States: 5 Days: 38 Miles: 15,416
Whilst I’m sure most of America has some very dramatic landscapes, I can honestly say I have been driving around with my mouth open in amazement for the past two weeks. Utah and Arizona are truly spectacular. If it weren’t for the Government shutdown, I’m sure I would have seen some more amazing scenes, but unfortunately my trips have been limited due to lack of personnel and inability to clear roads of snow. Also partly my fault for planning this part of the trip in winter, when it snows. A lot.
Bryce closed from Inspiration point onwards, Zion closed from Zion Lodge onwards. Monument Valley and Dead Horse State Park thankfully open completely (as the former was spectacular and the latter was one of my 100 places). But Canyonlands and Arches closed altogether, thanks to 12 (ongoing) days of shutdown and an unfortunate snow storm on New Year’s Eve.
Hopefully the shutdown won’t continue for too much longer, as there are several National Parks still on my to-do list that I know are currently closed due to lack of personnel. More than that, as well as spoiling my military-precision-like plans, there are around 800,000 employees here that are not getting paid. Some still working, not knowing if and when they will get paid. Not to get too political, but are as an ex-Government employee myself, I have to say that there is something grossly irresponsible about a Government that allows that many people and their families to spend Christmas and New Year without pay and without any understanding of when they will get back to work. They must also be losing out on so much money, as, due to lack of personnel, all parks have been free to enter (those that are open) for the whole holiday period. So glad I bought my $80 annual pass at Joshua Tree – all parks have been free since then! Oh well, at least my conscience is clear.
Nevertheless, some amazing landscapes, I think made all the more beautiful by the snow. Utah and Arizona have some truly spectacular formations where you can actually see the passage of the ages in the rock strata. Nowhere more so than the Grand Canyon in Arizona. In the words of my friend Mike: “It’s just a big hole innit”. I’m 99% sure he was being facetious. However, he's not totally wrong; although the Grand Canyon was truly spectacular, it was so vast that every vantage point offered more or less the same vista. A spectacular one, of course, but I think my favourite so far has to be Monument Valley on the border of Utah and Arizona, just for the variety of formations on show.
I have now been in Moab for the past few days, hoping that the sunshine will eventually do something about the snow so that Arches National Park could reopen, but unfortunately the -17-degree temperature has won out and I will be moving on to Colorado tomorrow not having seen the Arches. On the plus side, an amazing tattoo artist has created a beautiful scene for the Utah tattoo (here was me thinking Utah would be a difficult one!). Now just Delaware and Idaho to worry about…
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