Finally we are back from a NatGeo trip that took us to the Grand Canyon in Arizona as well as Zion and Bryce National Parks in Utah. The sightseeing in all three locations was, in a word, spectacular. And not just spectacular, but also varied and informative.

The first stop was in the Grand Canyon in Arizona. You have to see the Grand Canton in person to appreciate just how big it is. One mistake people make (apparently routinely) is to look down into the canyon and figure that it’s no big deal going down there. Which, in a sense could be true. But then you have to get back up. That’s when the trouble begins. 

One way people people travel into the canyon and out is by riding mules. If you decide to go that route they impress upon you that if and when you see a mule on the trail, the way you deal with it is by flattening yourself against the wall so as to let the mule pass by. Otherwise you may very well be knocked off the path and down the side of the mountain. Needless to say, neither we, nor anybody in our entourage chose that route. 

We stayed for two days in the lodge at the North Rim of the Canyon. The cabins, which were described as “rustic” in the literature, were built in 1921. They were indeed rustic, but they were serviceable, at least for a short stay. A saving grace: the lodge had a Saloon (that’s what they named it) and they knew how to make martinis.

So we stayed for 2 days and did lots of exploring which included getting up (before 6:00 AM!) to see a beautiful sunrise and hiking the trails around the North Rim. All in all, a lot of fun, but quite a workout. 

We then went on to Zion National Park where we stayed outside the park in a modern up-to-date date hotel in town. Zion was a delight to see, with its many trails, scenic drives, and its restaurant at the Visitors Center, which is equipped with Wi-Fi. Where would we be without Wi-Fi? 

Zion gets in the vicinity of 4.5 to 5 million visitors per year, attesting to its popularity. Lots of tourists are from outside the US. While there we heard lots of different languages. We took the scenic shuttle ride up to the Temple of Sinawava; from there we went on a short hike by the side of the Virgin River before heading back to the visitor’s center for lunch. We took a different hike the next day. 

After 2 days in Zion we were off to Bryce National Park. Bryce is known for its hoodoos; the word “hoodoo” means to bewitch. And the hoodoos of Bryce surely do that. They can be thought of as relatively small, relatively shafts of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins of land. They are most commonly found in the High Plateau regions of Bryce and the Badlands of the Northern Great Plains.  They really are quite a dazzling sight to see. 

While in Bryce we stayed in the lodge in the park. The good news: It was more modern than the lodge at the Grand Canyon. The bad news: it didn’t have a saloon. However, they did serve wine with dinner, so all was not lost. 

And I have to say: Kudos for our guides (Matt Turner and Matt Hergert) who were tireless in smoothing out any wrinkles that occurred along the way. Nor can I forget the depths of the expertise of Jeremy Schmidt, the NatGeo expert who led the trip and pointed out invaluable information about roughly everything, ranging from the history of the canyon, geological theories that sought to explain some of the as yet unexplained phenomena of the terrain, and the best way to photographically capture some of the colors of the landscape. 

All in all it was quite a trip, and NatGeo gets 5 stars for their work. 

Joe Benning