Many ask us what travel agent we go through or who plans our vacation itineraries. The answer is simply, “Us!” If we were embarking on an international adventure, we may hire a travel agent to assist us, but for the most part, we love planning everything ourselves! So you may wonder what goes into the planning process, and the answer is lots and lots of thorough research. Though we love spontaneity and truly believe it adds an important element to adventure, cross-county road trips call for a “bit” of planning! Our research process includes scrolling through photos, internet articles, and recommendations on blogs and travel sites. My wife and I typically research separately, jotting down each of our favorite trails, sights, adventure ideas, etc. We then compare our lists and create a compilation of our ideas, sometimes omitting or adding things along the way. Arizona was definitely our biggest trip to date. By “big,” I mean it involved the most planning. We strategically booked hotels, flights, and excursions, filling in trails and parks into our itinerary. After months of planning, we finally had our dream vacation finalized. If you are planning a trip to Arizona and want some hiking ideas or inspiration for your planning process, here was our paraphrased 8-day itinerary!
Please Note: This is just our itinerary. If you want details about each destination/trail, refer to upcoming blog posts!
Day One: Our flight was scheduled to land at 10:38PM at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, so when we arrived at our first hotel (Cornerstone Plaza in Scottsdale/Fountain Hills), we crashed for the night. We chose this hotel because it was close to the airport. This proved to be the perfect spot to stay both for the night that the flight landed and later for the night before our flight departure.
Day Two: We checked out of the hotel right after breakfast, hopped in our rental truck, and drove the two hours to Sedona. Our first pit stop was in Red Rock State Park, where we hiked Eagle’s Nest Loop, Apache Fire Loop, and Coyote Ridge Trail. From there, we hiked in parts of Coconio National Forest, which is also in Sedona. There we hiked Doe Mountain. After a full day of hiking Red Rock Country, we drove a bit farther north and checked into our hotel that we’d stay at for the next five nights (Comfort Inn Near Grand Canyon in Williams).
Day Three: This was another Sedona Day! First, we had reserved an off-road adventure in a Pink Jeep Tour early in the morning. There were many different tours to choose from; we picked the 2-hour Scenic Rim Tour 2.0. In the afternoon, we journeyed back to Coconino National Forest to hike the amazing Devil’s Bridge Trail, climb the steep rock scramble up to Fay Canyon (which also housed a massive natural bridge), wind through TeaCup Trail to CoffeePot Rock and other small intersecting trails that snaked through Red Rock Secret Wilderness, and climb the astounding summit of Cathedral Rock at sunset.
Day Four: We reserved this entire day for the six-mile South Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon because we knew this would be a strenuous, 4-6 hour hike. However, we did have extra time afterwards, so we hiked the Bright Angel Trail. After a full day of hiking, we hopped on the tram that scaled the National Park, and arrived at Yaki Point to watch the sun set into the canyon.
Day Five: We drove from our hotel in Williams to Page, which was about a two and a half hour drive. Here, we rented kayaks and paddled along Lake Powell (which is part of the Colorado River) through Antelope Canyon. In the afternoon, we checked in for our guided tour of Antelope Canyon. We chose to tour Upper Antelope Canyon with Antelope Canyon Tours. To read about our exciting adventures through the canyon, visit the blog post! After the tour, we dropped off the kayaks, grabbed a bit to eat and headed to Horseshoe Bend. There was a designated parking lot about a mile down the road from the trailhead, so we had to board a bus to get to the recreational area.
Day Six: This day was our “flex” day. We planned to either go back to the Grand Canyon or Sedona, depending on the weather, our moods, whether we’d hiked everything we wanted to in those spots, etc. In the end, we chose the shorter drive, which was Sedona. We had a few more hikes that we were itching to embark on, including Schnebly Hill Trail and Thunder Mountain.
Day Seven: This day ended up being spontaneous. We had originally planned for another Grand Canyon day, but we felt that we had hiked everything we wanted to and that day had been perfectly tied up with a bow, so in the end, we picked a spot closer to the airport. And boy, are we glad we chose this! In the middle of a thunderstorm, we hiked the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction, AZ. After another great day of hiking, we drove back to the hotel that we had stayed at on the first night so that we were close to the airport for our early morning flight.
Day Eight: That’s a wrap! We returned our rental car, boarded the plane and jetted back to Indiana. What an amazing, unforgettable vacation full of memories that would last a lifetime!
A couple of other tips for your vacation planning:
*These trails aren’t for everyone. Some trails were very strenuous and lengthy, so refer to AllTrails to plan according to your specific health and activity level.
*Print out your itinerary, packing list, trail lists and directions just in case you lose signal. Or purchase AllTrails Pro to get access to satellites 24/7, even when there isn’t a signal!
*Plan for spontaneity! Weather, traffic, or physical conditions could affect your plans. We had a very specific itinerary, down to exact times, but we went to Arizona with a flexible mindset. We were able see everything we wanted and then some! A little spontaneity added thrill to our already spectacular adventure.
Happy adventuring!
Wonder. Wander. Repeat. 