Zion

After our simple breakfast at the Hampton Inn, we drove a little less than an hour to Zion National Park. We paid the $30 entrance fee, drove quite a bit on winding roads and through tunnels, and descended into this beautiful national park. We overshot the Visitor's Center and actually exited the park at the south end, so had to re-enter. We parked the car and hopped on a shuttle that goes through the park to various trailheads.

All of us had researched the various trails - Marie looked at photos, Kristin bought a map, and we all decided to start off on the famous and most popular Angels Landing Trail which starts at the Grotto trailhead. It was a bit chilly, but we saw deer right away. Here's Marie at the start:



To conserve my energy and minimize the nuisance of getting my camera out of my bag, I didn't take any photos on the way up to Scout's Overlook where rested and took a pause. The next bit is an extra mile or so hike to Angels Landing which is steep, narrow, and you hold on to a metal chain. Kristin and I braved this extra part, while Steven and Marie opted for another trail. However, Marie got a photo of us on the start of our ascent:



I did not dare take a single photo as I focused on scrambling up and down the ridge, holding on to the chain, and letting others pass as needed. But we made it to "where it's so high, only angels can get there"! Apparently someone dies on this trail every year and we questioned the physical fitness and gear of several who were on the climb. Here's a part of the ridge with the many hikers excited to be at the top:



I didn't dare stand on top of this (but Kristin braved it), but you can see me hanging out on the landing:



Kristin and I had some fun with selfies as we realized we wore the same color scheme as she advertises for Patagonia:



Here are some views:









And Kristin got a shot of me braving the start of the descent:



Sometimes I even had to scale down backwards:



We finally reached the main part of the trail at Scouts Overlook, and I decided it was safe for me to take photos. So here's a shot of Walter's Wiggle which brings you to Scouts Overlook:

And I proceeded to take photos on our descent (sometimes while looking up):







After accomplishing Angels Landing, Kristin and I took the shuttle for the Weeping Rock trail which was short - you can see the water and the vegetation from the rock:









We then hopped on the shuttle to return to try the Emerald Pool trail. Here we ran into Marie and Steven and before I got off the shuttle, Marie threw me a fig bar, because I was so hungry!

The walk to Emerald Pool was longer than it had to be because we left from the Grotto. Normally you could leave from the Lodge, but the trail was closed. However, it was beautiful nonetheless as you can see:











We met Marie and Steven back at the Lodge where we had bison burgers at the Red Rock grill. We tried to enjoy the sunset, but being at the bottom of the canyon, we did not have great views. We did however benefit from the many heaters we tested that kept us warm outside on the deck. The other diners probably thought we were crazy, but enjoyed dining al fresco.

With the help of Kristin's headlight, we entertained ourselves waiting for the shuttle which was very crowded and made our way back to the Visitor Center parking and started the ascent out of the park. Kudos to Steven who drove us safely on winding roads, through tunnels, and back to Kanab in the pitch darkness!