August 4 - Hiking Zion

The days just aren’t long enough at Zion National Park. After grabbing a morning coffee and charging up our cameras at ‘Sol Food’ (a shop in Springdale which you can access via a bridge from the campsite; not a part of the National Park) we went to the Visitor’s Center where we found the free shuttle which would take us up in to Zion Canyon. Before leaving, we all filled up our water bottles with the Zion Natural Spring Water. Free to all who visit the park, the water is naturally filtered through the Zion sandstone and is available at most of the shuttle stops. Our first stop was Zion Lodge where we hiked the Emerald Pools Trails. We finished the lower and upper trails but skipped the middle trail (slippery trail, long drop-offs, 4 kids and 2 grandparents hiking with us, 101 degrees, middle of the day – need I say more?). On the return journey, the views were spectacular but short-lived as Abby and I ended up running down the trail to get her to the bathroom (thank goodness we only had to run down). We crashed out on the lawn in front of the Lodge and enjoyed some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and an apple before grabbing more fresh water from one of the free springs. Then we were back on the shuttle which would take us further in to the canyon to the Temple of Sinawava where we hiked the Riverside Walk and the Narrows. Everyone ventured a very short distance down the river before James, Steve and I took the 3 older children further up river. The views were spectacular and even though hiking through the rushing water was difficult at times (the water is filled with silt with large rocks hidden beneath) we could not get ourselves to stop. We found ourselves saying to each other “just 10 more minutes” but then each time we turned a corner, there was another gorgeous view, more spectacular than the last. We could easily spend another week here exploring Zion but we are off to Bryce Canyon this morning, just for the day, and then on to Escalante to camp for the night