The Mighty 5 in Utah

Having lived in Arizona for almost 40 years, I hear a lot about some of the beautiful national parks in northern Arizona and southern Utah.  They were formed by similar geological events millions of years ago resulting in gorgeous landscape that you don't see anywhere in the world:  Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, in northern Arizona and The Mighty 5 (Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Arches) in southern Utah.

Capitol Reef

Canyonlands

Zion

In May this year, I agreed to take my grade school friend, Edward, and his family, to Yellowstone National Park, which I have never visited.  Edward and his family were visiting their daughter, who is working in Dallas and so this is a great opportunity for them to visit one of the world's most famous national parks.  Having traveled to many places around the world I am proud to say that our US National Parks are the best in the world.  Yes, almost every country has its own natural beauty but in terms of how the United States National Park Service (NPS) presents, preserved and maintained the US National Parks, there is simply no competition.  Whenever I go to a national park and have an opportunity to talk to a Park Ranger, I always thank them and tell them that our national parks are the best in the world.  These rangers don't get paid a lot but they are dedicated public servants who love the outdoors.  Unfortunately, I run into as many foreign tourists as Americans.  Many European tourists fly into Las Vegas and would visit as many of the parks as possible around northern Arizona and southern Utah.  I wish more American would go out and enjoy their national treasures.

Another incentive for me to visit the national parks is the Senior Pass.  This pass is available to US permanent residents and citizens over 62 years old for only $10.  You get to go to all the national parks for free for the rest of your life!  This is the best deal for senior citizens.  If you qualify for this pass and don't take advantage of it, you are missing something.

Bryce

My plan was to spend a week visiting the Mighty 5 then drive to Salt Lake City, meet Edward and his family there, then take them to Yellowstone.  As I research into where to go and stay in the area, I realized that this is quite a remote area.  There are not many big towns and hotels are quite limited.  So I bought a small tent and planned to camp whenever I can or have to.  I will talk more about each park in the next few posts.

You may notice that some of my pictures look better than in previous blogs.  My friend, Richard Kent, who has been a professional photographer in Seattle for over 30 years, suggested that I look into using Adobe's Lightroom.  I took a couple of classes from Arizona Highways Photo Workshop and wow.....what a difference it makes.  I am still learning how to use Lightroom but it has made a big difference in the quality of my pictures.  I will share more of these pictures in my posts.

Arches