Monday, Sept 3 We drove from Las Vegas to the Kolob
entrance of Zion National Park. From there we hiked along the La Verkin
creek trail which was very pretty and totally deserted.
Tuesday, Sept 4 We hiked out of La Verkin
and then hiked in to the Subway. This is a gorgeous backcountry hike
with lots of waterfalls leading up to a curvy canyon.
We had the whole place to ourselves, which meant we got the best campsite,
next to this waterfall.
Here's a picture of Kolob arch, which is almost the world's largest arch.
Almost.
The 8-mile loop didn't seem like it should take that long, but we were
exhausted after scrambling over boulders in the stream all afternoon in the
hot sun. There was a nice sunset when we finally climbed back out onto the
road, but hunter wasn't really in the mood!
Once again we got the best campsite! This time it was in a large
grotto in the canyon. Other campers came by and they coveted our
campsite--too bad for them!
I was glad when we made it to this waterfall because it meant we weren't far
from the campsite!
We took lots of pictures of each other next to the tall canyon walls.
Here's me near the start of the hike with my pole and a tall waterfall.
Coral pink sand with a variety of yucca that only grows in that area.
Sunset on the car ride back.
Hunter with petrified lightning
surreal desert landscape
small Hunter with big hoodoos
Here's me, very small next to the bottom of the double arch.
Cedar Breaks NM looks like Bryce, but it is higher, at 10,540 ft.
Hunter even went running along the rim! I stayed behind and took
pictures :).
Rain over the rim at sunrise.
Spoiled Wildlife: The animals in Zion seemed quite
accustomed to people, and the chipmunks in particular would really go after
our food. Some baiting of animals may have occurred during the taking
of these photographs, but trust me the damage was already done!
Tuesday, Sept 11 For one last hike on the
way back to Las Vegas we did the Taylor Creek Trail at Zion. It was a
nice easy trek around red canyons that ended at a double arch.
Monday, Sept 10 We finished off the
Under-the-Rim Trail at Rainbow Point and hitched a ride back to our car at
Bryce Point. It took a little while to find a suitable ride since most
people weren't going directly back to the park entrance, but we had plenty
of time. One French group had room for one but not both of us, and the only
English-speaking guy told us we should stay together in case of mountain
lions. After an afternoon nap we headed to Cedar Breaks NM.
Sunday, Sept 9 We planned to do the 23-mile
Under-the-Rim Trail at Bryce in two days, but the water we were counting on
at the halfway point was dried up, so we ended up hiking 19 miles on the
first day to reach Iron Spring. This was a sad little trickle of red
water that didn't taste very good, but it was a lot better than no water at
all! Luckily the weather was cloudy with a few drizzles of rain, so we
were never that thirsty, even though the hike was pretty high (~7,000-9000
ft.)
Saturday, Sept 8 We visited Bryce Canyon
and Kodachrome SP. Bryce Canyon is known for weird desert rock
formations called hoodoos, and Kodachrome SP has some bizarre formations
like petrified lightning and petrified geysers.
Friday, Sept 7 We hiked out of the
Narrows, dried off a bit, and then headed off towards Bryce Canyon.
Along the way we visited Coral Pink Sand Dunes SP (I thought the sand was
more orange), and we stayed the night at a lovely bed&breakfast that had a
little pink slot canyon in the cliffs behind the house.
Thursday, Sept 6 Today we did the famous
Virgin Narrows hike which takes you through a narrow canyon. In many
places you have to hike through the river which is shallow, but muddy so
that you can't see the bottom. We used wooden poles to help feel
through the water and keep our balance.
bubbly wet wall
Wednesday, Sept 5 We took it a little
easier today, sleeping in and drinking smoothies in Springdale. Then we took the Zion shuttle to Weeping Rock. This
rock has water dripping out of it continuously from an ancient aquifer.
Then we did the fun hike up this mountain, Angel's Landing. The
mountain is pretty narrow in places with a steep dropoff, but there are
chains to assist on the climb.
There's a great view of the valley from Angel's Landing:
jackrabbit!
big dragonfly
hidden frog
sleepy snake
Exotic wildlife: We saw a few snakes on the
trip, including one large garter snake (3 ft long?) that I stepped on in the
Subway hike, and one sleepy little one that I stepped over without noticing
it early morning in Bryce. Also, I captured a rare photograph of the
elusive wild jackrabbit in its natural habitat of hiding behind trees.
