We spent day 9 sight-seeing in Zion National Park. It is, without a doubt a beautiful place, however, if you were visiting the park, and decided not to take any hikes, you could probably see everything in just a couple of hours, and probably leave with the feeling that it was nice, but not that big a deal. If, on the other hand, you were able to take at least a couple of hikes, you'd probably come away with an entirely different feeling.
Probably the most famous hike here is to a spot called "Scout's Lookout", and then the trail continues on to a second spot known as "Angel's Landing". The first part of the hike to Scout's Lookout is very strenuous, and climbs steeply, seemingly without end. When you finally reach Scout's Lookout, you have a beautiful view on the Zion Canyon valley below. At this point, you're faced with a choice, go back down and call it a day, or continue another 1/2 mile or so to Angel's Landing. This part of the hike follows a very narrow ridge, as narrow as just a few feet wide at some points, with a drop of approximately 1500 feet to the valley floor below … it is VERY intimidating!!! They have chains anchored into the rocks to help you as you work your way up the ridge, but it's still a long way down!!! When we arrived at the park this morning, I had not intention of attempting either of these hikes, as I didn't think Josh would be up to it. As it turned out, he suggested that we give it a try, so give it a try we did!!!
We made it to Scout's Lookout after a grueling climb, in very warm and humid conditions. At that point, when I could see for myself first hand, the continuation of the trail to Angel's Landing, my reaction was NO WAY!!! But once again, Josh convinced me that we should give it a try … I was terrified the whole way through that he might fall! About half-way to Angel's Landing, the ridge dipped down a bit and then continued to climb very steeply along a painfully narrow ridge … at this point, Josh decided that he had had enough, so we reversed course and headed back down. I've got to give him credit for going as far as he did … as I said, it was pretty darn scary!
After we got back down the bottom of the canyon, we took a lunch break and then decided to do a hike at the end of the canyon road known as "The Riverside Walk". This hike follows the Virgin River through the canyon until it reaches a point called "The Narrows". At this point, the trail continues along the river, often requiring that you hike in the river itself. We continued to follow the river for a short while, wading through the water as we went … the water was cold, but it felt good!
Tomorrow we take the long drive from Zion National Park to Yosemite National Park. It's going to be a marathon day in the car … approximately 10 and a half hours!!! The good news, is that we'll have a chance to rest our legs and our lungs after all the hiking we've done the last five days! Also, we'll be back at a campground that will have showers and laundry facilities!!!! I'm really looking forward to a shower!
That's about it for tonight … tomorrow night, we'll be coming to you from just outside Yosemite National Park!
We spent day 9 sight-seeing in Zion National Park. It is, without a doubt a beautiful place, however, if you were visiting the park, and decided not to take any hikes, you could probably see everything in just a couple of hours, and probably leave with the feeling that it was nice, but not that big a deal. If, on the other hand, you were able to take at least a couple of hikes, you'd probably come away with an entirely different feeling.
We made it to Scout's Lookout after a grueling climb, in very warm and humid conditions. At that point, when I could see for myself first hand, the continuation of the trail to Angel's Landing, my reaction was NO WAY!!! But once again, Josh convinced me that we should give it a try … I was terrified the whole way through that he might fall! About half-way to Angel's Landing, the ridge dipped down a bit and then continued to climb very steeply along a painfully narrow ridge … at this point, Josh decided that he had had enough, so we reversed course and headed back down. I've got to give him credit for going as far as he did … as I said, it was pretty darn scary!
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