Utah in one day

[Manofmayo66]

Since you are looking at a 4 hour car ride each way, have you thought of doing Arches, Moab & Canyonlands NP? It is about 40 miles less each way (about a half hour less each way). A couple of years ago I also saw McInnis Canyon NP in Colorado, it was a nice park, but wanted to visit during the spring or fall (it was a very cold January).

Of course, you might want to check the passes if there is still some snow.

[Always Looking]

Finally wanted to reply that the trip was a blast and anyone (including me) could easily get a few good photos from Bryce and Zion. I now understand how so many people can get respectable photos of this area with any camera or phone, it's just that scenic. I thought the two guys I was with would be complaining that we weren't skiing everyday of our whirlwind trip, but to my surprise they claimed they actually enjoyed the national parks more than the skiing.

We got to witness Bryce at sunset and sunrise but only from the top as it was foggy in the evening and snowing pretty hard in the morning, with more fog. Under good weather conditions it's tough for me to get keeper photos (I promise you it's not the gear it's the guy behind the camera), with inclement weather I struggle more. We visited Zion and it started to rain, I assumed this would ruin our five hour stay and boy was I mistaken. Instead we witnessed some interesting cloud cover and plenty of waterfalls that I gather are not present most of the time. Again, we barely scratched the surface of what each park has to offer, but for roughly twenty four hours we covered a lot of ground.

As most of you already know, if you ever get the chance to visit this area don't hesitate as it really has to be seen in person to be appreciated. By the way I'm headed back with my daughter and her friend in two a few weeks when her semester at college is over to do some day hiking at Zion and Bryce, this time for five days (my wife thinks I'm crazy).

[Busted Knuckles]

Finally wanted to reply that the trip was a blast and anyone (including me) could easily get a few good photos from Bryce and Zion. I now understand how so many people can get respectable photos of this area with any camera or phone, it's just that scenic. I thought the two guys I was with would be complaining that we weren't skiing everyday of our whirlwind trip, but to my surprise they claimed they actually enjoyed the national parks more than the skiing.

We got to witness Bryce at sunset and sunrise but only from the top as it was foggy in the evening and snowing pretty hard in the morning, with more fog. Under good weather conditions it's tough for me to get keeper photos (I promise you it's not the gear it's the guy behind the camera), with inclement weather I struggle more. We visited Zion and it started to rain, I assumed this would ruin our five hour stay and boy was I mistaken. Instead we witnessed some interesting cloud cover and plenty of waterfalls that I gather are not present most of the time. Again, we barely scratched the surface of what each park has to offer, but for roughly twenty four hours we covered a lot of ground.

As most of you already know, if you ever get the chance to visit this area don't hesitate as it really has to be seen in person to be appreciated. By the way I'm headed back with my daughter and her friend in two a few weeks when her semester at college is over to do some day hiking at Zion and Bryce, this time for five days (my wife thinks I'm crazy).

show her the pics - the landscape is what is crazy - I agree with you. That part of the world is both unique and completely overwhelming the first time through. I have studied my pics of zion and the other areas nearby and I want to go back and get several different vantage points and I think the effort will produce something other than really cool snap shots