Tuesday, August 4, 2009

4 More Miles

Our first adventure for the month: Zion's National Park.


Thursday night we drove down to Zion's, arriving at the campground close to midnight. We set up the tent and went to bed, realizing we might not sleep due the heat. It's hot down there even at midnight.


Friday morning we set off for the Narrows.


We started from the bottom and hiked straight up the river. It was an amazing hike and the river kept us nice and cool, or cold rather. The temperature of the river was somewhere in the range of a bucket of ice water. It hurt when you first got in, but you quickly went numb and couldn't feel your legs for the next several hours. At that point, the water wasn't so bad.

















On the way back down the river, Ryan and I were walking in the middle of the river, since there were less rocks which made walking easier. There was a big rock in the middle that we didn't see. We tripped with one foot and hopped with the other to catch ourselves. The only problem was the rock was still there. We did a synchronized SPLAT! right into the river! BRRRR!







Here we are soaked through and freezing after our fall.






After the Narrows we did a couple other short hikes including one to Weeping Rock. The water seeps down through the sandstone from above, but when it hits shale, it flows along it instead of through it. The water comes out on the side of a cliff, creating the appearance of weeping. It was pretty cool. There are hanging gardens there as well because the rock is so wet.
Friday night we were going to have Dutch Oven dinner. Sadly, the charcoal briquets seem to have been faulty. After dousing them with lighter fluid multiple times and watching the raw bacon in the dutch oven do nothing (not even a little sizzle) for over an hour, we decided to go into Springville to eat at restaurant. Sad day. Their food just didn't measure up to a Dutch Oven meal, but at least our bellies were full.

Saturday morning we packed up and headed for the famous Angel's Landing. In our excitement and rush to get going we didn't see the campsite post on the way out of the campground. The uh, grumble! crunch! smack! crack! bam! sound coming from under the car soon alerted us to it's presence however.

Yes, we had mowed down the campsite marker. Thankfully, it was only a thin piece of fiberglass, so it just scratched the car up a little, mostly on the underside of the bumper.

The lady at the campsite booth and the Park Ranger that came to fill out a claim both laughed at the situation. Luckily, they didn't charge us anything and filling out the claim didn't take longer than a few minutes. Apparantly it happens all the time.



The pictures above are of Willie's Wiggles (yes, that's their real name). There were switchbacks galore! We did Willie's wiggles and Wanda's and Wilma's and at least two others and that's before we got to the part with the chains! Whew! What a hike!
Concentrating on the ground in front of you was the best option. I thought going up was a little scary, until we were coming down. Coming down, you're almost forced to see and concentrate on the sheer cliffs on either side of you no more than two feet away.

Despite the nerves, I loved the hike. It was a spectacular view from the bottom to the top and back again.

On the way up, those coming down kept telling us there was an angel at the top. See her glowing?

There was a girl up there getting her Bridal photos taken. Wow! I wouldn't have done it, but good for her! Someone strapped her dress to their back and hauled it up there. She changed and got ready at the top. So, there she was in her Chaco sandles and poofy wedding dress posing at the cliff's edge. Nice pictures, but what a trip!

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