As Mark and I wrap up our five-week house sit in Albuquerque, New Mexico, it is more than time for me to wrap up my blog posts about our explorations in Zesty before that.
What follows is a series of snapshots of fascinating areas, which didn’t make it in previous posts. Northern Arizona and Southern Utah—it was often not clear in which state we were hiking, camping, or sightseeing—have so much to offer in terms of natural beauty (and an animal sanctuary) that we are returning soon.
Glen Canyon
The Glen Canyon National Recreation area stretches far and wide – mostly into Utah – and hides many gems. It encapsulates a big chunk of the Colorado River and Lake Powell in its entirety. One needs a boat to do this region justice. Page, AZ makes a good base.
Lake Powell
Before Mark and I arrived in Page, we told everyone we were “headed for the Lake Powell area.” In reality, the lake only represents a small part of this vast region. We barely even saw it and enjoyed the other sites much better. The lake level was low as well.
Horseshoe Bend
Horseshoe Bend is one of the top attractions near Page. Maybe you’ve seen photos of it? The Colorado River makes a perfect turn around an eroded rock. The place was a mob scene! Since the parking lot is under construction, tourists are obliged to take a shuttle bus to the site for $5 per person. We are frugal and didn’t want to spend $10 for a short walk and a few photos, so Mark dropped me off and picked me back up. Free!
The Toadstools
An easy hike in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah leads to the “Toadstools,” funky balanced rock formations created by erosion.
Vermilion Cliffs
This is the area where Mark and I hiked to The Wave. But before that, we explored Wire Pass Canyon and Buckskin Gulch. The road to reach these points of interest – House Rock Valley Road – was in horrible condition, as it hadn’t been grated in ages. Massive ruts made driving without a 4WD vehicle extremely tricky (it’s in better shape now).
After four miles of it – better not get stuck following two parallel top ridges that end in a deep groove – we parked our van at a fantastic boondocking spot for the night and took our bikes.
Wire Pass Canyon
Buckskin Gulch
Navajo National Monument
Not quite on the border anymore, Navajo National Monument is located in Navajo Nation, just like Monument Valley. Unlike Monument Valley, which is a tribal park (you can read about our visit here), the National Monument is a federal park and free. There are three easy hikes, but the main attractions are the cliff dwellings deep in the canyon, which we didn’t visit. Camping in the Monument is free.
Navajo Nation
Navajo Nation is the largest land area retained by a Native American tribe. It covers parts of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico – a total of 17,544,500 acres – and houses 350,000 residents. It is a relatively desolate patch that reminded us more of an underdeveloped country (think trash, stray dogs, few amenities) than of the USA.
Have you been to any of these places? Do you have tips to share for our return visit?
(This blog post is created in the Gutenberg editor. I used the classic editor for galleries as that’s the only way they come out OK.)
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May 8, 2019 at 15:37
I love this area of the country! We have visited a few times and I really hope we can go several times more… there is so much to see! Thank you for sharing a bit about your experience with Gutenberg. I haven’t made the leap yet, and really have no desire until they force us. I like to keep my blog page clean and simple, and the regular editor works just fine for that.
May 8, 2019 at 15:47
Yep, so much to see. We are returning to volunteer at Best Friends, but I hope we get to explore a bit more as well on our “off days”. 🙂
Gutenberg, like all new “habits,” takes a while to get used to. I kind of like the “building the post block by block,” although it does this automatically for me, since I usually copy and paste my text from Word. It’s the photos I keep experiencing problems with.
The final layout still looks straightforward and simple, but the way to photos appear is messed up. I went back in again after posting, because I really don’t like it when the single photos aren’t centered. So, I made them full-size. This way, they HAVE to be centered. Now I wish I put watermarks on them, but that would have taken an extra hour! 🙁
If and when you change to Gutenberg, make sure you count on a big chunk – do I dare say “block” – of time, Janis! I agree that the previous editor works just fine.
May 8, 2019 at 15:39
I still haven’t tried the new editor yet. I know I will have to one of these days. I absolutely love this area of northern AZ and southern UT. Even after spending five weeks in the area, we didn’t have our fill. We truly missed having a boat though. Getting out on the lake is a whole other experience.
May 8, 2019 at 15:48
Having a boat is key, so for now, we will attempt to discover the land masses around the lake. Yes, it’s because of your love for this area that we made it over there! 🙂
May 8, 2019 at 16:13
I haven’t been to any of these areas, Liesbet, but thanks to you, I feel like I have. Your photos are stunning! I giggled at ” so Mark dropped me off and picked me back up. Free!” I always say, if it’s free, it must be for me! Thanks for sharing with us.
May 10, 2019 at 19:19
I’ve never heard that expression before, Jill! “If it’s free, it must be for me.” So true! Do I have to give you credit when using it from now on? 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed the virtual tour of the “Lake Powell area”.
May 8, 2019 at 18:02
The desert is so amazing. I’ve been to several of those sites but not Horseshoe Bend – and I’d like to see it!
May 10, 2019 at 19:21
I hope you get to do the quick walk to the Horseshoe Bend overlook one day, Alex. By then, the parking lot will hopefully be finished, which makes everything much easier (and cheaper). 🙂
May 9, 2019 at 02:15
You take so many awesome photos. A fabulous and photogenic area for sure. Keep enjoying life and safe travels
May 10, 2019 at 19:23
Thanks, Gilda! After a rather exhausting five weeks of work and pet sitting, I’ll be ready for that life and those travels again. But first, I need to have a good night’s sleep. Or two! I’m so happy you like my photos!
May 9, 2019 at 07:00
I know I’ve been to this area, but as for specific places, I don’t remember. Horseshoe bend rings a bell. One thing for sure, you want to have plenty of gas before you set out for these destinations.
We liked Albuquerque. I remember buying some Navajo art, two small paintings of a boy and girl on suede. They are framed in our bathroom. 🙂
May 10, 2019 at 19:50
I’d love to see those Navajo paintings one day, Marian. Good memories!
Mark and I actually don’t like Albuquerque at all. Lots of suburban sprawl, it takes forever to get anywhere in town because of all the divided roads and heaps of traffic lights, and the weather is terrible during the spring. This year, we arrived a month later than last year, but it was as windy and even more rainy. The temperature was a little bit higher, but it’s been an extremely bad spring. One for the records again. We keep hearing that everywhere we go…
May 9, 2019 at 09:25
Hi, Liesbet – Your photos are absolutely stunning! I was looking for some from Best Friends. I am glad to read that you will be returning to volunteer there. When do you plan to return?
May 10, 2019 at 19:52
Hi Donna! I posted some photos of Best Friends – from the short visit we had the last day of March – in my The Wave Lottery blog. We have booked a bunch of slots, starting May 17th and are hoping for more cancellations, so I can join Mark more often in Dog Town and to fill mornings and afternoons. We plan to be there 10-12 days, but will see what happens. 🙂
May 9, 2019 at 10:27
Yes, I have been to several of those places, and loved them. It’s such a fascinating area. I haven’t touched the new editor yet either – I can’t say your experiences are encouraging me! I use a lot of galleries.
May 10, 2019 at 19:57
Of course you have been there, Anabel! 🙂 What a beautiful area. I’m glad you enjoyed it as well.
I’m certainly not impressed with the photo options/publishing in Gutenberg. I’m surprised WordPress hasn’t come up with a better solution. I thought if I waited long enough to update, all would be fine. Not yet! The only positive I see in regards to photos is the option to do a slideshow. With the old editor, this was not possible in my theme.
I enjoy the “block building” with text, but – again – there was nothing wrong with the old editor. And, I write my posts in a Word document and copy and paste this anyway…
May 11, 2019 at 00:04
I can do slideshows anyway, but I don’t very often because they can be slow to load for those reading. I guess I will have to convert eventually before they switch the old one off.
May 11, 2019 at 11:38
Nice that your WordPress theme includes slideshows already. I never thought about the longer time to load. Thanks for pointing that out!
May 9, 2019 at 18:54
Wow, spectacular photos! I’m hoping to get back to that area someday.
Hey, I have a “newbie” question for you: How do you find out where you’re allowed to boondock? Or is it more a matter of “better to ask forgiveness than permission”? 😉
May 10, 2019 at 20:10
This would be a situation where “better to ask forgiveness than permission” could bite you in the butt. Because… the last thing you want to do when set up comfortably and almost – if not completely – asleep (after a drink or not) is having to move when an official or not so official tells you it’s prohibited to park overnight where you are. It happened to us in other countries, but not in the US yet. Fingers crossed.
We are kind of “better safe than sorry” people, so if we would ever risk parking somewhere without knowing it would work out, we’d better have an alternative close by. But, then again, we’d most likely park at that alternative to begin with.
We’ve driven through many Walmart parking lots that had “no overnight parking” signs (most Walmarts allow this kind of thing usually, but in more popular areas, it’s prohibited) and circled right back outside, to reach an alternative.
So, to actually answer your question, there are resources online that tell us where we can boondock (camp for free). Our favorite is called iOverlander (app and website). We also used freecampsites.net in the past, but one needs the internet for that. The iOverlander app works offline, which is fantastic. And, in the US, National Forests and BLM lands usually permit boondocking. More prominent out west than in the east of the country.
May 10, 2019 at 21:23
That’s good to know. We used to camp a lot, but always in (increasingly expensive) official campgrounds. When it got to the point where it only cost a bit more to get a hotel, we lost interest in camping. Free sites would be a far better option! Like you, though, I’d need to know it was “allowed”, or I’d never get to sleep in the first place. 😉
May 11, 2019 at 11:35
It’s crazy just how expensive some campgrounds are (like KOAs) and that people actually pay these fees. I agree with you that staying at a motel/hotel for the same price or a tad more would be better value for money! Free camping is our go-to, but once we drive east they will be harder to find. The more crowded the areas, the less boondocking opportunities.
May 19, 2019 at 18:23
Great question, Diane! I am also curious.I now know what boondock means, thanks to Liesbet. We camped this way a few times in Iceland, although not in North America:) Erica
May 19, 2019 at 20:47
In the States, it’s called boondocking, but there are different terms for this “free camping style without services,” like “wild camping” in Europe or “freedom camping in New Zealand. 🙂
May 10, 2019 at 08:12
Your ‘Horseshoe Bend image is Nat Geo stunhing and gives no sense of the throngs. I have been to Arizonal several times but don’t think I’ve explored these stunning places. Makes me long to return.
May 10, 2019 at 20:19
The world is a beautiful place, with too many sites to enjoy them all! 🙂 I’m usually pretty good at cutting out the crowds in my photos, if there are any, but in this situation, I wanted to create an accurate picture of the mob scene to show Mark. Since I was the fortunate one to walk to the viewpoint and he couldn’t, I wanted to show him the negatives of what he “didn’t miss”. 🙂
May 10, 2019 at 13:10
These places are all on our list! We’ve only explored the major national parks of Utah, but there’s so much more we want to see out that way. Good for you guys for avoiding the shuttle in Horseshoe Bend! We love avoiding tourist traps like that.
Also- we’re currently looking into campervans. What kind do you have? Thanks!
Elise
May 10, 2019 at 20:28
Hi Elise! We started out with visiting the major southern Utah parks as well when driving through the state in between house sits a couple of years ago. You are so right, one could spend many seasons in that area without exploring it all. And some of these “off the beaten track” destinations are just as stunning, without the crowds.
We have quite a few principles, one of which is avoiding tourist traps. 🙂 Plus, wed rather spend the money saved on something else.
How cool you’re looking into camper vans. You will LOVE the freedom it offers. And these days, with libraries and unlimited cell service plans around, it should be easier to keep up your social media presence. It’s thanks to the internet that we’ve been able to work from the road (and the water) all these years.
Our camper van is quite unique. I really ought to write a post/page about it, so I can link to the info. 🙂 It’s called a Sprinter Westfalia (Westy). It’s a Mercedes Sprinter van, converted by Westfalia in Germany and imported to the US in 2005 by Airstream! Yes, our Zesty is already fourteen years old.
Only 250 arrived in this country, of which maybe a good 100 are left. They are popular and unbelievably built and designed. Separate bed and dinette area, wet bathroom with toilet, sink, and shower, fridge, two-burner stove, generator, air conditioner, and plenty of storage, all in 19 feet. German engineering, right? 🙂
May 11, 2019 at 10:12
Your van sounds like the dream! I would love to read a post about it. The selling point for me is truly that wet bathroom- ha! It was for that reason that I originally was leaning towards an RV, but parking them around Los Angeles (where we would need to stay at least as long as my stepkids are in school) is such a nightmare. You are inspiring us to get serious about this campervan investment. Love the life you live!
Elise
May 11, 2019 at 11:54
Not a lot of van conversions have a shower, let alone a full bathroom, in them. We love it! Yep, these days you have to be careful what you drive around and park in some cities. Especially California has strict rules, on top of the difficulty to park anything bigger than a car. If you have a driveway, or friends/family with a driveway (without low trees), that’s your best bet!
Each time we’ve bought an RV or sailboat, it became our home, which justifies the investment. I have no experience with any of these vehicles as a “toy” or a means to travel on weekends or vacations. Enjoy the researching process!
May 10, 2019 at 14:26
What an amazing part of the country. There is so much to see! We have been through Page/Glen Canyon a few times but never explored much before until we got the kayak! Now I get the attraction of the area.
Your Lake Powell campsite looks nice – wish we had gone there, but we were just lazy and mostly stayed at the Walmart.
Great pics!
BTW – here is my 2 cents about the Gutenberg editor – I hate it. It might be easier for people who don’t know to code but I find it harder and more time consuming – perhaps I am missing something. I have spent a good deal of time building my own theme and the editor strips out some of the styles I have coded. I use a plugin to bypass Gutenberg and use the old classic editor. I’m glad it is working well for you!
May 10, 2019 at 20:33
You will be back on the Lake Powell area, Duwan. Probably next year. Be sure to check out one of our campsites then. 🙂
For the longest time I considered installing the plugin to bypass Gutenberg as well, but then I read some positive reviews and figured I’d give it a try when we were at the house sit. I can always switch back. I prefer the classic editor for photos (and still use it for that, once I found out it was an option).
To be honest, I don’t really need the Gutenberg editor for anything, but since we all have to switch at some point, I figured I’d start the learning curve to be able to use it now. The slideshow option is the only cool thing I’ve discovered so far, personally.
May 10, 2019 at 16:43
Stunning photography.
May 10, 2019 at 20:33
Thank you!
May 11, 2019 at 06:55
Hi Liesbet,
Read this post with interest…we are looking at visiting this area when we do our bit ” ’round the US” trip with the new land yacht in 2020-2021.
Want to do a bunch of boondocking to keep costs down.
Any advice for a newbie?
May 11, 2019 at 11:47
The land yacht sounds fancy! What RV did you guys buy or what are you looking for?
We love boondocking and do nothing but. I guess you can compare it to being at anchor instead of in a marina. A lot of similarities when it comes to freedom, peace, space, and cost. 🙂 Our go-to resource is iOverlander, which can be accessed offline if you have the free app. It’s awesome. We’ve added new places and left reviews as well. It’s a community-based resource.
Let me know if you have any specific questions. I’ve heard from newbies that the first few nights of boondocking could be a bit unnerving, but after testing it out – especially when other campers are around – it becomes second nature. You have to be flexible and able to deal with things not working out sometimes. Having a back-up is a good idea.
May 12, 2019 at 07:59
I love those toadstool rock formations. Mother nature is so clever at what she can do with various elements of her home. Such big, wide-open spaces, Liesbet. Some of the photos look almost as if they were taken on another world.
Your posts are looking so much better with Gutenberg. I’m finding them more comfortable to read now that you have sub-heading and break the text up with photos. You’ve done a great job in mastering Gutenberg. It’s working for you rather you working for it, and the word on the grapevine is that Gutenberg is changing the way Blogging is going. I’m glad you onboard.
May 12, 2019 at 09:40
Thank you for the compliment about my posts and the use of Gutenberg, Hugh. If I’m honest, I have personally not discovered any benefits to myself or my ways of blogging with the new editor as opposed to the old one.
I usually create my posts in Word and then copy and paste them into my blog, so I don’t really need the blocks. I don’t use fancy fonts or layouts or backgrounds, really. And, my biggest issue is the restricted means of posting my photos, especially the galleries, which – in Gutenberg – look unprofessional and don’t let me arrange the photos cleanly as of now. I think over time, the editor will get better. I’m definitely glad I can still use the classic editor function for my photos. Thanks again for pointing that out. Otherwise, I would have switched back to the classic editor…
So, yes, I’ve given Gutenberg time and effort and I’m glad I know my way around it a bit, so I’ll keep using it, but I do hope the glitches will be solved around the photo features. 🙂
May 13, 2019 at 03:26
I’m sorry to hear you’re not seeing any benefits of using the new editor, Liesbet. It took me a while to start seeing the benefits of using Gutenberg, but I’m now especially far more happier with the way my posts look compared to how they did when I used the Classic editor. I’ve also had some great feedback from some of my readers about the layout of my posts, which is a bonus.
WordPress are still improving Gutenberg, whereas they are no longer making any improving to the classic editor. I guess it’s not for everyone, but I’m excited by what I have read about where Gutenberg is going to take the world of blogging.
Have a great week.
May 14, 2019 at 16:27
Good feedback is invaluable, Hugh! So thanks again for your input on this. I’ll stick with Gutenberg for now and see how it evolves. 🙂
May 13, 2019 at 18:31
As you might know, this is where we wanted to go last January, Liesbet. Your images of the area are gorgeous and make me smile knowing I WILL get there some day!
May 14, 2019 at 16:31
You will get here one day, Terri!! I’ve been thinking a lot about you when traversing the area. One of the things you might consider next time you plan to come here is to be more flexible, as in with your schedule and/or campgrounds. We feel so much freer boondocking, as we don’t have to make reservations (let alone pay :-)) for campsites and can change our plans in a jiffy.
Just today, we learned that the campgrounds at Lee’s Ferry (Glen Canyon National Rec. Area) and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon are fully booked. Yet, I find myself in a national forest, with the gorgeous smell of pine trees and nobody around at this very moment, ready to explore the North Rim tomorrow at our own pace and return here when we’re done. 🙂 Or, maybe we will boondock elsewhere. No rush. No stress….
May 13, 2019 at 19:26
I so enjoy your beautiful photos of the southwest. I can never see too many. 🙂
May 14, 2019 at 16:32
Oooh, thank you my dear friend. You will get many more photos the coming weeks!! 🙂
May 18, 2019 at 20:07
Great photos. I so enjoy seeing where you visit because you always explore many places we never got to when we camped and rv’d all over the US and Canada for 30+ years while dragging our 4 kids along. Looking forward to hiking the Grand Canyon in June with my 2 sons and spending the night at Phantom Ranch. The Southwest is just spectacular.
May 19, 2019 at 10:13
Wow, Steven, you spent 30+ years in the area? That’s awesome. You must have discovered many amazing places camping and RVing. Such memories! Enjoy your trip down the canyon with your two sons. That will be quite the experience. We just read about those hikes and that you can buy food at the Ranch (and sleep, apparently), which will make it easier to pack the backpacks for this strenuous hike.
Will you go Rim to Rim, leave from the South Rim or the North Rim? Enjoy! I’m not sure I’d be up for the massive ascend…
May 19, 2019 at 18:30
Hi Liesbet, I am catching up on reading and I don’t want to miss your posts. All of your photos are stunning, especially the Horseshoe Bend photo. You described “a mob scene.” I suspect it is like that all year round. Your Toadstool photos remind me how Mother Nature is amazing. I am enjoying following you and Mark on your adventures:) Erica
May 19, 2019 at 20:49
I’m glad the Horseshoe Bend photo stood out to you, Erica. It’s quite an interesting and beautiful natural feature! Mother Nature is, indeed, amazing. We’ve seen so many spectacular things in the Southwest that it will be difficult to leave in a few weeks. If you are on Instagram or Facebook, I’m getting in the habit of posting photos of our sights, experiences, and adventures almost daily. Just search for “Roaming About”. 🙂
June 4, 2019 at 11:53
Hi Liesbet. I’ve been catching up on my blog reading and just read all your posts since I last commented in March. I see that you now close comments after a certain time, so I wasn’t able to comment on the posts.
Way to go on editing your memoir manuscript! You got it down below 95,000 words — that’s a great accomplishment. Being a wordy writer myself, I know how hard it is to cut, cut, cut.
We often camp for free in BC. In most of BC, there are many old logging and mining roads on crown land that you can drive up a little ways and find places to camp. Rob is particularly fond of camping in gravel pits, although I prefer more scenic locations. On Vancouver Island, most of the forests are owned by logging companies rather than being government lands. There are also primitive campgrounds called “recreation sites” that are free, although you have to travel over rough roads to get to most of them (which is why we have a four-wheel drive truck and camper). Even the provincial campsites aren’t very expensive. They’re usually $18-28 a night. To be guaranteed a great campsite, especially on weekends, it’s good to reserve, but they also keep a certain number of the provincial campsites for “drop-ins.” We rarely camp at privately owned campgrounds as they tend to be crowded and expensive. The biggest problem that we have found with boondocking is that many of the locations are known to local youth who use them for all-night drinking parties.
Jude
June 6, 2019 at 14:24
Hi Jude! I’m glad you can relate to being a wordy (and worthy :-)) writer. I always have that problem and will never struggle to get to a word count, on whatever topic.
I’m sorry you had issues leaving comments on my older blogs from April. I’m not sure why. I didn’t turn off comments. I’ll have to look into that a bit further. It’s really weird that WordPress would automatically shut down the comment section after a little while.
We never stay in campgrounds for the same reasons you mention. Crowded, expensive, and less flexibility as a lot of them need reservations. It’s comparable to staying in marinas with our sailboat, with the added negative of never lying in the wind for needed breeze. We only did that when we had projects that couldn’t be done at anchor. 🙂
When we traveled through Vancouver Island for a month last summer, we never paid for camping either and managed to boondock in the forests, along log roads (if not 4WD), or in cities/towns. Funny that Rob likes gravel pits. I remember staying in many of them in Canada and Alaska over a decade ago. Mark is not too fond of them either, since he figures there’s almost always a nicer place to camp.
August 30, 2020 at 18:25
Wonderful photos of a land that I miss. The Colorado Plateau has some amazing country.
August 31, 2020 at 10:32
Yes! You make me sigh. We will be back! Hopefully this fall/winter. Many places to hide and social distance in nature. 🙂