The great American road trip is in peril
Along my family's 9,000-mile trip this summer, our days whiplashed between grandeur and extreme weather crises.
My family was huddled at a hotel lobby in Utah, staring at a Google Maps route on my iPhone. We were in the midst of a Great American Road trip, traveling 9,000 miles coast to coast and border to border. Today, we planned to move from Moab, near Arches and Canyonlands national parks, to our hotel near Bryce Canyon. However, Utah was experiencing a wildfire crisis.
The Cottonwood Fire had burned over 94,000 acres, and the Jones Fire had just started near the ghost town Cisco, both threatening to close roads and darken the skies. With over a dozen wildfires burning across the state, we needed to find a safe route through the state. Our initial plan to take Route 89 through the heart of the Cottonwood Fire and Route 72 near Loa, while shorter, still put us near active fires.
We ultimately chose smaller state highways, even though it would extend our journey, to avoid the rapidly changing fire boundaries. We left Moab and headed to Bryce Canyon, only to learn that the park was closing due to intense wind and smoke. Despite the challenges, the trip still provided the family with awe-inspiring landscapes, a renewed sense of adventure, and a glimpse into how climate change is rapidly reshaping our nation.
Written by urgent.news from Grist's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
