Zion's National Park

Zion's was awesome. We left our house and 45 minutes later we were there! The last time we went hiking we had to drive HOURS in order to get anywhere worth hiking around. We were very excited that we could make this a day trip, I was equally excited that we didn't die anywhere along the way.


Hiking in the mountains is a bit different than hiking in the Midwest. First off you have to drive up mountains to get there. I am still not used to driving on the side of a mountain and I don't think I ever will be. There is something very unsettling about driving so fast so close to the edge of a cliff. Do these people not believe in guardrails? Not that they would probably do anything, but they would sure help me feel better. Second, and most importantly, you have to climb up actual mountains.


We started out on a trail but that didn't last too long. We climbed up as high as we could and then realized we didn't quite remember how to get back down :( Every way down looked like we were going to fall off a cliff. Chad's tone of voice changed as he walked around trying to figure out the way down while I was imaging us having to camp up there all night, crying, hungry, and cold. Not dramatic at all. After a few minutes, yup only a few minutes, Chad spotted our way down. The views were amazing and Chad had a great time with all the echoes!


The drive down the mountain was even worse than the one going up. Now we were on a crazy roller coaster, driving on ice and snow, and somehow we were supposed to be the ones in control. Blah! I needed a xanax. We tried going to a visitor's center however, that road suddenly was covered in snow and ice and led to no where. As we tried to turn around to get out we got stuck. It was 55 degrees in St. George and we were stuck in the snow in the mountains. We got out with a little effort and were back on our way.



The next trail we went on felt a little bit more like what I'm used to. We crossed a river and there were lots of trees and rocks and bushes leading up to the mountain. Everything was much more familiar, except for the cacti that was everywhere, and of course, the mountains. We saw some ancient writing on the side of the mountains, the skull and spine of some big animal and a bunch of goats! We are excited to be able to go back and explore the rest of this awesome park!