Index
Day 1 - Moab
Day 2 - Lakes
Day 3 - Arches
Day 4 - Canyonlands
Day 5 - Corona/Goblins
Day 6 - Capitol Reef
Day 7 - Bryce
Day 8 - Bryce
Day 9 - Haze
Utah: August 2020
LAX looked a little different the last time I flew, prior to the safer-at-home orders, in mid-March. But to fly again, during a full-blown global pandemic, was downright crazy. Prior to 5:00am, where most coffee shops would at least be preparing to open, it was an eerily quiet terminal and a sea of locked storefronts.
A mid-morning arrival at DEN was much busier, mask compliance wasn't bad but not nearly as good as LAX, and there were massive lines for the restaurants (maybe 75% of them were open?) that were open. Elected to pay a few bucks more to skip the lines at New Belgium Brewing, which had socially-distant tables by the window available immediately. And honestly it was nice to see a busy airport, closer to normal, than the ghost town that LAX was.
Noon-ish flight to CNY revealed the landscapes of Canyonlands National Park to the right side of the aircraft, and also tons of haze from the wildfires burning on both sides of Utah-- Colorado in particular had some nasty ones burning the whole trip, and many other states weren't much better off.
Wrapped up the day with a surprisingly modern food truck quesadilla at Quesadilla Mobilla, an almost-very-decent pho at 98 Center, and some first experiments in astrophotography at Balanced Rock in Arches National Park. Special thanks to Cousin Jared for playing tour guide this trip!