On Thursday morning, we hitched up at Bryce National Park and drove
to Zion National Park. After camping in the cold without hookups at
Bryce, Julia figured that we deserved three days of full hook-ups at
Zion Canyon Campground a private RV park within walking distance of the
visitors’ center inside Zion. I’m not crazy about spending $54/night
for camping but it was really convenient; the sites had great views of
the canyon; and it was a really well-run RV park.
We
didn’t get into our site until early afternoon, so we spent the rest of
the day walking up and down the streets of Springdale, eating pizza at
Zion Pizza and Noodle Company, and having a bonfire at the campsite We
turned in early because a big hike was planned for the next day.
We rose at 5:30 a.m., took care of the dog (I walked him down to the
visitor’s center and back), and walked down to the visitor’s center
(again) to board the Zion Park shuttle bus at 7:45 a.m. We made it to
the Angels’ Landing Trailhead by about 8:15 a.m., well ahead of the rush
that would occur throughout the day. Julia called Angels’ Landing her
death march, but the first half of the hike was just a cardiovascular
exercise of switchbacks on mostly paved trail. At that point, the
pavement ended, and about a third of the people either returned to the
trailhead and waited for family and friends to make the final ascent.
At that point, the pavement ended, and it became a rock scramble
ascending a knife-edge and hanging on to dear life to the guide chains
that led the way to the top.
A 1200 foot drop awaited anyone who wandered too far from either side on the narrow trail up.
We made it to the top and also back down. To celebrate, I bought a
t-shirt and coffee mug commemorating the hike. Julia celebrated by
taking us out to dinner at Meme’s Cafe where we ate burgers, fries (for
me), salad (for Julia), and strong beers for both (double IPA and double
bock).
On the next morning, we repeated our early shuttle ride to the end of
the line at the Narrows. The water was frigid, and I vetoed a nine
mile hike up the river. Still, Julia took off her shoes and managed to
taste the experience for awhile going upstream.
Later, we hiked the Watchman Trail, which delivers views of the Canyon below and Springdale.
On Sunday morning, we hitched up and made the long drive to Moab. We are headed to Arches National Park.
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