Carved by Time: A Journey Through the Southwest

Day 1 – Seattle → Las Vegas → Hurricane, Utah

Some trips you plan for months, and they never happen. This one almost made that list. I had been talking about the Southwest for over a year, and somehow something always came up. And then one week everything just clicked. Reservations made, bag packed, notifications turned off. Just like that.

I landed in Las Vegas, grabbed the rental car, ate Del Taco at a gas station (genuinely one of the better decisions of the trip), and drove straight to Hurricane, Utah. It was past midnight when I checked in. I had no idea what was about to unfold over the next six days.

Day 2 – Zion National Park

The word “Zion” comes from Hebrew and means a place of peace, a place of refuge. Standing at the base of those red sandstone cliffs the next morning, I understood why someone chose that name. This is not just scenery. It is a reminder that the earth has been doing extraordinary things long before any of us showed up.

The canyon was carved by the Virgin River over millions of years. Water and patience, basically. There is a life lesson right there that I am going to leave without a caption.

Because of flash flooding the night before, most trails were closed. I did the Lower Emerald Pool trail first, shorter than planned but still beautiful. Then came Weeping Rock, which is one of the strangest and most fascinating things I have seen. Water seeps down through the porous Navajo sandstone above and drips out of the cliff face below. What makes it remarkable is that scientists estimate it takes over a thousand years for that water to travel through the rock. So the drops hitting your hand today started their journey around the year 1000 AD. That stopped me in my tracks.

Then I accidentally took on Observation Point. I say accidentally because I meant to do the moderate Hidden Canyon trail and took the wrong turn. Observation Point is 8 miles round trip with 2,352 feet of elevation gain. In 103 degree heat. With not enough food or water. The sun was relentless. Every 100 steps I debated turning back.

But then I noticed a little kid next to me, maybe 8 years old, hiking uphill without complaint. And an older couple somewhere in their 60s moving steadily like they had nowhere to be. I kept going. I did not make it to the top. I turned back about three miles in, rested in whatever shade I could find, and came down. I was proud that I tried. I was also covered in dirt and starving. The Thai restaurant at the park exit was the best meal of my life at that exact moment.

Reflections: Utah trails are not the same as Pacific Northwest trails. The altitude is higher, the sun is relentless, and distances feel deceptively short on a map. Start hiking before 8am, carry at least 3 liters of water, pack real food not just snacks, and check trail conditions the night before, especially during monsoon season from July through September when flash floods close trails quickly and without much warning.

Day 3 – Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon is not actually a canyon. Technically it is a series of natural amphitheaters carved into the edge of a high plateau. But that detail does not capture what standing at the rim actually looks like.

The park is home to the highest concentration of hoodoos on Earth. Hoodoos are those tall, thin spires of rock that look like they were placed there deliberately by someone with very good taste. They form through frost wedging, where water seeps into cracks in the rock, freezes, expands, and slowly breaks it apart. Bryce Canyon sits at over 8,000 feet in elevation, which means it gets around 200 freeze and thaw cycles a year. The hoodoos are still being formed right now, one winter at a time.

I arrived to a sky threatening thunderstorms, which I was completely unprepared for. No rain jacket. No umbrella. I had come this far though, so I went in anyway. The worst never came. What came instead was a light drizzle that added drama to an already dramatic landscape. The orange and red towers against grey clouds and mist was something I could not fully capture in a photo no matter how many I took.

The trail from Sunset Point down to the amphitheater floor and back up to Sunrise Point was steep and winding. My legs were already objecting from the day before. But the views pulled me forward more reliably than any willpower could have. By the time I drove out toward Torrey, I was quiet in the best way. Some places just make noise feel unnecessary.

Reflections: Bryce is one of the most underestimated parks in the Southwest. People rush through it in a few hours on their way somewhere else. Give it a full day. The Navajo Loop and Queens Garden trail together make for one of the best half-day hikes in the region. Go early to beat afternoon thunderstorms/heat. And if the forecast looks dramatic, do not let it stop you. That overcast sky might be the best photography light you get all trip.

Day 4 – Arches National Park

Arches has over 2,000 natural stone arches, including the most photographed arch in the world: Delicate Arch, which appears on Utah’s license plate and which I had been looking at in photos for years before finally showing up in person.

The arches form because water seeps into vertical cracks in sandstone, freezes, expands, and gradually weakens the rock from the inside. Over hundreds of thousands of years the rock between two cracks erodes away and leaves the arch standing. The same patient, persistent force at work everywhere out here.

The hike to Delicate Arch is around 3 miles round trip with steep sections and almost no shade. I started midafternoon, which I would not recommend. The heat comes at you from the sun above and the hot sandstone beneath your feet at the same time. I wanted to quit at multiple points.

At one of the few shaded rest spots I met an older man, probably in his 60s, hiking with his granddaughters. He had done this trail several times and could see I was struggling. He told me the views were worth every step. I kept going. He was right.

Two hours in, I came around a bend and there it was. Delicate Arch, standing alone on a slickrock bowl at the edge of the mountain, framing the canyon behind it. The scale of it makes no sense until you are standing right in front of it.

On the way down, a fellow hiker appeared out of nowhere, showed me the safe path up to a secondary viewpoint, took my photo, and helped me back to the main trail. Two strangers in one day who helped me do more than I thought I could. I have not forgotten that. Check out Balanced Rock point, North and South Windows, Double arch etc if you have time.

Reflections: Start the Delicate Arch hike no later than 7am in summer. There is almost no shade and the rock radiates heat in the afternoon. Bring electrolytes, not just water. Moab town is a 10 minute drive from the park and has good restaurants and a full grocery store, so stock up before entering. Evening light on Balanced Rock and the Windows section is stunning and far less crowded than midday.

Day 5 – Canyonlands & Monument Valley

Canyonlands is Utah’s largest national park and one of its least visited, which feels like a secret someone forgot to tell people. The Colorado and Green Rivers cut through it and divide it into four completely different districts. I focused on the Island in the Sky district, which sits 1,000 feet above the surrounding terrain.

Mesa Arch was the first stop of the morning, a short hike with one of the most dramatic payoffs of the whole trip. The arch frames a perfect window into the canyon below. Photographers camp here before sunrise because the light turns the underside of the arch orange. I arrived mid morning and it was still extraordinary.

Then I did the Upheaval Dome Crater hike. This crater is genuinely mysterious. Scientists have debated for decades whether it was created by a meteor impact or a collapsed underground salt dome. They still do not have a definitive answer. I find it oddly comforting that something this big and this real can still be a question mark.

I had planned to skip Monument Valley because GPS showed it far off route. Then I found myself there anyway, because the GPS had clearly been exaggerating. You know you are close when you start seeing cars pulled over on a straight desert highway with people standing in the middle of the road taking pictures. I joined them without hesitation.

The three Mittens and Merrick Butte are sandstone formations rising up to 1,000 feet from the valley floor. They sit on Navajo Nation land, sovereign territory where the Navajo have lived for generations and which they consider sacred. Standing there at dusk with the light turning everything gold, it was not hard to understand why.

Reflections: Canyonlands does not get the attention it deserves because it sits next to Arches and most people choose one. The 17 mile self-guided drive through Monument Valley is worth doing if you have the time, and a guided Navajo tour offers a perspective no map or sign can give you.

Day 6 – Antelope Canyon, Lake Powell & Horseshoe Bend

Page, Arizona turned out to be the most densely packed day of the trip. Three things that on their own would be worth a full day each, all within 20 minutes of each other.

Lower Antelope Canyon sits on Navajo Nation land and is called Hasdeztwazi in Navajo, meaning “spiral rock arches.” It is a slot canyon carved by flash flooding over millions of years. In some places the walls are just a few feet apart and the light filters through in ways that seem impossible in nature.

My guide, who looked like a college student and knew more about geology like the professors, explained that millions of years ago this region was underwater. The canyon’s shape began forming at the bottom of an ancient sea. He showed a video of a recent flash flood racing through the canyon. The same formations I was admiring can fill with water in minutes. Beautiful and terrifying, which is honestly a description that fits most things worth paying attention to.

He also mentioned that if you microwave a small amount of canyon sand with a few drops of water, you get a miniature piece of the canyon. I was tempted to grab some. But it felt wrong to take something that clearly belonged right where it was.

After the canyon I had lunch next to Lake Powell, a reservoir on the Colorado River with striking sea green water from the river’s sediment. I took a boat tour through the canyons and saw the same walls from the water that I had been looking at from land all week. Three perspectives in one trip: aerial into Las Vegas, road level from the car, and now water level. Each one completely different.

The GPS had told me Horseshoe Bend was over two hours away. It was 20 minutes. The Colorado River bends almost 270 degrees around a sandstone butte and the viewpoint sits roughly 1,000 feet directly above it. When I arrived it was so windy that holding a camera steady required real effort. I walked to the edge anyway.

What I stood looking at, with sand in my hair and wind making it difficult to breathe, was worth every mile of the drive and every blister from the week.

Reflections: Antelope Canyon tours sell out weeks in advance in summer, so book early. Upper Antelope Canyon gets the famous light beams but Lower is easier to photograph and less crowded. Horseshoe Bend now draws over 2 million visitors a year so go early morning or just before sunset for better light and fewer people. The Lake Powell boat tour is a wonderful way to wind down after a full week of hiking.

Day 7 – Las Vegas → Seattle

Last and final day. I was finally flying back home after being roasted, toasted, and thoroughly tanned in the Arizona and Utah summer. Minimum 103°F temperatures every single day. Never thought I would say this, but I actually missed Seattle rain. That’s how you know the desert won.

There was no real agenda for today, so I had a late start from Kanab and drove toward Vegas. I arrived almost two hours earlier than needed, which is how I ended up at the Venetian. I had seen photos before, but walking inside is a different experience. The ceiling painted like a permanent afternoon sky, the canals on the upper floors, the performers who make you forget you’re in a casino- people are genuinely so talented.

I’m not big on gambling, so just walked around, shopped a little, and hung out. And of course, took pictures. I don’t even recognize myself in some of them. Someone please un‑tan me. One day I’d love to go to Venice, the real one, but for now this version worked just fine. I also kept wondering how much it costs to maintain a water body on the third or fourth floor of a building. Vegas does not follow normal engineering rules.

It is always daytime in Vegas. The lights, the noise, the people even on a weekday the place was packed. Apparently there was a Microsoft conference happening, with people from all over the world. I’ve never been to one, but it made me think that a travel‑related job would be amazing.

I came back from Utah different in a way that was hard to name at the time. I had spent six days in places shaped over millions of years by forces far bigger and slower than anything I could comprehend, and somehow that made my own struggles feel small. Not unimportant. Just proportionate.

There is something about standing next to something ancient that gives you permission to take the long view of your own life. The hoodoos in Bryce Canyon did not form in a season. The arches in Arches took hundreds of thousands of years of quiet pressure. And there I was, exhausted and sunburned and running low on water, thinking I had to figure everything out before the next switchback.

The Southwest offered me a lesson I keep returning to: patience and persistence are not opposites of urgency. They are just a different timescale. I am glad I made that trip. I am glad I kept walking even when I wanted to stop. I would do every single day of it again.

Nivaha On!

Carved by Time: A Journey Through the Southwest