Zion III

Up, we're going up!

These last two hikes were our favorites in Zion. Hidden Canyon trail is described in the park guide "Long drop-offs. Not for anyone fearful of heights. Follows along a cliff face to the mouth of a narrow canyon." And from there, the trail ends but you are able to explore further into the slot canyon, and it is just magical.

This is where we ditched our water bottles to free up two hands...

Columbines always make us think of our Moms. Most of the Flora has been quite foreign to us ever since Texas, but we recognize these from our Moms gardens.

This is on the way back out of Hidden Canyon, sometimes they give you chains

Angels Landing via West Rim Trail: Strenuous - 5.4 mile round trip - elevation change 1488 ft
"Long drop-offs. Not for young children or anyone fearful of heights. Last section is a route along a steep, narrow ridge to the summit."

This was a little scary! The way is narrow, you have to plan and coordinate with other hikers as you pass each other going up and down. Also had to navigate around a couple clinging to the sandstone walls, afraid to go any further... There are two of these summits to climb before you reach the top.

At the summit. It's 360° of incredible.

We made it! Talk about memorable experience :)

And back down again...

This section of the trail is called Walter's Wiggles, 21 switchbacks!

We were sad to leave, but excited to push on to our next destination.

Zion II - Kolob Canyons & Hop Valley

We hiked the Taylor Creek Trail to the Double Arch Alcove in Kolob Canyons. Basically just pretty canyon views all day, with some historic cabins and nice shady stretches of trail.

We've been reading and learning about geology and land forms recently, so I felt like a cool kid when I spotted this recumbent fold along the trail.

It's much greener on this side of the park

More Kolob Canyon vistas

We hiked into Hop Valley, it's a pretty unforgettable place. The trail starts out going through a sandy desert area, through a cow pasture on private property (just close the gate behind you) and down, down, into the valley. The trail follows and crosses a shallow stream numerous times, and we were doing our best to keep our shoes dry. That was until we came upon a friendly, barefoot, condor-tracker. His advice was to ditch the hiking shoes and get our feet wet. The locals know best!

Looking down into Hop Valley

 Looking back on Hop Valley. It was hard to leave!

The drive home was beautiful too. Can you imagine living here?? We drove past a few little cabins with solar panels and hammocks. Sign me up.

Part III coming...

Hoodoos!!!

We took a day to drive all the way up to the tippy-top of the Grand Staircse and visit Bryce Canyon National Park. We started at the very bottom when we left Flagstaff, driving up Scenic Route 89, passing the Grand Canyon and Vermilion Cliffs. It was really neat to see the top of this geological sequence. 

This Dixie National Forest area was on the way to Bryce, I wanted to stay longer. There was a bike trail that looked pretty incredible, along with some nice camping spots. At least I got a picture of their brown sign, love that forest service seal! See the matching tree in the background? :)

We're recognizing and pursuing patterns in our way of travel. The most obvious one, is that we try to stick to the green on the pages of our atlas as much as possible. These are state and national parks, forests, monuments, wilderness areas, etc. And Utah has a LOT of green. (Go Utah!)

Usually I have no words for the incredible sights in our national parks, but walking up to Inspiration Point and seeing this for the first time, I was just "Whaaat?" These rock features are called hoodoos, and I was singing this song all day.

From Inspiration Point, we hiked along the Rim Trail to Sunset Point and down into it (it's not actually a canyon) via the Navajo Loop. We hiked to Queen's Garden, and up to Sunrise Point, then all the way back along the rim trail again.

Going down

Can you see the people? The native Paiute in the area believed the hoodoos were Legend People who had been turned to stone by that trickster, the coyote, because they had lived too heavily upon the land.

 Windows

LBJ, I wholeheartedly agree. 

It's a pretty magical place. Wish we could have stayed longer, (I hear the night skies are incredible) but I'm thankful for this glimpse.