Zion National Park is one of the places that you have to just have to see to believe. It is a place of such beauty, with geological features in brilliant shades of reds, oranges, and tans surrounding an oasis of life created by the Virgin River at the base of Zion Canyon. Frederick Dellenbaugh first introduced the world to Zion (at that time called Mukuntuweap) with his paintings at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. At the time, people did not believe that such a place could exist. Those paintings helped Mukuntuweap become a National Monument in 1909 which eventually led to the creation of Zion National Park in 1919. Zion is now protected for everyone to come see with their own eyes.
Zion National Park is a mecca for playing in the outdoors. There are tons of areas to explore, hike, climb, and canyoneer. Most of the climbing in Zion is a bit stout for Jamie and the kids (and, well, me), so we pretty much stuck to the hiking. We hiked a variety of trails during the six days we were in the park, and I feel like we have only scratched the surface of exploration to be done there. We could have spent months exploring the backcountry and canyons in the park if we had more time (and some more skill since some of the canyons get quite technical).
Our first hike in Zion was The Narrows. The Narrows hikes through a narrow canyon carved by the Virgin River and most of the hike is actually in that river. At one point, the canyon necks down to just over 10 feet wide and the walls of the canyon get over 1500 feet tall. The water in the river will also get above your waste in spots. We tried this hike the last time we were here four or five years ago in our river sandals. Big mistake, because the water is absolutely freezing (or darn near close to it) so we didn’t get very far. This time we decided to do it right and rented dry suit pants and special river boots to keep us warm. We had an absolute blast. Archer fell over in the water at one point and got soaking wet at one point. We change her into a spare jacket on the trail and she was back in business. The river was 36 degrees that day, so it was good that we had rented that gear! The only problem with hiking in a river in dry pants with a fair amount of other people while drinking out of a Camelbak is where to pee!
The next day was our 17th wedding anniversary. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long – time flies when you are having fun, I guess! We drove to the northern end of the park, the Kolob Canyons, since it was the weekend and we hoped to avoid the crowds. It was a success. We hiked the Taylor Creek Trail up to the Double Arch Alcove. It was great. It was a very colorful hike with the orangish/pinkish rocks soaring above us and the leaves on the trees all around us changing for the fall. We crossed Taylor creek over 100 times (110 by Archer’s count) on our way to the Alcove. We celebrated that night by hitting a great local restaurant. They had big double beers called the Hankers Tankers. Good thing they cap the beer at 4% here in Utah!
We hiked Angels Landing the next day. Angels Landing has been called one of the most dangerous hikes in the world. Great place to take the kids, huh? The trail starts with lots of steep switchbacks up to the turnaround point of Scouts Landing, where there are great views out over Zion Canyon. The more dangerous part of the trail continues from there. We all went a bit further through the section of the hike that has chains you can hold on to in order to, hopefully, prevent you from tumbling off the side of the trail 1700 feet to your death. We all got to another viewpoint that made for a good destination and turnaround when Archer decided she wanted to go up to the top of the mountain. Smith wanted nothing to do with that.
Archer and I started off on the final stretch of trail together. Soon after leaving Jamie and Smith, we crossed a section of rock that was a couple feet wide. To our left, there was a sheer drop of 1000+ feet. To our right, there was a sheer drop of 1000+ feet. Seeing Archer cross that freaked me out, to say the least. Despite her protests, we turned back and she stayed with Jamie and Smith while I finished the climb. There were several more sections that would have given me a near heart attack if Archer was along, so I think we made the right decision. The views from the summit were incredible. I climbed back down and then Jamie and the kids hiked up a bit further to get the feel of the trail. They all crossed that rock section with the dropoffs. It turns out that was the most dangerous part of the trail, so next time I feel confident they will reach the top.
Our hikes ended up being a little shorter the next three days since we kicked them off with homeschooling in the morning. We explored the park further, we visited the history museum and visitor’s center, and the kids were able to earn their Zion Junior Ranger badges. Zion has the most involved Junior Ranger badge requirements of any other place we have been yet, so I was impressed. We also did several hikes including the short Archaeology Trail and the impressive Watchman Trail when we were in the Zion Canyon portion of the park.
We took one afternoon to explore the east end of the park. Our first stop after driving through the Zion Mount Carmel Tunnel was the Canyon Overlook Trail. It was a great hike with spectacular views. You can also roam off trail and explore in the east end of the park. We scrambled up some big rock faces which ended up being a lot of fun. At one point, Archer got stuck and freaked a bit, but I was able to get down to her and “talk her off the ledge”, so to speak. I love getting the chance to teach the kids great outdoors lessons like that while building their confidence. Rule number one, don’t panic!
We spent a whole week in Zion and it was just enough time to start to do the park justice. I would have loved to spend more time taking in the scenery and exploring further. There is more hiking to do, more adventures like climbing and canyoneering to do, and more exploring to do. Although we have been here twice already, I can see us returning to Zion in order to, once again, see it with our own eyes one more time.
