Due to popular demand, I am back with one last installment, detailing my phenomenal 9 day roadtrip home from Yellowstone.

I left Yellowstone for the season on Monday October 24th, the conditions were 33 degrees and a fresh dusting of snow when I had to say so long to Modular 1225 and all the memories it held.

Because of the winter snowy conditions, I had to leave out the West entrance rather than the South entrance, adding an extra 2 1/2 hours to my 8 hour drive day. As I departed West, of course I had to get one last photo with the sign to tide me over until Summer 2023.

With that, I headed to my first stop, Fort Collins, Colorado to see my ranger pal Beverly! Along the way, I stopped in Laramie, Wyoming to meet up with a childhood best friend of my best friend (Katie) from college. Autumn and I had met over Facetime a few times, but never in person. She and her husband recently moved to Laramie around the same time I moved to Yellowstone, and since I was passing right through her town, I got in touch with her through Katie and we met up at a cute local cupcake shop!

Of course we Facetimed Katie in while we were there and she was super jealous! But Autumn and I hit it off immediately like old friends and I was so grateful for their hospitality and friendliness.

I spent one full day in Fort Collins with Bev, and she took me up to Rocky Mountain National Park. We got sworn in as Junior Rangers, went on a snowy hike to Fern Falls and even saw some bighorn sheep!

After Rocky Mountain, Bev took me to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, which is where Stephen King wrote his famous novel ‘The Shining.’ We goofed around in the maze, and headed to dinner at Beau Jo’s, a local Colorado pizzeria famous for putting honey in the crust! It definitely made my siblings jealous!

To close out my eventful day, I went over to my cousin Cameron & Demi’s place, as they recently moved up to Fort Collins, and we had a nice visit together. It was so good to catch up with family even briefly during my trip!

The next morning, I got up at the crack of dawn to drive down to Denver and reunite with some old CODA pals, Grace and Anisa. As CODAs do, we picked up right where we left off, and spent the morning chatting, filling each other in on our lives, talking in our deaf voices and having pure CODA wholesome bonding time. It filled my soul, and we had to exchange many hugs to last us until the next time we are able to reunite.

My next stop on my trip was the mighty 5 in Utah, first going to Arches and Canyonlands National Park and camping 30 minutes outside these parks. Along the way, I made a detour to Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP in Colorado. I interviewed for this park way back in January, so it was nice to stop by and see what it was all about!

I got to my campsite pretty late that night, and it ended up being much colder than I planned, in fact my tent got snowed on! So I froze a bit, oops. But I woke up and got to spend the day in Arches & Canyonlands, so life was good. I got a special permit to hike the Fiery Furnace in Arches, which is a unique wilderness area that is filled with rock scrambling and amazing natural features.

However, true to the fact that it is a wilderness area, I got lost in the Furnace! After wandering in circles for a bit, I noticed this young couple was following a similar trend as mine, so I befriended them and together we made our way out of the Furnace. What an adventure that was! I was pretty hiked out at this point, so I went to the Delicate Arch Viewpoint, and got a glimpse of the famous arch.

At this point, I was ready for Canyonlands, so I drove over the short 30 minutes and made it to the Island in the Sky district! I did a brief hike up to Mesa Arch, and a sweet old man took one of the only non-selfie solo photos I have of myself from this trip.

That evening, I was happy but burnt out, and after telling my parents about my escapades, (mom worries), they put me up in a little hostel cabin for the night, and true to their slogan “it’s cheap but worth it.” I got a nice private cabin (thanks parents!) and a warm shower.

The plan for the next day was Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon. I briefly explored Capitol Reef and saw their unique Petroglyph Cliffs, filled with old carvings of the tribes that originally resided on the land.

However, I was quite eager to get moving and head to Bryce. But, I got myself into quite a pickle at Capitol Reef. You see, I tried to take a shortcut right below the scenic drive and cut across to Pleasant Creek campground. It was listed as an unmaintained road, with 4WD and high clearance strongly recommended.

However, me having a thick head and being a young 22 year old, I thought the Subaru could make it no problem. But I encountered my first challenge early on when I tried to cross a small creek and ended up with a flat tire, luckily I did have a spare, but I could not find a jack in my car for the life of me.

I had no cell phone service, and was 7 miles in on a side road that was lightly trafficked. So naturally I laughed at my stupidity, grabbed some water and started walking. About a mile up the road, I remembered I had saw a Field Station earlier, so I headed that direction. Once I got there, the place looked empty but I started knocking on every door possible, after my 6th attempt, thankfully someone was there, a young guy named Michael. He told me I was the third person that year that had showed up at his door with a need for help, and he was nice enough to lend me his tools and help me change my tire. I had to add an extra 30 minutes to my drive to get a new tire, and it ended up being a wild, all day affair. At that point I nixed my camping plans and booked myself a hotel outside of Zion, after the escapades I had, I was not in the mood to set up a tent!

Zion quickly turned my troubles around though, the park was stunning and I got to conquer some epic hikes. I got a permit to hike Angel’s Landing which is a steep 2 mile descent followed by a half mile rock climb holding onto chains, but it gives you the most amazing view of the Zion canyon. Because I was in such good shape coming off Yellowstone, this hike was a piece of cake for me, and I spent a good hour just sitting on the summit taking in the views.

After Angel’s Landing, I rode the shuttle to the end of the line and walked out to the start of the Narrows. I didn’t have time to complete this hike on my trip, but it is definitely on the list for the next time around!

This ended the mighty 5 leg of my trip, and it was time to return to my home state, sweet ol California! And since it was on my way, I had to make a stop in Las Vegas, Nevada! My dad recommended that I check out the Venetian Hotel, which was Italy themed, so that was wild to see gondolas and a river running through the middle of the hotel… and I stuck out like a sore thumb in my Blundstone boots, Zion t-shirt and Stetson hat!

I tried my luck at gambling, but I could not figure out the machines, so I somehow lost $20 in one round of poker, but oh well. The silver lining is I’ll probably never be addicted to gambling because I cannot figure out how to make it work! Vegas was interesting, but overwhelming and not super my scene, so after 2 hours I was more than ready to head back to my homeland of national parks. For my last night, I set up camp in Joshua Tree.

Joshua tree was breathtaking, but it was my 11th national park and 5th day alone, so I was more than ready to see my people again. So I headed to San Diego and spent Halloween with my girl Gia in La Jolla! We had a very chill Halloween, walking across the street from her place to a little hotel to get drinks at their bar, and just spent the night catching up. It was simple and wholesome, just what I needed after so many days travelling.

I spent a couple days in San Diego, and got to spend a lot of time with Sarah since she goes to San Diego State, and my college bestie Katie took the train down to meet me in San Diego. Us 4 went out to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory one night, a Baer family classic!

And I learned much to my surprise, that Sarah can carry me on her back, even though I am 4 years older than her!

Our last night in San Diego, Sarah, her roommate Tayla, Katie and I went to see Harry Styles on tour! It was a fun concert, and a great night.

After San Diego, Sarah made the spontaneous decision to join me on my drive home and spend the weekend in Pleasanton. We were able to stop by LA and get dinner with Jacob and Emily, and it was soooo good to have the Baer siblings be reunited.

Sarah and I spent one night in SLO at Katie’s place before driving the last 3 hours home to Pleasanton. In total, it was about a 3,000 mile, 9 day roadtrip for me. I went to 11 National Parks, became a Junior Ranger at 9 of them and hit 8 different states. 5 of those days I was travelling solo, 4 of those days I got to spend with some awesome companions. As for what’s next, I’m looking forward to spending the next 6 months at home, working an EMT job with a local company, and hoping to return to Yellowstone for Summer 2023. Thanks everyone for reading along on my unforgettable journey, I love you all and until next summer!