May 23 - United States: Zion National Park, Utah
We were absolutely freezing last night. We opted against using the fleeces, mistakenly thinking that the sleeping bags would be enough. But, unfortunately, the sleeping bags are losing their form and warmth. They're supposed to be warm enough for 35°, but it was about 45 last night and I was shivering. So after being crammed into their compressor bags for this entire trip, they're just not as warm as they were. Jon thinks that if we wash them and fluff them up, then the down will work better. At any rate, we're pulling out the fleeces for tonight.
We had pancakes for breakfast, and then headed into the park for a day of hiking.
Zion National Park
I camped in Zion with my family when I was little, but all I remember of it was swimming in a little stream next to the campsite. I don't actually remember anything about the park itself. The major change over the last few years, according to the brochure, is the addition of the Zion Shuttle Service. They've closed off the park from public traffic, and now we must take a complimentary shuttle to one of seven stops within the park. At first, we thought this was a bit of a drag and weren't excited about it. But after spending the day in the park, we decided that this was actually a very good thing. The shuttle service has cut down on any traffic and parking problems within the park, and makes the entire trip much more peaceful.
Of course, the parking situation at the Visitor's Center is a nightmare after 10:00AM. But they've also added a shuttle service throughout the town of Springvale so visitors can park anywhere and easily get into the park. Since we got to the park at 8:30, we had no problems finding a shady spot and catching the shuttle to "The Grotto" stop for Angel's Landing.
Angel's Landing
Angel's Landing was labeled "strenuous" by the visitor's guide with a special note to say that "people with a fear of heights should not attempt this hike". Jon and I both have a fear of heights, so - naturally - we went. This is part of our self-prescribed cure to overcome our fear. Throughout the trip, we've constantly put ourselves in positions where we had to face heights, such as Gorge Swinging in Africa (June 5), Hermitage Hiking in Tibet (Aug 20), Rappelling the Lost World in New Zealand (Nov 20), Skydiving in Australia (March 1), and Rock Wall Climbing in Seattle (May 2).
And yet, we still get all woozy when we look down from great heights.
So the hike was definitely a tough one. It was five miles round trip, and most of that would be spent going uphill. There were a series of very steep switchbacks to get us up the side of the mountain. Later, we would learn that there were 19 different switchbacks. Regardless, there were a lot of them and our quads were feeling it. But the weather was nice and cool as the sun hadn't reached this area of the park yet. That's a shame for our pictures, because the rocks were really gorgeous but the colors don't come through in all the photos.
Heidi In Front of Colorful Rocks
Jon made me pose for the picture above, and I had to do a bit of climbing to make him happy with the shot. Then we spent the next five minutes picking the cactus needles out of my hand. Ouch!!
After a few hours of hiking and climbing, we finally made it to what seemed to be near the top. After catching our breath, we saw a sign that said "Angel's Landing, .5 Mile". The path took us on the side of a rock where the trail tilted down about 30° and so there was a chain against the rock for us to hold onto. Sure, it was steep. And sure, there was a drop-off. But this wasn't so bad! No problemo!!!
And then, we rounded the corner and saw the rest of the "trail".
The Path up The Side of Angel's Landing
The trail narrowed to about two feet wide, with a 300-foot drop on the left side. On the right side was a chain-link rail to hold onto. Yeah, like that's gonna keep me from falling off the left side of this mountain. As if this little part wasn't so bad, the trail climbed up the knife-edge of the mountain and got steeper and scarier and much higher up. So it's not as if there was just this little part to get over. Standing there, looking at the remainder of this path, my knees simply turned to Jello and my stomach tumbled over. And while we stood there trying to get up the nerve to move on, other people just hiked on by as if there was no 300-foot drop on the left. One girl from Austria said, "It's OK, I'm mountain climber!". She then proceeded to skip up the mountain.
Jon and I decided that it was in our best interest to turn around and have lunch. And we were much happier with our decision than sweating our ways up the sharp-edged cliff. The view was spectacular!
The View at Angel's Landing
Lunch was pasta leftover from dinner last night. We were so excited to have it, because it was the last of the meat sauce from Bryce. But for some reason, the ziplock we had stored it in smelled like soap and so our lunch had a soap-like taste to it. Yuck! So we didn't eat much and ended up carrying most of it down the mountain. We ran down the switch-backs because we were trying to escape a large and obnoxious group that was coming down as well. We made it down in about an hour or so. At the bottom, we caught the shuttle back to the Visitor's Center and left the park.
Shopping in Springvale
Before going back to the campsite, we decided to do a bit of shopping. And, in true Jon-and-Heidi style, we got some Christmas shopping done. (Well, it is May! Only 7 more months left!) We went to a place called the "Indian Heritage Shop" which had some lovely turquoise jewelry, and then we went to a pottery place called the Worthington Gallery. It was at this latter place that we went a little nuts and had it all shipped home. I'm sure we spent too much money, but the one thing we regret about this past year is that we didn't buy as many souvenirs as we would have liked. Aside from the Jaipur rug, we have almost nothing for our home. So we're making up for lost time.
Zion Terrace Road
The owners of the Zion River Resort told us about a gorgeous view of Zion and - on a clear day - the Grand Canyon. They suggested that we go there for sunset some night. So that's what we did. The drive took about 45 minutes and took us through some beautiful areas and aspen groves. The road also ascended a few thousand feet and the temperature descended about 20°.
When we finally got to "Lava Point", we grabbed our camping chairs, water, gloves, and the tripod, and walked the 200 yards to the observation point. Obviously, we planned to be there for a few hours to get various sunset pictures. When we got to the point we looked at each other and said, "This is it?". I mean, it was an expansive view, but it wasn't nearly as breathtaking as we've seen before. Maybe we're spoiled. But on top of being a so-so view, it was too far away from the park to get any of the colors on camera during sunset. Pretty disappointing, actually. So we took a few pictures, loaded our stuff back in the car and headed back out. It certainly wasn't a waste - the drive was a lot of fun.
A View of Zion National Park
For dinner, we stopped at a local Mexican restaurant in Springvale called "The Bit and Spur" which was really good. Then we went back to the Zion River Resort and hit the hot tub for a few hours. It's Thursday of a big weekend, and so there are more people in the campground tonight and we had to share the hot tub. We ended up talking to a very nice German couple who gave us some great suggestions for Antelope Canyon in Page, AZ - our next destination.
Then, we hit the showers and went to sleep.