Canyoneering in Zion National Park

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Bryce Canyon

On Saturday, we continued to seek the maximum value from our $80 multi ticket which gives us unlimited access to America's fantastic National Parks. We left our cowboy themed motel in the backwater town of Orderville, Utah and made the short journey to Bryce Canyon National Park. We really are finding ourselves in the middles of nowheres at the moment!

Having just visited the Arches and Canyonlands NPs and travelling through Utah which is full of muckle holes in the ground no matter which way you look, we werent sure if we could take another day of looking over high precipices down into deep craters; however, America's varied natural landscapes bowled us over again at Bryce Canyon, a terracotta landscape of canyons and perfectly chissled stone needles. Again, see the photos (when I manage to find an internet connection fast enough to load any up !). A picture tells a thousand words and all of that...

On Sunday, we were really at the point where after having so many cool days in nature, we wondered how the next day could top the last but it kept happening. Our next stop was Zion National Park, a tip from one of the residents at the lazy lizard. This NP is really remote, and to protect it, people have to drop their cars off and take shuttle buses to the main attractions and trails. We took the bus to the end of the line to do the "River Walk", which was more or less wading up a river that runs through the floor of a very narrow but steep canyon, carved out by the ancient Virgin River. Apparently, its called "canyoneering"; whatever, it was fun and one of the most picturesque days yet. Awesome.

We also got chatting with a German girl called Sylvia (not, not you Mattl, a different German Sylvia! Hi to Seb by the way!) on the wade back down who happened to be doing a similar World trip to ours but in the other direction. Always on the lookout for info to help later on our journey, we picked up some great advice for when we reach the Cook Islands in the South Pacific.

On the way back, the footing in the river was getting pretty dicey and we were all lucky not to end up completely submerged in the faster flowing water. In the same minute we left the river and got onto dry land, the weather changed from brilliant summer sunshine to torrential rain, thunder and lightning. Within 10 minutes of leaving the river, it had turned into a fast flowing muddy rapid and we were all very glad and grateful to be on land and not still in the drink. Once off the bus, we said cheerio to Sylvia and passed up her offer of beers back at her campsite with her pals. We had a more pressing engagement to take care of that evening - it was time to hit Las Vegas, baby!

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Comments

[Rory Fowler]

Dons
First match of the new season Aberdeen 1 Celtic 3. 1 - 1 with 5 minutes to go there's only one Kenny Millar 2 goals. Ha Ha Rory

[Rich Hall]

The vid
Haha - I love that : "Any comments Trung?" XD