Southwest Escape, Part 2: Zion National Park

Wilderness is not a luxury, but a necessity of the human spirit. 

- Edward Abbey

Zion National Park, about halfway between Page and Las Vegas, was our next destination (starting on the afternoon of day 2 of our three-day trip). I had been through Kanab, UT, and thought I had visited Zion NP with my parents as a middleschooler or teen, at least twenty years ago (however, they think we just passed Kanab on the way to Bryce so I'm not sure). In any case, it is a lovely park for hiking, and very scenic to drive through, too.  It was so great to be in the wilderness, without phone service/access, and to just enjoy the natural beauty at our own pace.

The park, Utah's first national park, was established 100 years ago, so we were their during its centennial year of operation. We entered the park from the eastern side, the Zion-Mt. Carmel highway. The main stretch of the park (Zion Canyon) is only accessible by a shuttle in the summer. Since we arrived in the afternoon, there was room in the Visitors' Center parking lot to park and then hop on the shuttle (during many peak times/summer days, visitors have to park just outside the park in Springdale, and shuttle into the park).
 
We rode the shuttle bus all the way to the Temple of Sinawava stop and walked the Riverside Trail alongside the Virgin River.

We didn't hike all the way to the Narrows  (which would have required many more hours of wading), but did jump into the river portion and walk with our Keens sandals.

We did a couple more short walks to some viewpoints on our way out of the park.

Weeping Rock

Court of the Patriarchs (peaks of Abraham, Isaac, Mt. Moroni, and Jacob) named by a minister

 We spotted some Zion wildlife:

Mule deer

Bighorn sheep

Rock squirrel

 

After overnighting at the Hampton Inn just outside the park in the tiny town of Springdale (which had a sunblock dispenser which I thought was ingenious!), we awoke early the next day (although no earlier than our kids wake us up at home!) to do a longer day hike-- the trail to Angels Landing viewpoint (5.4 miles). 

 

The trail was moderately strenuous, and included many switchbacks ("Walter Wiggles"), as well as some rock-scrambling (thankfully, there were bolted chains), and overriding a fear of heights when you looked over the edge of the narrow trail to see the floor of Zion Canyon on both sides more than a thousand feet below (gulp! I just had to not.look.down).  Apparently, since 2004, nine climbers have fallen off this trail to their deaths (and I was trying really hard not to be #10).

 

 

 

It took us about an hour and half to get up (and one hour down with several waits for up-hikers and down-hikers to pass one another), and the views from the top (5790 feet in elevation) were stunning!

After a picnic lunch near Zion Lodge, we did walked the short Lower Emerald Pools Trail to see some cascades.

We finished our trip with a few hours in Las Vegas before our return flight.

Southwest Escape, Part 1: Antelope Canyon and Page, AZ

For several years, I have been wanting to get to Page, Arizona, to see some of the really stunning sites of the Southwest that I hadn't made it to before. I was particularly interested in getting to Antelope Canyon, which has been featured in national magazines and windows screen savers, in addition to friends' photos.  It's not the easiest area to get to (about 5 hours from Las Vegas by car, and a few hours from Flagstaff), and would be difficult to do with young kids. However, due to our extended time in OC this week, Kelvin and I made a three-day kid-free getaway from southern CA and were able to get there to check off this bucket list item.  It was so worth it!

We flew on a short (~1 hour) early Monday morning flight from John Wayne Airport to Las Vegas, and rented a car to head out of the city. We stopped at the blazing hot Valley of Fire State Park to do a short walk (more on that and shoes melting in a later post), but then headed east, passing into Arizona, then Utah, then back to Arizona, over the course of the afternoon (there is also some strangeness with the time zones in that area. I think AZ does not observe Daylight Savings, so [in the summer months] Page has the same time as PST, while the surrounding and preceeding areas of Utah are in MST, an hour ahead. Our clocks and phones were quite confused as we were driving multiple times across state lines-- showing an arrival time in AZ sooner than our current "Utah" time).

We checked into our cute AirBnb Casita in Page (population ~7500, located at the center of the Grand Circle of National Park attractions) to take photos at Horseshoe Bend, which is a 270-degree hairpin bend in the Colorado River, one of the eight natural wonders of the world and a river which flows through eleven national parks, seven US, and two Mexican states.  This year marks the 150th anniversary of John Wesley Powell's first journey down the wild river.

While the late-afternoon timing (due to sun position behind us) wasn't the best for our photos, we still got some good shots of a truly spectacular scene. There were tons of other tourists in the area-- many from Europe (Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands) and Asia.

We had a delicious chicken dinner in town and took some photos of the Glen Canyon Dam (near Lake Powell) at the city's entrance.

The next morning, we joined Ken's Tours for a guided (the only way you're allowed to visit) tour of Lower Antelope Canyon, which is a slot canyon formed by rivulets, wind, and sand, and which lies on Navajo Land (it was named as many antelope used to roam this land). Thankfully, our weather was dry (this area is prone to flash flooding).

Eric, our Navajo guide, took us through a ~3/4 mile stretch of the canyon, where we got lovely views of the red sandstone (oxidized iron) walls, curves, light, and shadows.

Dinosaur track outside

   

 The wavy canyon walls are truly remarkable

 

 

 

 

Eric had a great eye for photography and took several shots of the two of us 

 

Just west of Page is the Grand Escalante National Monument, which was the last area of the US that was mapped (and one which President Trump is trying to shrink in terms of protected land [grr]).

We dodged some raindrops (!) and did a short hike to the Toadstools, natural formations with pillars topped by stone ("Hoodoos," or "spooky," in Navajo).

The Page area has a lot to offer-- including water activities, like paddleboarding, on Lake Powell. We may have to return on another trip at a later date, as after our ~20 hours there, our quick trip took us back to Utah and Zion National Park.