4 Wheels 4 Girls

We drove through a very nice little town called Boulder, and then down into the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, headed for Calf Creek Canyon where we would hike the next morning. The road down was basically a controlled fall out of the sky, weaving down the top of a thin ridge between two canyons. The views on both sides were stunning.

When we reached the mouth of the Calf Creek Canyon, we were informed that we could not stay overnight at the trailhead campground, and the nearest place to camp for us was eight miles back up the road, on top of the ridge. Sigh.

So we turned around and drove back up the 14% grade to camp at the top. The bright side of this story is that we got to experience the beautiful views all over again the next morning, driving down the ridge into the canyon a second time.

Looking down into Calf Creek Canyon from the ridge above

April 24, we drove through Dixie National Forest. We were on our way from Capitol Reef to the Grand Staircase National Monument. Me, Greta, and Ellie were hanging out on Greta’s bed. We stopped at the top of a mountain and Jean said, “Girls come out, it’s time for dinner.” I came out and asked, “Are we at our campground?,” but looked outside and didn’t need an answer. I had been watching out the window along the drive and saw patches of snow on the ground. But, I didn’t realize that it was actually snowing. Hard. It was kinda cool, because it felt like were eating in a blizzard. Which we kinda were.

Aspen trees in the snow

I felt so safe inside the RV. The view was amazing. There were white, snowy mountains with tall evergreen trees. It felt like we could see all the world below us. Dad said it made him feel so small. Down below and across the world, it seemed, stood the Capitol Dome. It looked so tiny and far away, when just that morning it towered over us.

The only thing better would be if there were bighorn sheep.

Dad on the hill where we ate dinner, but after it snowed. Capitol Reef is down below him on the left.

One day Daddy left his big pitcher of tea on the side of the counter when Mommy started to drive down a bumpy road. We know that if it falls, it makes a huge mess. It has fallen twice before. Ellie and I realized it was going to fall again. She ran up and caught it just in time. Then Daddy said he was so grateful that the next time we have ice cream she could have half of his ice cream as well as hers.

That pitcher is in a dangerous spot

On Easter we went to Capitol Reef National Park. At Capitol Reef we hiked to a natural bridge. Me and Ellie were playing horses. Along the way, Mama spotted a little natural bridge. I didn’t see it, so she had to point it out to me. It had three bridges over where water runs when it rains, and we could stand on it and under it.

This natural bridge was easy to go under and walk over

Once we got to the big natural bridge, Stella took a picture of it. She was the only one to take a picture.

This picture looks lopsided, but actually the world is lopsided.

On the way back, me and Ellie found a rock that we could sit inside. It looked sort of like an arch. Someday, maybe it will become an arch.

This rock looked like an arch

At Capitol Reef we drove through an orchard. In a flash we were at the Visitor Center. We got our junior ranger packets as usual and filled them in. We had a ranger talk with Ranger Crystal. She was very nice. She told us what trees are in the orchard and what animals live here and how Capitol Reef got its name. One reason Capitol Reef got its name is because there is a mountainish thing that looks like the Capitol building. Ranger Crystal told us that the old schoolhouse was never bigger for all its life; it was always small.

Capitol Dome at Capitol Reef National Park

We checked out our junior ranger packets with Ranger Rick. He was very nice. He asked me a lot of questions and he told us about a lot of things. I liked his stories because he told us about the kids in the old schoolhouse.

When we got out of bed on Easter morning, we all ran to see what we got. We got jellybeans and malted milk balls, and we also got a chocolate bunny. We had no basket so the easter bunny put our candy in a bowl. It took me about three day to eat all of it.

Here we are with our easter candy

But the best thing was a knitted bunny that Stella made for me.

Here is the bunny that Stella knitted for me

We also got a hip pack. My hip pack is green. A hip pack is something that you put your stuff in while you are hiking. I like my hip pack because we go hiking a lot so we can use it a lot of the time.

After that we made french toast. Me and Ana made the french toast together. It was so good.

On April 23, we went to Goblin Valley State Park. It was a place where there were faces all over, and it was very cool because there were so many places for running and hiding and climbing. The faces were in the stones. There were a lot of nooks and crannies. There was no trail so we could do whatever we wanted. Me and Ellie were playing horses. There were nooks where you could hide when it was raining. I wish I could have spent the night in a goblin.

Standing in a group of goblins

On April 23rd, after Arches, Dead Horse Point, and Canyonlands, we checked out the coolest state park there is to see: Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. When they say goblins in the name, they mean it; it’s a big beautiful valley full of goblins! As we were driving there I wasn’t too excited; honestly I wasn’t optimistic at all because I was pretty park-ed out. But I had a boost of excitement when I saw the park. I thought it would just be a great view and that’s about it, but it was WAY more than that. The goblins were made of sandstone and they even had faces, so detailed with noses, mouths, eyes, and eyebrows. Some of them even took the shape of familiar people and cartoon characters; one looked EXACTLY like Donald Duck! The best thing was that we could climb on the goblins and the bunches of them formed paths and mazes. We took tons of great pictures! Here are a few of our favorites:

In the Valley of Goblins

The green mesa rising behind us looked like the Emerald City

The valley walls looked like they were made of goblin faces. Can you spot us in nooks of the walls?

Everyone was so enthusiastic the whole time that I was just laughing and actually enjoying myself for the first time in a while because for those of you who don’t know, this trip is really hard for me ’cause I miss my friends so much and it’s terrible to be away from home at this time. But anyway it was so great, Ellie and Ana running around and screaming joyfully while I did a little exploring myself. At one point I looked over this one big-headed goblin and I saw a whole ‘nother valley of goblins. I went to explore, climbing up a steep wall in the side of the mesa to sit in a little chair naturally formed by the earth. There I am with Stella!

In a cozy spot

Sadly, after a little while, it was time to head back to the camper and eat dinner. We walked back to the parking lot, still exploring the goblins on the way. We made it back just in time for delicious sandwiches. This goblin-filled park was definitely one of my favorites! 😀

We drove from Dead Horse Point to Canyonlands National Monument, a different part of Canyonlands from the other day. From the Canyonlands Visitor Center, it was 12 miles further up the mesa, also known as Island in the Sky, which is 2000 feet high from the bottom of the canyon, where the Colorado and Green rivers come together. We hiked a mile along the rim to get to the Grand View, a place where you could lookout over both sides of the Island in the Sky.

Along the rim trail of the Island in the Sky

Everywhere you look, canyons

Jean was really scared about the steep cliff drops along the hike, but she was brave and took pictures with us along the edge. I thought the cliffs were pretty cool, though. Along the hike we saw a bunch of nooks in the sandstone rocks that, if I were a mini-person, I would definitely live in them.

Nooks in the sandstone make a fairyland

At the Grand View, we climbed up a big boulder to the point of the mesa. On one side was the Colorado River canyon and the other was the Green River canyon. We sat up there for a while.

The Grand View of the Island in the Sky

The hike back was more exciting than the hike out. We talked more, and also I was more excited about getting back to the RV than getting to the “Grand View” because it sounded pretty boring to me before I got there. Once we got back to the RV I was happy but couldn’t think about anything but the bathroom. I headed towards it, used it, and then went back to the RV. There wasn’t much to the hike, but it was kinda fun anyway.

Chatting about boys at the Grand View

April 23rd, we went to Dead Horse Point. Once again we got our Junior Ranger packets and looked through it and then we started it. We worked for a while and then we started our hike. We actually went to a lookout first. When we got there you could look down and see the Colorado River 2000 feet below. It seemed like it was straight down below us.

Here is me and my family way up on the cliff

We stayed there for a short while and then we left to go on the real hike. Right when me and Ana got on the trail we loved it already. Why? Because my mom told us that we could climb on rocks.

Here is Stella looking over the edge. It goes straight down.

Dead Horse Point got its name because some ranchers herded wild horses into the natural corral at the top of the cliffs so they could pick out the ones they wanted. One time the ranchers forgot about the horses and they left. The horses starved to death.

We hiked for a while and got our pictures and then we headed back to the RV. When we got back we turned in our Junior Ranger packets and got our badges. We also turned in our Red Rock Ranger packet that we had worked on for a really long time. To get our Red Rock Ranger badge, we had to visit and become Junior Rangers at three national parks and one state park, all in the southeastern corner of Utah. We ended up doing even more: we visited four of the national parks and two of the state parks, and they were all great.

Then we left Dead Horse Point. I had great fun!

We went to Arches on April 22. I really wanted to see Bighorn Sheep, but we didn’t see any.

These statues are the closest we have come to seeing bighorn sheep

After the first hike, we went on another trail to Delicate Arch. I tripped and fell and I scraped my hands and knees. It hurt. We arrived where we could look and see the Delicate Arch. It looked very small because it was far away. I could see it pretty well, but it was getting dark. On the way back it got really dark, and there was a bird looking thing. My dad got to see it closer than us and told us it was a bat. Stella and Ellie were playing a game that looked really fun. I was anxious for the next day because it would almost be Easter. Now my story is all told.