Our short trip to Utah in autumn Oct 17,2020 – Oct 20, 2020.
Oct 17: Left house around 8:00 AM, stopped by Las Vegas for lunch at Phở Số 1 and Bellagio for its beautiful garden: it’s Pumpkin time! Then headed to Comfort Inn in Hurricane Utah around 4:00 PM. Our dinner for tonight was Canh Bún.
Oct 18: Took the Cedar / Kolob loop to search for yellow leaves, but we were too late. First stop at Parowan Visitor Center but they closed on Sunday. Then continue on 143 for Yankee Meadows Reservoir; Then hwy 148 for Cedar breaks (but we did not go in) then turn to hwy 14 (cedar canyon) -> Left turn on Right Hand Canyon Rd which will become Kolob Rd. Only the first part of the Kolob Rd. is paved, the rest until it reaches the Kolob Reservoir is unpaved with lots of small gravels and dust! But it’s full of aspens! Too bad we were too late. Once we reach the Kolob Reservoir, the road is paved to hwy 9 (30 miles from here to Hurricane town but it’d take about 1 hr because there’s lots of curves and it goes thru the Kolob canyon and Zion canyon. Our dinner for tonight was Bánh Canh Tôm Cua.
https://goo.gl/maps/qAj7f4R7VXj6NP2g9
Oct 19: Zion Park. We could not get the shuttle tickets so we took 2 hikes on Canyon Junction and Canyon Overlook (right after the tunnel). Canyon Junction with the view of the Watchman mountain in the background is beautiful; we found a little waterfall after crossing 2 bridges. The parking lot for the Canyon Overlook is really small (for about 20 cars) but we were lucky to get one after waiting for about 10 minutes. Otherwise one would have to park along the road and walk back to the trail head which is about 10 minutes walking. It’s easy trail with some parts have hand rails; and it’s beautiful along the way. William & I did not hike to the end because it was hot and he was tired; but we enjoyed the hike regardless.
https://goo.gl/maps/1xsJe4XAX1hpyBTSA
It was still early so we decided to go back to Kolob Reservoir because we saw some yellow leaves on the other side of the reservoir yesterday. To our disappointment, when we got there, we could not go in because it’s “Private property”.
On the way back to the hotel, we got some Domino’s pizza and some wings for dinner.
Oct 20: Checked out the hotel around 8:30 AM. Stopped Palazzo and Venetian and then Phở Số 1 for lunch then headed home. It was 5:00 PM.