karenp@zeus.UUCP (Karen Palmer) (10/14/83)
If you want to get away from people, the Southwest is a good place to go.
Bryce Canyon and Monument Valley offer a lot of good hiking and backpacking.
A few days can also be spent hiking into the back reaches of the Petrified
Forest. All the roads in these parks only go so far. I believe you only
have to let the park ranger know what you are doing, but you might want
to check.
You can find some back roads between these areas where you drive for
hours without seeing anyone and the scenery is spectacular. Just ask
a few of the "locals" for a good route. My boyfriend and I traveled
through this area one fall after all the campers were off the roads
and the weather had cooled down. We found it very convenient to go
where we feeled like without having to worry about hotels (you don't
have to reserve ahead at that time of the year and they have off-season
rates). It is also still warm enough to camp out, if you like. We
liked it so much we're going back again to visit the Petrified Forest
in February. Like you, we lived in the Bay Area and just wanted to
go someplace different. I recommend it highly, but you will get a
little tired of red rock if you spend much time in southern Utah.
Karen Palmer
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