Adventure Days 6, 7, & 8??: Grand Canyon —> Kanab, Utah

It’s been a few days…the past 2 campsites I’ve been at have been in the middle of nowhere, so no service to even try to type this out on my phone (like the first day).

It’s been a busy few days, lots of driving and sightseeing since it gets so hot in the afternoon (close to 100 in the canyons).

We left Holbrook and headed to the Grand Canyon, driving through Flagstaff along the way. We went to the Grand Canyon taking the scenic drive (so much better than just the highway) and had the windows down the whole way–a helpful trick for Rolo and his drooling.

When getting to the Canyon, we opted to just go scope it out as it was peak hours (and also very hot). Dogs are allowed on all the trails in the South Rim (the side of the canyon that sees the most tourists). Rolo did amazing in a giant swarm of people and ignored other dogs as well.

We got a peak at the canyon but decided it was way too crowded and way too hot to try to do anything more than drive through the park.

We eventually drove to our campsite and set-up shop and cooked dinner.

My alarm at 3:30am went off way too early, so I hit snooze and woke up at 4am, figuring if we missed the sunrise, we missed the sunrise.

We got back to the Grand Canyon (about a 45min drive from our campsite) and found it was pretty deserted. We did about 1.5-2 miles along the rim of the canyon before heading back to the car. Rolo was a big fan of the canyon and was very sad to leave it, but we had things to see in Utah.

We made it to Kanab, Utah, where we’d be stay for the next 2 nights–the first at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, and the second (tonight) at a hotel so I could Skype into my grad school class.

We got to town pretty early, I guess that’s what happens when you start your day at 4am…Instead of having Rolo bake in the heat at the dunes (88-90 with no hopes of it dropping til 6:30pm), we opted to go check out Zion National Park. Zion was never on my list for this trip because it’s not super dog friendly. That being said, it was still amazing to drive through. If you ever want to feel small, go there.

We moseyed to our campsite (after an hour of waiting for the heat to go away…thanks for the phone call mom!) and Rolo was happy to lay in the sand (and not sleep on the gravel). I also finished The Help–would definitely recommend. The movie did it justice, but the book gives so much more depth of the characters.

We woke up late, or at least I thought it was because the sun was shining, though it was only 7am, and got on with our day. We explored the dunes in the cool 60 degrees. Rolo wanted to romp in the sand off his leash more than anything.

After trudging back to the car, we started trying to figure out where to go for the day. We ended up taking 89, the scenic byway, and ended up at Bryce Canyon National Park–another park I didn’t put on my trip.

It was a pretty drive & stop & take a picture kind of tour of Bryce, as dogs aren’t allowed on any of the trails, but it was still amazing. 2 years ago I fell in love with Moab, this year Bryce stole my heart.

Tonight we’re staying in a hotel. Rolo immediately passed out on the bed. I got a nice shower and Skyped into my grad school class and getting caught up on what I missed last week (with my professor’s blessing). Afterwards a walk and dinner were in order (thanks Subway) and Rolo got a bone while I caught up on Below Deck Mediterranean.

Tomorrow we’re off to Colorado since we have to be in Denver by Friday for a visit from one of the best people.