Over the years, I’ve become a master at maximizing my hard earned PTO. So when we had a business trip to the sports & entertainment capital of the world just prior to Easter weekend, I almost missed the golden opportunity to extend for 3.5 days in one of my absolute favorite places in the entire world…. southern Utah!
Of course I had already packed a week earlier, so with less than 24 hours until takeoff, I stuffed in my hiking gear & was ready for a spontaneous adventure. And for a mere $30, I changed my flight to a Sunday red eye without even blinking twice.
I have hundreds of bucket list hikes saved for these type of moments & quickly built a stellar itinerary basing out of St. George, Utah. And the icing on the cake was that every one of these treks were surprisingly all new territory for me.
Throw in free hotel room nights & breakfast due to saving my points, plus my local friend lending me her extra minivan, it was a recipe for a no frills, budget weekend…. just the way I liked it!
Each day I attacked a different direction & racked up 31 miles over 8 hikes & eclipsed 100k steps. It was physically exhausting but mentally reinvigorating. My poor feet!
And the weather wreaked havoc on my body. Vegas had been pushing 90 degrees all week, but the backcountry barely hit 40 degrees my first couple of days (not to mention the crosswind gusts were +40mph). Day 3 was the real doozy though, as I started my trek at 31 degrees with snow on the wood baseboards leading down into the canyon. Then my second hike of the day was the elusive Kanarra Falls, which was an inevitable plunge into the icy water knee deep for the last half of the hike straight up the belly of the slot canyon. Looking back, it was TOTALLY worth the temporary pain because it was absolutely breathtaking & worth all the hype!
From the unique spires of Cathedral Gorge State Park, to the sprawling views of Snow Canyon SP, to the awe inspiring towers of Kolob Canyon – Zion NP, to the glow of the Red Rock Conservation Area, the possibilities were endless until daylight finally faded away.
FearlessAdventures 