Liz and I took ourselves off to the west for our final USA hiking trip. We began in Zion National Park, a place we had been itching to visit for years. We had a great day climbing to Angel's Landing, but it was clear that the longer trails on the canyon rim were not going to be much fun in the 100 degF+ heat. It was time to move to higher ground. The campground (Ferber RV Park, Springdale UT) were very good to us, refunding one of the three nights' fees, and we climbed out from Canyon Junction pausing for some drive-by shootings with the camera.
 
There was plenty of time, so we took a diversion to the Cedar Breaks National Monument. This remarkable amphitheatre of eroding sandstone was a taste of what was to come at Bryce Canyon. It was very quiet and we would have loved to stay, but the campground was stil not yet open (planned for mid-June). We continued to Bryce Canyon National Park, where we had reserved a teepee in a commercial campground to the west of the park. We discovered that the teepees were close to the road, and that there was plenty of space in the National Park Service campground. The latter was also only a short walk from the canyon rim, so we opted to move. Again, the campground owners were very good to us when we cancelled.
 
Bryce Canyon is probably the most photogenic natural feature I have ever seen. We could have spent days there just wandering around the trails and taking photographs. In addition the campground offered a very relaxing environment and the elevation (~8000ft) made for pleasant temperatures. We joined a huddle of early-birds at Sunrise Point to capture the legendary sandstone glow as the sun came up on our second morning at Bryce.
 
Buoyed by our good fortune so far, we proceeded to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon with high hopes that a first-come, first-served camp site would be available. Alas, all spaces were reserved. It was a bit breezy (65mph) as we wandered, despondent, among the flying roof shingles wondering what to do next. "Let's ask at the Lodge", said Liz. "They might have a cancellation". And who'd have thought it: they did! We checked in to our room, spread out all our gear to air out, as campers are wont to do in hotel rooms, and went for a walk. It's a bracing level hike out to Widforss Point, 5 miles each way and a predictably stunning view at the end. We thought we were quite late back, but found - not for the first time - that we had neglected a timezone change. This caused the sun to set an hour late but on the plus side, provided an unexpected hour for pre-dinner drinks in the Lodge's saloon bar.
 
Tearing ourselves from the Lodge's sun terrace the next morning (the wind had dropped) we set off for .. somewhere. We hadn't really decided where. Presently we found ourselves following the foot of the remarkable Vermilion Cliff along to Glen Canyon, where we ate a leisurely lunch beside the Colorado River. It was hard to imagine that this lightly-riffled ribbon of water would be thundering through the tumult of the Grand Canyon by the time we were on to the cheese course.
 
Continuing in the approximate direction of Flagstaff, Arizona, we stopped at the ancient ruins of Wupatki National Monument, pausing in the Visitor Centre to buy a guide to Arizona campgrounds. This suggested we head towards Sidona, but as luck would have we got stuck in a traffic jam next to the Flagstaff KOA site. Two nights there, while hardly remote or peaceful, gave us the opportunity to explore the local attractions. There's the ancient cliff dwellings of the Walnut Canyon, there's a big hole in the desert where a meteorite landed thousands of years ago, and best of all there was a 10-mile round trip hike up to O'Leary Peak, overlooking the extraordinary Sunset Crater volcano. Atop this gentle climb was a fire lookout, manned by a lonely fellow called Anders who was cooking his dinner.
 
Finally it was time to leave and we drove back to Las Vegas via the Hoover Dam (for the engineer among us!). We cruised the strip in our dusty rented Jeep, but didn't stop until we reached the airport to board our red-eye home.
 
All in all, a very relaxing trip. Blood sugars were good almost throughout, probably reflecting the quality of the dehydrated meals we had made up in advance. Avoiding restaurants, we managed the perfect combination: we saved money, lost weight, reduced HbA1c, got tanned, and saw some extraordinary sights. Sometimes you need an expedition like that.