Blogs from Zion National Park, Utah, United States, North America - page 15

This morning was our last morning here in Zion. With nothing really planned today, we just slept in and took our time dismantling our campsite. Prior to leaving, we decided to do one last hike. Since we didn't want to get a late start on the road, we picked a rather easy trail. We picked Weeping Rock Trail which is a very short trail making it quite a popular trail. The trail wasn't very steep however 2 days of relatively strenuous hiking had caught up to us. This trail was nothing compared to The Virgin Narrows and Angel's Landing. However, we just weren't able to muster the energy for this. It was at this moment that I realized that I was on hiking overkill and was so done with Zion. But I held on, eventually making ... read more

After a long day at work and a 3 hour class afterwards, Kevin and I set off at around 11pm Thursday night for a long drive to Utah. For the past few weeks, we had been planning out a long weekend trip up to Utah's Zion National Park. Our goal was to do 2 of Zion's famous hikes, up the Virgin Narrows as well as to the top of Angel's Landing. Throughout the night, we drove across California's Mojave Desert before finally arriving in Las Vegas around 5am. Unable to get any substantial sleep along the drive, I was surprisingly still in a good mood as we pulled into the Venetian Hotel. Kevin had never been to Las Vegas and wanted to stop to try his luck on some gambling. We walked around The Venetian's ... read more

It's taken us two weeks, but we've finally found a schedule that works for visiting the national parks. We stay two nights at each place, using the arrival day to orient ourselves and watch the introductory video, and the second day to do all of our hiking and geological expeditions. Also, for those of you following along with our route, we took Highway 12 out of Bryce, down 89, and finally followed 9 through a 1.1 mile long tunnel into Zion Canyon, where we ended up camping at South Campground on the nights of August 10 and 11. Without further ado, Zion Canyon. Mukuntuweap, the original name of Zion Canyon, was named a National Monument in 1909 by President Taft. Mukuntuweap is a Paiute Indian word for "narrow canyon," out of which there is only one ... read more

2nd Aug. Today we followed the south rim of the Grand Canyon through the National Park and then north back into Utah. We stopped to see the Dam at Glen Canyon and night stopped at Kanab. The temp a little cooler than yesterday though still touched 103F. Tomorrow we head for Zion and Bryce Canyons. Pam and George... read more

After our tiring 3 hour hike to Angel's Landing, we decided to take the shuttle to the lodge for lunch. After some souvenier shopping and refilling the water bottles, we talked the boys into one more short hike to the Emerald Pools. After we finished that hike it was about 3:30 and HOT, so we went back to camp and went swimming. This was the first day we used the air conditioning in the RV. Saturday morning we got up at 6:30 to get a couple last short hikes in before leaving for Salt Lake City. We hiked to Weeping Rock and did a short trail around Watchman Campground. Tomorrow we go to Flagg Ranch at Grand Teton National Park.... read more