Zion National Park - Day #2

A few months ago, I registered for the Angel's Landing hike permit lottery and won! So today was our day to hike it. We left our hotel around 7:30am, took the Springdale town shuttle to the entrance of Zion NP, walked across the bridge into the park, and then hopped on the park bus to the Grotto shuttle stop. We were so glad that our permits to hike were for today since the weather was much improved from yesterday. The hike started off flat, but quickly began to ascend. As we gained elevation, there was more and more snow on the ground as well. We made it to the section of the trail known as Walter's Wiggles before the trail became icy. Luckily, we had brought our crampon spikes, so before we entered the restricted "permit only" part of the hike, we put them on. The hike was not that difficult; however, it was slow going at times due to the single file nature of the trail. We saw lots of people hiking in just hiking boots without crampons and even some in sneakers. I don't think we would have attempted it without spikes - too dangerous!!

We're starting to gain some elevation

There was more snow on the ground the higher we hiked

The beginning of the "permit required" section of the hike

We're heading for the top of this cliff!

Almost there!

Looking back at the trail we had just hiked

When we got to the top, we had the whole place to ourselves for a few minutes and the views were simply spectacular! 

Coming back down was less scary, as much of the snow and ice had melted. It was lunchtime by the time that we made it back down to the canyon floor, so we rode the shuttle back to the lodge where we enjoyed our lunch at an outside table. 

Descending Walter's Wiggles

After lunch, we rode the shuttle to the bus stop near the Court of Patriarchs. The Court of Patriarchs are three peaks that tower over the Zion Canyon. We took the short but steep trail that afforded a great view.

The Court of Patriarchs

On the Court of Patriarchs Trail

We decided that we wanted to explore more of the eastern side of Zion NP, so we went back to our hotel, got our car, drove back into the park, and headed through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel to the Canyon Overlook Trail. We did the 1-mile trail that took us to an amazing viewpoint overlooking Zion Canyon. 

From the east side of Zion Canyon

It was a tad windy at the Canyon Overlook Viewpoint

We then drove back into town and had a yummy dinner at the Bit & Spur. Tomorrow, we drive back to Las Vegas to fly home to Fresno.

Zion National Park - park #27 is in the books!

Zion National Park - Day #1

This morning we took the Springdale town shuttle from our hotel to the entrance of Zion National Park. We walked into the park and then caught the park shuttle from in front of the visitor center. It was a chilly morning and started to snow as the shuttle drove further into the canyon. At one point, the shuttle pulled over and couldn't proceed for about 45 minutes while the snow was cleared from the roads. We waited it out and eventually rode the bus to the Zion Canyon Lodge. After a quick walk around the lodge, we headed across the street to begin the Emerald Pools Trail. We hiked past the lower and middle pools/falls on our way to the upper pool. Even though it continued to be a mix of snow and rain for most of our hike, it was beautiful!

The Zion Lodge

Crossing over the Virgin River to begin our hike to the Emerald Pools

Behind a waterfall

After completing the Emerald Pools hike, we went back to the lodge where we ate our lunch sitting in the rocking chairs that overlook the grassy space in front of the lodge. Once refueled, we got back on the shuttle to take us to the Riverside Walk at the end of Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. We enjoyed the 2.2 miles round trip walk along the Virgin River albeit it was a bit wet and chilly!

The Riverside Walk

A wet and slushy day of hiking!

We got back on the shuttle and rode it to the Zion Human History Museum. We spent about 45 minutes here watching a short film and taking in the exhibits that display the human history of the Zion NP region. Afterwards, we got back on the park shuttle and rode it back to the visitor center. We then walked across the bridge where we caught the Springdale shuttle. We had a short ride to the Pizza & Noodles restaurant for dinner.

Our picture in front of the National Park sign as we were leaving the park for the day.

The Wave

Our guide from the Kanab Tour Company, Shelly, picked us up at our hotel at 7am and drove us to the trailhead for The Wave which is located about 45 minutes outside of Kanab. Shelly led us on the 1.5 hour moderately difficult, unmarked trail to The Wave.  Although, we had seen many pictures of it before, it was so much better in person! The colors and lighting were amazing, and Shelly knew the perfect spots to get the best pictures! We spent about an hour at The Wave before heading back to where the van was parked via a much longer route over gorgeous terrain. Shelly even pointed out some dinosaur footprint fossils. 

Interesting things along the way

We made it to The Wave!

Here we are in the bottom of The Wave

Hiking out of The Wave

Jim standing way up above The Wave - you can see it just under his right hand in this picture.

Fossilized dinosaur tracks

Interesting topography in all directions

Shelly dropped us back off at our hotel around 2pm where we got into our rental car and drove about 30 miles to the east entrance of Zion National Park. We stopped at a few overlooks as we drove into Zion Canyon and then made our way to the Visitor Center so that we could buy our Zion National Park magnet for our collection. Afterwards, we checked into our hotel, The Springhill Suites, before grabbing a bite to eat for dinner at Oscar's Restaurant. 

The view driving into Zion National Park

Valley of the Fire State Park

We flew into Las Vegas late last night, stayed the night at a hotel near the airport, and woke up ready to see Valley of the Fire State Park in route to Kanab, Utah.

We entered the park on the west side and quickly made a stop at the Beehives which are red sandstone domes that look like just like beehives.

After wandering around at the Beehives, we stopped just down the street to see the petroglyphs at Atlatl Rock which are over 4000 years old.  Then we went in search of Arch Rock.

The petroglyphs at Atlatl Rock

Arch Rock

We continued on the state park road making a stop at the visitor center before arriving at the trailhead for Mouse's Tank Trail. This was a short 1-mile round trip trail that took us past more petroglyphs in the sandstone that lined the trail.

At the end of Mouse Tank Trail

Our last stop of the day was to hike to the Fire Wave and then on through Pastel Canyon. This was a great, relatively short hike (less than 3 miles) with a lot of "wow" factor.

On the trail to the Fire Wave

The Fire Wave

At the entrance to Pastel Canyon

Pastel Canyon

By this time, it was late afternoon, so we left Valley of the Fire State Park and continued on our way to Kanab, Utah.