Day 20
States: Utah
Sites seen: Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park
Before we get into the business of today, a housecleaning item. If you are enjoying the blog and you got here from Facebook, please scroll down to the bottom of this post and subscribe before you’re done. After today, Facebook will no longer push things from third party apps. This includes this blog. So if you’re enjoying it and want to see how the last third of the trip goes, please subscribe.
Now onto today…
Zion National Park
We were told to arrive here before 8 and I am very glad that we did! This park is the 3rd most visited National Park. It comes in behind Smoky Mountain National Park and the Grand Canyon. Because it is so heavily trafficked, and there are only 450 parking spaces, they have created a shuttle system here that will pick you up from the parking lots (if you get there early) or from the nearby town of Springdale.
We had no trouble finding parking because we were super early, so we were early in line for a shuttle. We did have to wait about 20 minutes to get on a shuttle the first time, but after that it is only about a 7-10 minute wait to get back on at any of the other stops.
Archeology Trail
Before taking the shuttle, we did a quick little hike (this was more like walking up a hill) on the Archeology Trail. This goes up to where some prehistoric buildings once stood.
Court of the Patriarchs
Then we hopped on the shuttle and got off at stop 4- Court of the Patriarchs. This was again an easy walk up a hill to a nice viewing of three big rock formations. A minister and two boys named them Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What differs here from the Grand Canyon is that at the Grand Canyon you are up around the rim, but here you are down in the canyon looking up with awe at these amazing structures.
Also, the wildlife is super close at times.
Lower Emerald Pool Trail
We decided to do the Lower Emerald Pool Trail for our hike in Zion (really we could have spent days and days here). This trail is a little over a mile and takes about an hour in and out. It ends at a little waterfall and is quite charming. The Trail then continues onto the middle and upper falls but these are closed (along with several other trails) due to a storm on July 11 that caused a flash flood and took out some roads and trails.
This bug is everywhere. Miss R really doesn’t like it.
Bryce Canyon
We left Zion and headed to Bryce. This took about 2 hours because of the winding switchback roads for the first part. But you do get to drive through an amazing tunnel on your way there.
Sunset Point, Queen’s Garden to Navajo Loop, Sunrise Point
Being in Bryce is like being suddenly transported to another planet. The scenery is simply unbelievable and indescribable. I took a bajillion photos in the hopes of being able to share this with you but pictures really don’t do it justice.
This hike is about 3 miles when all is said and done and took us around 2 hours. This is in part because it has a steep decline at the beginning and then another steep incline at the end (I was ready to give up at one point!). I’m glad we did our strenuous hike at Bryce because again, the scenery and the landscape is amazing.
Miss A made a friend!
Please notice how steep this is and have pity on me because it was only halfway back up…
These parks really were an amazing sight to behold. I’m still bummed we didn’t get to see Yosemite, but these are definitely a treasure.
Some thoughts on camping
Now that we’re twenty days into our camping adventure, I have some more thoughts on camping.
First, today we passed by several “real” campgrounds. There are no bathrooms here, no showers. They’re basically in the middle of nowhere truly roughing it. This is not what we are doing. I mean, I’m sleeping on a blow up mattress every night and some of these bathrooms are better than mine. Most of our sites have electricity and WiFi. That said, it definitely isn’t home, and it certainly isn’t easy.
- The bathroom continues to be my biggest problem. I suppose, if unlike myself, you sleep through the entire night then you might not care. But I am up several times a night. This campsite isn’t so bad, I can walk to the bathroom in 30 seconds. But at the last campground, it was a 5 or 6 minute walk. This proved to be a problem and I started making Josh drive me there (which my mother finds hilarious).
- Food is also a problem. When you go camping for a weekend, you don’t have to be so picky about food. Who cares if you’re eating junk? Or eat out for a few meals? It will all go back to normal in a few days. But when you’re camping for 30+ days, this is a problem. We basically live on peanut butter and jelly and hot dogs with a bunch of granola bars, gold fish, cheese balls, and whatever fruit will last the longest in the cooler. Today I had had it and needed something different. So we stopped at the grocery store (which is surprisingly hard to find when you don’t know the name of grocery store chains where you are) and made chicken and black bean quesadillas on the grill.
- And clothing. Even at 5 outfits each we are overpacked. This is because in order to keep everything from smelling like feet, we have to do laundry every few days. Then those outfits end up on top and we wear the same two or three things over and over again.
America or Bust 