Zion Finale - Hiking the Virgin River "Narrows"

Y'all Come Back . . . Ya' Hear!!!

Just 'laxing at our campsite

A couple of views of the "Narrows"

Both of us nearing the end - Carol starting the return

Mid-day lunch on the river







Kirk "peeking out" from the rocks

Posing by the waterfall

"The Start"

The last day in Zion by the Traveling Salvation Show was spent hiking the Virgin River. The trail is called the Narrows and the entire hike is spent walking through the narrow canyon in the Virgin River. Water levels range from ankle deep to chest high in some spots. There are a lot of rocks underfoot and it gets real tricky keeping your balance. My biggest concern was making sure I did not fall in and ruin the camera. Lucky for me that I kept myself from falling by using one of Kirk's hiking poles. Athough I came pretty close a few times. The canyon walls rise above you from 2,000 to 3,000 feet so the view is awesome.

After spending 5 whole days in Zion, the Campbell's Traveling Salvation Show must pack up on Sunday and move on. There are other places we have to save! Our next port of call is Moab Utah for three days exploring Arches National Monument and Canyonlands National Park. We say adieu to Zion and give thanks that we had this opportunity to enjoy the seventh most popular national park in the system. They say that the third time is a charm and it was....you never know...we might have to do this again!

Zion - Day Four

Late afternoon thunderstorm.




Nice view of Zion mountains over a meadow.

View near the end of our hike in Kolob Canyon

View of lion's den over the canyon as we ate lunch

Carol atop the lava boulders at end of our hike

Just a nice view looking out from our forest walk

After spending several days hiking the Zion trails, we thought we should try something new. So we checked out the trails in Kolob Canyon which is part of Zion National Park. It is used mostly by backpackers but there are a few trails that do not qualify as death marches. We discovered a whole new section of Zion and were thrilled that we did! It was a level ( what a change that was!) hike that worked its way through some wooded areas and ended at the end of a mesa with spectacular views of the area. We saw much evidence of wildlife (judging from the quantity of poop!). I discovered some mountain lion skat (a.k.a. poop) that was only about a week old. I only knew what it looked like because the night before we attended a ranger presentation where the subject was mountain lions in Zion. The ranger showed a slide and described what mountain lion skat looks like. Kirk said that I earned my Junior Ranger badge for my discovery. So we were not alone in the woods! As we left the Kolob area a storm came up and we were able to capture some nice pictures of the rain as it swept across the meadows. We were so glad that we ventured out. Kolob Canyon is not very well known and very few people go there. As we hiked we felt that the area was totally reserved for us.

Zion - Day Three

Pappy making his way down the trail . . .

A gentle waterfall in the morning light.

Richard by the Upper Emerald Pool

Looking Up from the Upper Emerald Pool

Pretty good sculpture made of sand!

A view of the Virgin River as we walked the trail

Sadly we had to take Richard to catch an airport shuttle to Las Vegas so that he can go home. We decided to do one more hike with him so we left the camper to catch the 6:30 AM shuttle. The park shuttles everyone all day and no cars are allowed to ride through the park. We did a simple hike called the Lower, Middle and Upper Emerald Pools. We owned the trail and the scenery at that hour: we were the only ones there at that hour. It was a glorious morning! After the hike we packed up and headed to St. George 30 minutes away. It was also laundry day so I spent an hour and a half at the laundromat. While I was watching the clothes spinning and drying, I did some HDR work on the computer. Reminded me of the good old college days! The Traveling Salvation Show had to get some groceries and wash the truck. It was a good day to catch up on chores.

You will note that one of pictures is a sand squirrel. Someone was quite the artist and did a great job making the sculpture. There were a few waterfalls and lots of greenery.

Zion - Day Two - Bryce Canyon National Park

Checkerboard Mesa in Zion

Snowdrifts in Bryce????

Look closely for the two natural bridges in the canyon

"Un-natural" rock formations

The three stooges plus two more!!!!

After the exhausting day hiking on Tuesday, we decided to head for Bryce Canyon National Park. So with son Richard in tow, we worked our way to Bryce. Bryce is so different than Zion. It is a land of mystical spires! One part of the hike was again an uphill climb and my son is much more fit than either of us so I borrowed a phrase from Brad Paisley..."waitin' on a woman" which is what he essentially had to do for all of these hikes.

As we worked our way to Bryce we passed a few more Zion spectacles and so those pictures are included. There are so many neat Bryce pictures that we limited the amount of labeling. So enjoy the photos minus a lot of commentary. (Plus I am getting lazy and Kirk is not by me telling me what to type).

By the time we completed our hike and visit at Bryce we were pretty tired and ready to relax. Little did we know that the temperature in Zion was 104 degrees. The trailer was worst than any sauna I have ever been in and after sitting in it 10 minutes I went down one dress size. I suppose I should have sat in it longer but I was getting very cranky. In desperation we turned on the air conditioner. I hated to give in and be such a weeny but there was no way to sleep under those conditions. All of us were glad for the respite and had a wonderful night's sleep while our fellow campers in tents with kids were no doubt suffering. Not that it was 104 at night but it was not a comfy 80 degrees either. We will have to take Richard to the airport shuttle in St. George so we are planning an early hike. More details to come.

Zion - First Day

Cooling our exhausted bodies in the Virgin River! A toast to all of you reading this!


The Finish Line!!






The view from near the top. Note the parking lot near the bottom center.















Hang on Kirk! What goes up must come down!




Ahh, just a little stroll in the park - Ha!







"Hoo-Wee", don't look down!



The chains are definitely our "friends"


















Resting - a third of the way up! Still smiling!

This is our third trip to Zion National Park and we still are in awe of the beauty and the majesty of the area. Every time we venture out we make new discoveries. The pictures do not give justice to the visual impact that the towering rock faces provide. But hopefully they will at least give all of you a little taste of what we have enjoyed in our time here at Zion. There is so much to say and show that it will take a few blog entries to cover it all. So be prepared!

The Traveling Salvation Show arrived on Monday with son Richard who stayed with us until Thursday. It was a long travel day from Flagstaff to Zion. All we had time to do that day was setup camp, eat dinner and have a few beers! Seems like a good way to start the week! The campsite was directly across from two accesses to walk to the Virgin River. The river was only about 50 yards away. It is so cool to hear it flowing by. Lots of people ride tubes down it. Tuesday we hiked the Hidden Canyon trail. There was a reason for the name....it was strenuous, uphill and we had to navigate around rock faces on ledges a few feet wide and a 1000 foot vertical drop. The park gratiously provided chains to hold onto. This trail is not for people afraid of heights and required good footwork. The views were spectacular! I will let the pictures tell the story! After the four hours on the trail we really needed to cool off. Temperature that day was 95! So all three of us donned our bathing suits and took a dip in the Virgin River with a cold beer in hand! It is hard to believe that things could get any better!!!