Zion National Park
Oh Zion! You magnificent place, you! I am crushing hard.
We made the short drive to Zion from Bryce with a pit stop at the Thunderbird Restaurant (home of “ho-made” pies that were, indeed, delicious).
We entered Zion from the east and the ride itself was beautiful enough to capture the kids’ attention away from their screens. The highlight was driving the RV through the Canyon Tunnel. To do this, we had to pay a large vehicle fee so that the ranger could stop traffic and allow us to pass through the tunnel down the middle, using both lanes. As we exited the tunnel, there was, as Ben would say, a grand reveal, as the whole canyon opened up before us.
We have a really nice campsite, right in the park. This has given us the advantage of making the most of the park in the mornings and evenings – to avoid both the heat and the worst of the crowds.
Our first afternoon in camp, Eli went for a run and the kids’ and I got acquainted with Springdale, the town bordering the park.
The next morning, we set out to hike the Narrows. This is the most famous area of the park - and for good reason. It is also the most crowded. We took the shuttle and joined the tourist pilgrimage into the canyon.
About a half mile into the trail, I realized the water crossings would be much higher than I thought. This wasn’t so much a hike as a ‘wade.’ I worried that the kids would get cold or that their wet feet would get blisters. Ugh. I started to back-pedal on our hiking plan.
Fortunately, Eli turned to me and said “all of us need to keep going and one of us needs to be quiet.” He was right. We hiked 4 full hours in that awesome place.
I can’t say how far we went because picking through rocks and crossing a river 12 times is slow going. But, everyone had a lot of fun.
That evening, Eli took the kids to a Ranger Program and I hiked the Watchman Trail, 3.3 miles with a solid climb. It has been great fun to do so much exploring as a family, but I really enjoyed the solitude and the chance to push myself a little bit.
Our second full day in Zion, Eli left early to hike Angel’s Landing. This trail is second in popularity to the Narrows, but only because it is so much more strenuous that not everyone can attempt it.
Because the kids aren’t quite ready to attempt a hike that far (9+ miles) or steep, we went to a lesser known section of the park called Kolob Canyons. This was recommended to us by the woman who runs the doggy daycare where Toby spent the day. We didn’t hike here because I (belatedly) realized that Norah wasn’t kidding when she said she twisted her ankle in the Narrows the day before. So, we settled on a car picnic and a drive to a very scenic viewpoint. Everyone was in a fine mood about it.
Also, a side note: Why doggy daycare? Dogs are not allowed on the trails in most National Parks, just the campsites and main roads. Because of this, most towns near National Parks have at least one dog boarding/day care facility. Because of the heat in Zion (in the 90’s every day) we can’t leave Toby in camp while we are hiking. So, off to daycare he goes. He seems to like it!
Tomorrow we leave Utah after two full weeks of exploring here. I’m a little sad to go. But, I’m also a little bit excited to spend a night in Page, Arizona, where we will seek the creature comforts of both Starbucks and Walmart, to do a much needed restock on supplies.
