Recall from the last two months of 旅行的故事 that in the spring of 2024 my wife and I drove through 500 miles of terrific parks in southern 犹他州. We took our trusty Subaru Outback all the way from our snowbird base in Fairhope, 从阿拉巴马州到犹他州，再往东到马里兰州, 日志6,000英里，沿途看了很多美景. 但亮点绝对是犹他州南部. Our third and last leg of the 犹他州 trip focused on the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, 锡安峡谷国家公园（NP）, 和科洛布峡谷.
The Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is the largest such facility in the world, 它的理念是任何宠物都不应该被安乐死. The Sanctuary now has branches and associated facilities in every US state, 他是全国“禁止杀戮”运动的领导者.
你可能对这个名为“狗镇”的避难所很熟悉,” since from 2008 to 2010 the National Geographic TV channel ran 28 DogTown episodes in a series documenting the dogs and their Sanctuary staff.
实际上，Dogtown只是庞大的3个城市中的一个,700英亩的复杂, 它为1500多只狗提供康复和住所, 猫, 鸟, 猪, 马, 兔子和几乎所有的家庭宠物.
The most famous NatGeo TV episode focused on the effort to save and place 22 of Michael Vick’s 47 fighting dogs. Vick was a famous Atlanta Falcons NFL quarterback who in 2008 was convicted of Federal and state charges of abusing dogs, 赌博和斗狗活动. 虐待包括吊死、枪杀、溺死和电击狗. 尽管犯下了这些罪行，但他没有服刑，只收到了少量罚款. Many of his dogs that were rescued and sent to Best Friends were rehabilitated and successfully placed with families from Rhode Island to California. 但有些人无法完全康复, 并被永久安置在那里, 它位于卡纳布以北几英里处的一个美丽的红岩峡谷中, 犹他州.
We toured the Sanctuary canyon and were impressed with the dedication of the staff and numerous volunteers. A highlight of our tour was a demonstration of “horse whispering” from a woman staffer who explained how “breaking” 马 can permanently damage them, and how building trust and a close relationship is a much better approach. 她说，甚至许多马在奥运会上使用, 在高级盛装舞步比赛中, and at the world-famous Spanish Riding School in Austria can benefit from retraining using Sanctuary methods.
奇怪的是, the Sanctuary sprang from an unlikely source: a religious cult called the Process Church of the Final Judgement, founded by ex-Scientologists who moved from London to the Yucatan to New Orleans and eventually settled in 犹他州. 现在, 然而, 圣所已经摆脱了所有宗教和邪教的特征, 作为一个备受尊敬的非营利组织.
我们的下一站是优秀的锡安峡谷公园, 我们通过风景秀丽的犹他9号公路和隧道到达那里, 这导致了我们整个旅程中唯一的交通堵塞.
一旦穿过隧道, private cars and their drivers must turn south into the small town of 斯普林代尔 to find accommodation, and can only use the paved and gated road into the park if they are registered campers in the park, 或者是公园旅馆的客人. All other visitors must take a shuttle bus into the park from the parking lot at the south end of the road, 在游客中心旁边. This lot fills up very quickly each morning, especially in the busy season. 斯普林代尔镇的第二班车, 就在公园的南边, 把人们从旅馆送到游客中心.
整个系统是可行的, 而是因为它有点烦人, 这个公园可能是我们第四喜欢的旅行, 后拱, 布莱斯和妖精, 按照这个顺序.
一旦你最终进入公园，它是非常令人印象深刻的. 锡安NP, 拥有232平方英里的领土, 以其深邃的峡谷而闻名, 插槽峡谷, 壮观的徒步小径, 美丽的河流. 丰富的活动包括漂流, 攀爬, 骑马远足, 观鸟, 观星和攀峡. 后一种冒险活动结合了攀爬技术, 路线寻找, 用绳索下降, 游泳和远足. 真正的特种部队装备!
我们的最后一站是科洛布峡谷, a separate section of 锡安NP that is 40 miles northwest of 斯普林代尔 and only accessible from Interstate 15. Kolob has a five-mile one-way paved road that penetrates a gorgeous slot canyon and ends up at a parking lot and lookout point. Twenty miles of hiking trails lead to many other lookouts and terrific views of 2000-foot cliffs, 纳瓦霍砂岩, 还有原始的风景.
从科洛布峡谷出发，你可以在盐湖城结束你的旅程, 往北269英里, 或者拉斯维加斯, 内华达, 在西南152英里处.
为我们旅途中的食宿, 我们通常住在快捷假日酒店, 我们觉得既可以接受又不太贵的, now usually in the $130 to $170 per night range (up from $90 to $140 just a few years ago). We accumulate points and free nights by concentrating our stays at one chain, 我们所有的消费都使用洲际酒店集团的信用卡, 尤其是在酒店. 在一些地方，如托里和布莱斯峡谷，没有可用的HIX, 所以我们选择了戴斯酒店或最佳西方酒店.
Put southern 犹他州 parks on your bucket list, and make some memories for a lifetime!
图片由Toulmin卢提供
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- 1. 这张地图显示了我们旅程的第三段也是最后一段, covering the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary; the town of Kanab (with various hotels and motels, unless you stay at Best Friends); 锡安NP (the main Canyon section); the adjacent town of 斯普林代尔 (with hotels); and the route to Kolob Canyons. In the NE portion of the map is the connection to stops described in 第2部分 of this series, 包括布莱斯峡谷, 柯达彩色胶片, 和埃斯卡兰特公园.
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- 2. 好朋友动物保护区的入口, 全国“不杀”动物救援运动的领导者, 占地3700英亩，有1500多只狗, 猫, 鸟, 猪, 马, 兔子和其他宠物.
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- 3. 天堂里的猪! What could be better than being fed a juicy watermelon while taking a cool bath at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in southern 犹他州?
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- 4. Best Friends为猫咪提供了自己的公寓, 包括爬坡道吗, 社会地位高的架子上, 还有很多地方可以藏起来准备突袭. “最好的朋友”标志是这样写的, “Cats spend 2/3 of their time sleeping and 1/3 plotting to take over the world.”
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- 5. 斯普林代尔, 犹他州致力于为锡安国家公园的游客提供服务, and the town and its library – pictured here – have a fantastic setting in Zion Canyon.
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- 6. A double shuttle system – hotels to the 锡安NP visitor center and visitor center into the park – is necessary to serve the park’s 5 million+ visitors per year. 这使它成为该国游客最多的国家公园之一.
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- 7. 穿梭路线的北端是锡那瓦神庙, 以派尤特印第安人的土狼神命名. 它的特色是超过1000英尺高的悬崖.
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- 8. Hiking in the Virgin River at The Narrows in 锡安NP is a possibility, but be careful! 查看山洪警报, 要知道在1995年，100人的压倒性优势,1000立方码的泥土和岩石将430人困在上游一天, 同时开辟了一条新的道路. 幸运的是没有人死亡.
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- 9. Kolob Canyons is a separate part of 锡安NP that is only accessible by car from the west, 靠近15号州际公路. 纳瓦霍砂岩悬崖的景色棒极了.
