Utah Master Thread

[davidd75]

so is there any way to still daven in a minyan if one goes to Zion national park and Bryce Canyon?  is the best/nearest option Vegas?

[Aj3042]

so is there any way to still daven in a minyan if one goes to Zion national park and Bryce Canyon?  is the best/nearest option Vegas?

Yes. And even that is 2 hours from Zion, about 4 from Bryce.

[davidd75]

Yes. And even that is 2 hours from Zion, about 4 from Bryce.

can you realistically see Zion in one day and Bryce in one day(that way I can make it back to Vegas for Mincha?)

[Ergel]

can you realistically see Zion in one day and Bryce in one day(that way I can make it back to Vegas for Mincha?)

You're gonna drive 4 hours to Bryce and back in one day?

Even in two days.
Day 1: Leave after shacharis
Arrive in Bryce at 11?
Leave Bryce at 6, Arrive in Zion 8:30
Next day you have to leave Bryce by 3 o'clock to make mincha

Seems like a lot of driving in two days to me

[davidd75]

You're gonna drive 4 hours to Bryce and back in one day?

Even in two days.
Day 1: Leave after shacharis
Arrive in Bryce at 11?
Leave Bryce at 6, Arrive in Zion 8:30
Next day you have to leave Bryce by 3 o'clock to make mincha

Seems like a lot of driving in two days to me

Can one see Bryce in one day?

[Aj3042]

Can one see Bryce in one day?

Realistically speaking you can't travel those parts and daven with a minyan, unless you bring it along.
Bryce needs between 6-24 hours IMO, depending on what you want to do (drive, hike, etc.). Zion is way bigger and needs more than a day to really see it.

[stbaum]

looking for a minyan and kosher food around the Salt Lake Downtown Marriott

[stbaum]

also if anyone has any info on the hashgacha for Kosher on the Go. i called and left a message but so far no reply. need to know source of meat, if pas yisroel, and name of rabbi that gives hashgacha

[Aj3042]

Yep unless you want to be like the Chinese tourists who step off the bus, take a few pix, and leave, Zion requires a couple days-no questions about it.

[yslkwd]

Yea well have to come back we just wanted to do the grand canyon as well so no time but southern Utah really needs its own Sunday to Thursday trip..

[Aj3042]

Yea well have to come back we just wanted to do the grand canyon as well so no time but southern Utah really needs its own Sunday to Thursday trip..

Longer...

[yslkwd]

Utah highway to AZ
[url=https://flic.kr/p/s7VmJG]
Zion
[url=https://flic.kr/p/rddbTb]
Zion canyon overlook hike
[url=https://flic.kr/p/rdd78j]
hike into Bryce canyon
[url=https://flic.kr/p/rSKUmg]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/rdpwkK]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/rSCJSw][/url

[url=https://flic.kr/p/sa4HN3]


We first went to the grand canyon then to Bryce and Zion. Bryce can be done in one day and is stunning make sure to take one of the hikes into Bryce canyon , Zion takes longer if you want to see the whole thing which is massive.

[stbaum]

looking for a minyan and kosher food around the Salt Lake Downtown Marriott

also if anyone has any info on the hashgacha for Kosher on the Go. i called and left a message but so far no reply. need to know source of meat, if pas yisroel, and name of rabbi that gives hashgacha

bump

[stbaum]

looking for a minyan and kosher food around the Salt Lake Downtown Marriott

also if anyone has any info on the hashgacha for Kosher on the Go. i called and left a message but so far no reply. need to know source of meat, if pas yisroel, and name of rabbi that gives hashgacha

BUMP!!!!!!

[Aj3042]

bump

bump

A double bump-and I don't know.

[stbaum]

i got my info. here it is in case anyone else comes to this thread because of the upcoming overstock event:

Kosher-on-the-go will serve lunch (paid for by OS). the owner's name is Israel Lefler: 801.755.6194 israellefler@yahoo.com.
He is only open for OS that entire week. you can also get dinner from him as well.

he gets his meat from Denver. (will find out more about hashgacha when i speak to Rabbi Z.

rabbi in charge is RabbI Zippel:
Chabad Utah Info

i left him a message and will let you know when i have an answer regarding Minyan

[000]

Has anyone ever stayed in Salt Lake City for Shabbos? Where did you stay? Was it near a minyan? etc... Thnx in advance

[aarony]

apologies if the photos don't work - i am learning as i go....

I promised my son that I would take him to Zion national park this summer.  Originally I planned on going from Sunday to Thursday Aug. 16-20.  There were no award tickets available on AA or United from nyc to Vegas so I booked PHL to LAS on southwest using points with the knowledge that I could cancel last minute should better flights become available.   In the end we made a last minute change and flew out a week early on Aug. 9th  the award flights became available a couple of days before on united so we were able to fly ewr-las.  I have the united club card so I don’t pay the close in booking fee.  I also get premier access which gives me boarding in group 2 and sometimes they mark our luggage priority as well.  (I don’t think we are supposed to get priority on the luggage but it was nice to get it.)  We took the evening flight which got us in (after a delay!) at around 11.  I did not want to drive late at night so I booked a room at the four points near the airport for 4000 spg points.  Rental car was through national – not much in executive aisle, we settled on a loaded Chrysler 300 which was a nice ride.

We set out early in the AM to Las Vegas.  Stopped on the way at a supermarket to supplement the food items that we brought along. (There are a few markets in Springdale where we stayed at the entrance to Zion, however they are very overpriced on most items e.g. $8 for a box of cereal.)  The road from Vegas to Utah moves at a nice clip – speed limit in many areas is 75.  You pass through part of Arizona and about an hour and 20 minutes from Vegas you come to a section that winds through a narrow canyon following the Virgin River through the mountains.

 When you come out of that section you are a couple of miles from st George Utah.  (There is a longer way to drive that would take you over the hoover dam but we wanted the quickest way so we took interstate 15 straight)  The time zone changes at some point between Nevada and Arizona so that you lose an hour when you are traveling east.  That is important to keep track of if you have any time sensitive appointments.  It takes roughly an hour and 3/4 to get to Utah and then another 45 minutes to an hour to get to the entrance of Zion at Springdale, UT.  On the way you also drive through hurricane, ut – there is a Walmart in hurricane and that is probably a good place to stock up on supplies (national brands only!)  We stayed at the Cable Mountain Lodge in Springdale, which is the closest hotel to the park entrance. The view from our balcony was fabulous

The walk from our room to the park was approx. 4 minutes.  The room ended up costing us approx. $240 a night all included and including $10/night for a rollway for my son’s friend.  There was an electric cooktop but no oven.  We brought along frying pans and small pots and were able to cook all the food we brought using those. (Schnitzel, burgers, kishke, rice, mashed potatoes etc… for supper; eggs, pancakes for breakfast.)

After we settled into the hotel we headed out to Zion.  Two of us had brought along sneakers with good grips so we did not need to rent boots for our hike.  My son’s friend did rent boots and socks and he said they were very comfortable.  We also rented hiking sticks (from Zion outfitters – right next to the hotel) – in retrospect we should have bought sticks now since we ended up buying them two days later!)  We crossed over the pedestrian bridge into Zion and purchased a national parks pass for $80 which is good for a carload until the end of august 2016.  A Zion 7 day pass would have been $30 I think.  Once you get into the park there are shuttles every 6 minutes which take you through 8 stops in the main canyon of Zion.  These shuttles run during the busy season when cars are not allowed in.  It takes about 40 minutes for the shuttle to reach the last stop.  We took the shuttle to the last stop as we planned on hiking the Zion Narrows.  When we got off the bus were approached by a group that had seven over bar mitzvah.  Since we had 3 we were able to make a minyan for mincha!  After davening we started on our hike.  It took about a half hour walking along the paved path on the side of the river until we go to the water entrance.  The entrance area was quite crowded with mostly foreign tourists.  The water was cold but refreshing and we were happy that we had walking sticks as the rocks to get slippery.  Even with the walking sticks I did manage to fall once.  We walked through the water taking in the sites of the canyon walls stretching up above us.  At one point we came across a group of people rappelling in from on top of the canyon wall.  We went for a couple of hours and then turned around and traced our tracks back to the beginning.  By the time we got back to the hotel we were pretty wiped out.
The next morning (Tuesday) we got up early once again.  This time we drove back to Hurricane, UT we  had booked a four hour guided ATV tour at Sand Hollow Lake.

 I have never gone ATV’ng before but I cannot imagine a nicer place for this.  The red sand, rock formations, views etc… were other worldly. 
It was actually overcast and rained for a portion of our tour but that turned out to be a good thing as four hours in the sun may have brought us home as red as the sand!  The climbs and drops were exhilarating and the machines were very powerful.  The guide also took us to some of the best spots for pictures – some at the edges of cliffs and this was good preparation for our hike the next day to Angels Landing.   

For my son this part of the trip was definitely the highlight.  It was priced at $175 plus tax, however all the other activities we did were free so I did not mind paying for this.  The beach at sand hollow lake was completely empty and I thought maybe we would do some cliff jumping (not very high) however the boys were not in the mood and they were worried about getting “swimmers itch” that they warn you about so we headed back to our hotel for a quick lunch.

After lunch we headed out to Bryce via the MT Carmel tunnel and road through zion.  Once again the views in Zion were spectacular.  It takes about 1:45 from Zion to Bryce but it took a few minutes longer as we were held up by the tunnel waiting for some RV’s to go through.  Unfortunately it was raining lightly when we got to Bryce but we did not let that dampen our spirits.  We drove to some of the lookouts and saw the gorgeous views of the Bryce amphitheater.

While Bryce can be seen in a few hours it is still one of the most impressive views and definitely is worth the trip.  We started walking the Navajo trail from the Sunset Point lookout.  This trail takes you down a bit into the amphitheater so that you can see the rock formation (hoodoos) close up.  The views were again breathtaking.

The path though, was getting very muddy due to the rain so we decided not to go too far as it would have been a hard uphill climb on the muddy path.  There was a hose and brush at the restrooms to clean off your shoes from the (red) mud and we made good use of them!  On the way back from Bryce we stopped off to take some pictures at the red rock canyons which is just down the road.
We then headed back to Zion and got there just before it got dark.  People recommend that you should drive the Bryce-Zion road after dark as there is an abundance of wildlife on the roads.
On Wednesday morning we filled up our camelbaks with ice and water, stopped off to buy some hiking poles and headed over on the shuttle to the Angels Landing hike in Zion.  This is one of the most popular hikes and is rated strenuous.   The actual distance is about 2.5 miles each way but there is an elevation gain of 1,500 feet.  I was not sure that I would be able to do it as I have a fear of heights and I am also not in great shape.
We paced ourselves carefully and stopped often to rest as we climbed up the switchbacks that take you to scouts landing.

 I was thrilled that I made it that far and the views were spectacular.  The rest of the hike from scouts landing to Angels Landing is the part that is not recommended for those with a fear of heights.  The rocky path is narrow and slippery with a drop-off on both sides of over a thousand feet.  There are chains anchored into the mountain in many places for you to hold onto while climbing.  People on the way down kept encouraging us – “just 15 minutes more” etc… The hardest part was passing people going the other way as the path is so narrow and you don’t want to let go of the chains.  Somehow we made it and it was totally exhilarating. -
I needed a good rest and some energy bars but eventually we started back down.  All in all it was about 4 hours round trip.  For me this was definitely the best hike I have done.   We were lucky once again that the sun was not for a good part of our hike, otherwise it would have been harder.  On the way down the sun was beating down on us and by the time we got back to the hotel we were totally spent.  Luckily the hotel pool was empty and we were able to jump in to cool off.    After that we had lunch and then rested for a while.  In the evening we rented bikes at Zion outfitters ($43 for 2 hours for all three of us).  We biked the Pa’arus trail which is very scenic and relatively flat.

 It was nice and breezy as the sun was going down and we actually biked the length of the trail twice.
On Thursday morning we packed up and then headed out to hike one more trail. I wanted to do the upper emerald pools trail but we were running out of time so we settled for the lower.  While the views were not as spectacular there was some nice shots with the suns early rays reflecting against the waterfall cascading from the side of the mountain. 
We headed back, put everything in the car and got back to Vegas with enough time to stop at Jerusalem grill for lunch before heading back to the airport.  We almost got stuck in Vegas for Shabbos as our flight was delayed until night and then cancelled but that is a whole nother story! 

[Yaalili]

Nice, can you break it up with some pics?

[Dr Moose]

Nice, can you break it up with some pics?

+1

my eyes just glazed over looking at that post