The Outdoor Life - Zion National Park

What a place these Utah parks are... each is so unique in it's own way and truly make you appreciate the rugged beauty of our land! We arrived at Zion National Park after a short 2 hour drive from our stop in Bryce Canyon... the only problem we faced was after driving all the way through the park to where the only two campgrounds are, they were both full! We could tell Zion was a popular place, because it was probably the busiest place we had been.. although it still wasn't too crowded. We found from the ranger that there was a campground just a mile outside the park in a small little town of Springdale, and they had plenty of tent sites available. So we set up camp, made some dinner and just took a short walk around to get a look at the place. The campground was right by the Virgin river, which is what has carved out Zion Canyon over millions of years.. and we could look right out at some of the tallest sandstone cliffs in the world.

We got as much sleep as we could the first night, because we finally knew we had plenty of time and didn't have to get up and GO... but this was only partially true. We actually did get up in the morning and pack up our camp again, to move the extra mile back into one of the campgrounds in the park where we now were able to get a spot because they are first come first serve. The first campground was really nice and we both enjoyed it, but by moving to the park campground we saved half of the cost of camping each night.. enough to total a hotel room in Vegas for a night!! And now we literally had a "window view" from our tent straight out at the cliffs of Zion.. so still another really great campground. We spent the morning moving camp and then gradually making some breakfast to get ready for some afternoon hiking. After leaving Texas, we had lots of cold and rain.. so we finally got we we asked for in Zion with plenty of HOT sun! A great thing about staying here is the lunchbox got some rest too, because the park runs a free shuttle up to all of the viewpoints and hikes in the canyon to help with car pollution and traffic.. you aren't even allowed to drive up the scenic road anymore unless you get a special permit. We picked out to explore the Emerald Pools, and ended up doing about another 3 miles by combining the three hikes together to each pool.. the upper, middle, and lower pools. While the pools themselves were not that spectacular, the actual hike was still really cool as we walked along cliffs overlooking Zion Canyon and the Virgin River below. After hiking we took a LONG nap back at the campground.. this was great because it was the first time we didn't have to set right off for something else! And the hiking and heat definitely got to us, so it was very relaxing to know we had nothing else planned for the evening. We spent the night by the campfire and made a couple of smores after our pasta dinner. The nice thing about the climate here is that while it heats up to high 80s and 90s during the day, it still drops to a cool temperature at night to make sleeping comfortable.

THE NARROWS at Zion
On our second full day in the park, we were determined to hike the Narrows, as its called. This is consistently rated one of the top hikes in the country and it consists of hiking a mile up a paved trail along a river.. and then the adventurous continue to hike right on through river for several more miles in the middle of a huge slot canyon with rock walls hundreds of feet up on both sides. Thanks to Bernadette for telling us to definitely check this out, because we otherwise might have missed it! Not sure what to expect and how serious of a hike it was, we decided to go to one of the adventure companies located near the park where we rented some equipment.. because we wanted to have fun but also make sure we were prepared and safe. Our equipment consisted of special "boots" with neopreme socks which were designed to hike right through the river and along the walks, and they definitely made it MUCH more comfortable and warmer than it would have been. We also got some dry pants for Bri because they said at some places the river would be up to our chests, and that the temperature was 49 degrees.. and they provided hiking sticks which were crucial when it came to fording the river at some of the areas where we were going straight through rapids.

When hiking through this slot canyon.. the biggest safety issue is flash flooding which could be extremely dangerous since you are surrounded by hundred foot cliffs on each side.... and so of course as we are taking the bus to where we begin the hike a black cloud moves in on us with some thunder and lightning off in the distance. :/ Luckily we moved on slowly and cautiously, and waited on a high point in the canyon for about 30 mins when it was raining to make sure the other signs of flooding didn't occur.. and finally it cleared up and we even had some sunshine later! The hike was INCREDIBLE. We went about 8-9 miles total up and back, taking between 4 and 5 hours. It was really fun to hike right through the river and up to the area called wall street, where the river takes up the entire canyon with huge cliffs on each side, and you have no choice but to go right through it. Our pictures of the hike really don't do it justice, but check them out anyway! (We had to take out the camera periodically because it was in a zip-lock, inside of a dry gear bag to make sure it didn't get wet.)

Feeling very accomplished and adventuresome after hiking the narrows, we went to our first campground to take showers and get all cleaned up for the first time. Our intentions were to go to an Elvis act that was at a theater in the town, because we had seen the flier for it and one of the items on our nationwide scavenger hunt is to see an Elvis impersonator. Little did we know that the 8:30 start time was actually for a closed show, that started at 8:30. We thought it was a bar where someone performed and you could come and go as you pleased. So we didn't get to actually see Elvis, but we could hear him through the walls a little bit. :/ Instead we spent a short while at a small bar nearby, then walked back to our campground to get to bed early.. looking forward to heading for Nevada and Las Vegas the next day!!