Zion National Park

Today we got up and packed up our Bryce Canyon camp and headed toward Zion National Park. It rained quite a bit overnight, so our tent was a little soggy. A little bit of water got in the bottom of the tent, but not much and given the amount of rain, we’re pretty impressed with our tent. We never got wet, just the bottom of our air mattress, so no big deal.

We got everything packed up and got to Zion rather quickly since they are only about an hour and a half away from each other. Once we entered the park, though, we had a hour ride down to the bottom of the canyon with very rough roads and road construction slowing us down. It would have been a pretty ride with all the cliffs on each side, but the driving was a little stressful with the bad roads and sheer cliffs. At one point on the road, we travelled through a tunnel through one of the cliffs that had to be at least a mile long. It was a bit disconcerting to be in a tunnel that long, knowing it would be hard to get out if you needed to.

We got down to the bottom of the canyon and found a parking place. We went to grab something to eat for lunch, then geared up for our big hike. Zion has a signature hike called “The Narrows” where you hike in the Virgin River up into the canyon as it gets more and more narrow. You can go all the way to the end of the canyon, but we didn’t have time so we only did a mile out and a mile back. The cool thing about the hike is that you are literally hiking in the river the whole time. At some points the water barely covers your shoes, but at some points it’s up to your waist. You have to be very cautious where you step because you’re fighting the current of the river the whole time. You almost have to have a walking stick to gage the depth in front of you and we were fortunate enough that our friend Andrew Logan let us borrow a couple of collapsible sticks. I wouldn’t have done it without them. We just hiked in our hiking boots and changed into different shoes when we got done. It was my favorite hike so far of this trip and maybe my favorite hike ever.

Zion park has a shuttle system that takes people to the trailheads and sties that everyone wants to see. They only allow parking at the visitor center and campgrounds. It’s a really good system and keeps you from having to worry about driving anywhere. The buses run every 6-8 minutes so you never have to wait long for one. We really enjoyed the convenience of it.

After the Narrows hike, we rode the shuttle down to another trail called the Emerald Pools. It was pretty short, but the ranger had recommended it. I’m not sure why because it see better puddles at home. Pools were not green and looked like a couple of large puddles. It was a mile walk for not a lot of payoff.

After the Emerald Pools, we shared a sandwich and some ice cream and then set up our campsite. It was nice that Zion is at low elevation and hot because it helped to dry out all our gear that got wet at Bryce. Thanks God! We met a couple that had been in the same campsite as us at Bryce and we talked with them for a while. They were from Oregon and told us the cool things to do there when we go in 2013! After we got set up, we went into town and did a load of laundry and then came back and cooked a quick dinner of roast beef sandwiches, new potatoes, green peppers and onions. Then we went to a ranger presentation on hummingbirds that was pretty interesting.

I always used to make fun of people that said 100 degrees out west was no big deal because of the dry air. I always thought that was stupid because 100 is hot no matter where you go. I think I have to eat a little crow. The high yesterday in Zion was 104. I never really got hot. The lack of humidity really makes a huge difference. So as all you North Carolinians are sweating it out in the humidity, just know that we feel sorry for you.

We woke up Monday morning after a fitful night. The wind was blowing like crazy. You could hear it coming through the canyon before it hit you. It kept the temperature down, but we didn’t sleep great. Think Lake Phelps Jim and Steph.

Our next stop is Las Vegas so we’ll see what we get into there!