It’s hard to believe the first, official GOAT trip is in the books! Overall, we had a great time, met many new friends, and came home with awesome memories. Hope you enjoy this trip recap!
Wednesday, May 22nd
The first day of our trip was solely focused on getting everyone to Utah safely. Outside of a few delayed flights and one stolen bag (which was later recovered, whew!), all of the participants made it to my house by Wednesday evening. A few of us had lunch at a local SLC favorite – Facil Taqueria – between wrapping up work calls, unpacking/repacking our bags, and just enjoying the pleasant spring weather. For dinner, we picked up Slackwater Pizza, did one last Target run for supplies, and then spent the rest of the evening getting to know each other and rifling through our GOAT swag bags. It was an early night, as we had an early morning the next day.
Thursday, May 23rd
Wake up calls started about 6am, and we hit the road by 7am – of course with a stop at a local Starbucks for coffee – before heading south. Our first stop was Little Wild Horse Slot Canyon, about a 3.5 hour drive from SLC. It was nice to get out of the car and stretch our legs for a bit! We loaded up with sunscreen, snacks, and our gear and hit the trail. Everyone enjoyed meandering through the slot canyon, climbing over boulders, and cheering each other on as we accomplished new physical feats. We hiked about 2 miles into the canyon before turning around to head back, making the total trip about 4 miles. While that doesn’t seem like much, there’s a lot of physical exertion to walking in sand, climbing boulders, and simply taking a lot of water and photo breaks – it is the desert after all!
We returned to the Jeeps about 2pm and headed over to Goblin Valley State Park, a short drive away, for a PB&J picnic lunch and to explore the little goblins (hoodoos). It was quite hot in the afternoon, so we didn’t stray too far past Valley #1, but we did enjoy a short game of hide-and-seek and admiring the towering hoodoos.
Once we were hiked out for the day, we drove about 1.5 hours to Torrey, Utah for quick stop and afternoon pick-me-up at Etta Place Cidery. Anne, the host, regaled us of tales of Etta and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It was very interesting to hear about some of the local history while enjoying some delicious ciders.
For dinner, we headed next door to one of our favorites – Chak Balam – for tacos and margaritas. I’m pretty sure we ate our weight in chips and salsa. We were hungry!
After dinner, we were all pretty exhausted and ready to turn in for the night. I had made a last minute hotel change and we ended up at Skyview Hotel in Torrey. Skyview has epic views of the red rocks of Capitol Reef with luxury vibes on the inside. I think everyone appreciated the luxury after a hot day in the sun! We all turned into our rooms, showered, and hit the beds early.
Friday, May 24th
Alarms went off at 4am, and we were on the road by 5am to try to get to our sunrise spot. Summer sunrises in the desert start early! We backtracked about an hour to get to Moonscape Overlook. This spot is pretty otherworldly to begin, but add in a sunrise, and it’s just breathtaking. We brought camp stoves and easy-to-heat breakfast items so we could enjoy instant coffee and oatmeal while watching the sunrise. This was one of the highlights for everyone!
After getting our fill of breakfast, we returned to Capitol Reef National Park for a quick stop at the visitor center and to pick up some pies from Gifford Place. Capitol Reef is known for its fresh fruit pies made daily, and we couldn’t resist purchasing some! Unfortunately, the scenic drive of the park was closed, so we were unable to do any hiking in the park, but we didn’t let that stop us!
We took the Scenic Highway 12 south from Torrey down to Boulder and stopped for a hike at Lower Calf Creek Falls – an iconic desert waterfall in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. The hike was 6 miles roundtrip, and we felt every second of it. The sand was a lot deeper than we expected, and temperatures climbed throughout the morning. The waterfall was definitely refreshing!
For dinner, I made early reservations for us at Hell’s Backbone Grill in Boulder. We sat on the patio, and thoroughly enjoyed our dinner. I’m pretty sure we ordered at least one of everything off the menu and reminisced in our hike from earlier that day. I told our waiter that we were going to visit Singing Canyon after dinner, and he encouraged us to give the “mother” cottonwood tree a hug – so we did! It was a great post-dinner walk through a short canyon, and to test the acoustics, some of our girls sang “Amazing Grace” which brought a few of us to tears.
After a pretty eventful day, we were ready for bed and drove about an hour from Boulder to Tropic, Utah for a stay at Bryce Pioneer Village. While not as luxurious as Skyview Hotel, we did enjoy the summer camp vibes and the relaxed environment.
Saturday, May 25th
On Saturday morning we slept to 6am and left the hotel around 7am to try to beat the crowds at Bryce Canyon National Park – and we’re so glad we did! (When we left BCNP around 11am, the rangers were already turning cars away because they were so full.) At Bryce, we hiked the Queens Garden and Navajo Loop – about a 3 mile hike through the hoodoos. This was also a crowd favorite – everyone loved hiking among the hoodoos!
For a late lunch, we headed south and ate at Thunderbird Restaurant at the Mt Carmel Junction. As expected, it was pretty crowded due to the Memorial Day weekend, so we did have to wait about 45 minutes for a table, but the food was delicious, and we were hungry!
We then forged our way through the east entrance of Zion National Park, driving through the infamous tunnel, before arriving in Springdale. We stopped at the visitor’s center so everyone could take a leg-stretch break and do some shopping. Afterwards, we walked over to Zion Outfitters to pick up our rented boots, socks, and hiking poles, as we were planning to hike The Narrows the next day.
Once everyone had their gear, we returned to the cars and headed to our accommodations for the night – Zion Wildflower Resort. We enjoyed sitting by the pool and hot tub for awhile before picking up pizza and wine for dinner to enjoy by the fire pits. Several of us stayed awake til dark just enjoying the sunset and fun company.
Sunday, May 26th
Alarms went off early again on Sunday, as we had a 5:30am departure time. The goal was to make it to Zion Visitor Center and get on the 1st bus into the park – and we made it! Even though it was an early start, it was nice to get ahead of the crowds.
We walked the 1 mile Riverside Walk from the bus stop to the start of the Narrows, took some photos, and then began our hike. It was quite chilly, and the water was moving pretty fast, so we did our best to keep moving to stay warm. We ended up hiking about 2 miles into the Narrows before turning around to head back. I think if we had brought more warm clothes, we likely would have gone farther into the river, but no one complained about turning around. Fortunately, we were able to check off some bucket list items for a few girls who had been dreaming about hiking the Narrows! And…we were lucky because The Narrows had been closed up until that weekend due to high water.
After hiking and an eventful drive back on the bus (shout out to Cindy the bus driver!), we returned all of our gear to Zion Outfitter and grabbed lunch at Zion Brewery next door. It sure felt great to sit down for a bit, although we didn’t stay too long as we needed to hit the road to head back to SLC.
We arrived back into SLC around dinnertime, and we were pretty exhausted. We took turns showering, ordered dinner from Vessel Kitchen, and relaxed on the porch. Since it was our last night together as a full group, we rounded out the trip with our Closing Ceremonies before turning into bed.
Monday, May 27th
After a restful night sleep, we were off again for our (optional) spa morning. We made reservations at the spa at the Grand America Hotel in downtown SLC for hour long massages. If the sauna, steam room, and massages weren’t enough to relax, we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging by the pool – ordering chips & guac, cocktails, and fresh fruit. It was a glorious, restful day!
After a full day of relaxing, it was time for everyone to head back to the airport. We all gave hugs, shared contact information, and then were on our way.
