Exploring the Rocky Mountain States
With traveling being such a big part of my life, I have had the luxury of being able to visit almost all 50 states in the US. My most recent expedition was this past summer on an 18 day, 4000 mile road trip through the rocky mountain states.
The Rocky Mountains have always been close to the top of my list for my favorite places to visit because of its astonishing natural beauty. My first experience with mountains was when I was 12 years old while I was on a trip with my family to Colorado. With all of the outdoor activities we tried, along with sleeping in a tent every single night, these memories have been the reason that Colorado is my favorite US state.
Fast forward six years later and I am driving myself across the US in an fully loaded SUV crossover through ten of the prettiest states in the country. The first big destination was the Badlands and The Black Hills of South Dakota. We had already driven upwards of 10 hours the day before, so we decided to take back roads through the Badlands in the blazing 118 degree weather. Throughout our six hour back road adventure, we had only passed two trucks and it really opened our eyes as to how remote of a place this desert was.
The second big state we visited was Wyoming where we camped at Devil's Tower and explored Yellowstone National Park. Devil's Tower was truly one of the coolest natural monuments I have ever seen and being able to camp right next to it and see the sun rise above it in the morning seems like something out of a movie. On the other hand, Yellowstone had its own mind blowing attractions such as, huge plains of boiling lakes and mud pots and of course, the infamous Old Faithful geyser.
After about a week in Wyoming we worked our way down to Utah, which was a state that I had never been to before. Our first stop was Zion National Park where we took a 10 mile uphill bike ride to then take a 2 mile hike in waist deep water. I can't say that the bike ride was my favorite part of the trip, but the ravine that we hiked through at the top was one of the most amazing hiking experiences that I have ever had. The next day, we began to cross the state and explored two very remote slot canyons and while we were climbing through them, I knew it was one of the coolest things I have ever done. After we got out of the canyons, we continued across the state and went to Moab and Arches National Park, which was the Park I was most excited to visit. Though seeing the massive arches was a really cool, we unfortunately couldn't stay for long because of how hot it was getting under the Utah sun.
Finally with the the last big destination of my trip, we went back to where is all began in Colorado. We were able to revisit some of the same places that we had visited six years ago and seeing all of the same places again was one of the most nostalgic feelings ever. Unfortunately, since we were on a tight schedule to start heading home, we couldn't stay in Colorado for as long as we hoped.
By the end of the trip, we were all tired and we were dreading having to leave mountains for corn fields again. Despite having to come home, I think that throughout all of the trips that I have taken over the years, this one will always hold a special place in my memory.
