in the other room.
“That’s great!” He replied. “Feel free to send them to me so I can book them!”
“Great, thanks!” I responded. I was really excited, this trip would work after all!
The next six weeks went by in a blur. Around 9:00 a.m. on the Saturday after school ended, my dad, mom, brother and I began our journey to Mammoth in my mom’s SUV!
Personally, my favorite day of the trip was when we visited Zion National Park. The day went something like this: We woke up early to beat the crowds and the heat. We drove about an hour from our cabin to the park. When we got there, we went to the E-Bike Rental Shop to rent our e-bikes for the day. The plan was to ride e-bikes through Zion Canyon to get to the Narrows River Hike, which was only accessible by shuttle or bike. The problem with the shuttle was that it was jam packed therefore not making it very COVID safe. After getting our e-bikes, my family and I started biking to the hiking spot. The ride was really beautiful. If we looked up we could see the beautiful canyon walls, over 1,000 feet high, painted red and orange, staring down at us. There was a nice breeze, cooling us down from the 100 degree weather.
When we got the Narrows, it was filled with people, coming and going, some just waiting around for the crowds to hopefully clear out. We didn’t turn back, instead we started the hike, walking through the ankle-deep freezing water. Luckily, my family and I had special socks called neoprene socks that were made out of the same material as wetsuits, which helped us keep our feet fairly warm. In some parts of the hike, the river got really deep, with water up to my chest so to say the hike was slow moving would be an understatement. The rocks at the bottom of the river were really slippery. At one point, my brother slipped on one of the rocks and fell, his whole body soaked wet. It gave us all a good laugh. Even my brother was laughing! The hike was really fun, and the canyon walls surrounding us were gorgeous. The walls were many different shades of red and orange, while displaying different layers of rock, and showing how it’s changed over the years. The hike really made me appreciate all the research and work I did to make the trip happen, and helped me understand that when you want something to happen, the best chance you have of making that hope a reality is by taking the initiative and putting in the effort to make it possible.
We finished the hike and headed back to our bikes. We biked back to the rental shop, ready to go home after a long, tiring, fun, adventure. After returning our e-bikes, we grabbed an ice cream, and drove back to the cabin we were staying in.
Zion National Park wasn’t the only place where we had fun. In Bryce Canyon National Park, we took a mule ride down into the canyon to see the various rock formations up close. Then on another adventure, we took a 4x4 Jeep Tour which led us through the “backdoor” of Canyonlands National Park, barely hanging on the side of massive cliffs while riding over bumps and rocks every step of the way. In Capitol Reef National Park, we visited apricot and apple orchards inside the park, and got to use metal poles with cages at the top, which allowed us to pick the high hanging fruit. This was especially cool because Capitol Reef is the only National Park which lets you pick and take food from the Park.
The trip was truly a once and lifetime adventure that I will remember for the rest of life, not necessarily because of all the new places, but because of all the time I got to spend with family.
