Traveling PT Adventures: Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks

For the past two weekends I had an amazing time exploring Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. Last weekend, I stayed in a little cabin just outside of Zion. They have a shuttle system that takes you into the park and it will take you around inside the park as well since cars are not allowed in certain areas. I love this idea because it makes for less congestion and pollution around the parks.
I went on a few hikes. Nothing too serious, but I did still manage to slip and scrape up my leg real nicely. It was so incredibly hot! I was in the park for about 5 hours and I drank one bottle of water per hour. (And I never went to the bathroom the whole time.) Shows how much water you lose when you are out there. The dry heat is definitely different from the humid heat. I felt like my lips and my nose were going to crack right off. It rained a little on Friday, but you couldn't even tell 1 hour after the rain stopped. Everything was dry again. The rainbow picture is from the cabin where I stayed, but before the rain came, when it was still sunny I was hiking in "The Narrows". You can probably tell what this is by the name. It is a very thin part of the canyon with mountain walls on either side and the river running in between. So I got half way out there when it was nice and sunny passing warning signs for flash floods the whole time... and then I start hearing thunder. Needless to say, I hightailed it out of there. This isn't the rainy season, but you never know...

These peaks are named Abraham, Issac, Jacob (the white one peeking out), and Mount Moroni (one of the figures in the Book of Mormon).

Zion was one of the places that Brigham Young and his followers saw when they were moving west. They named all the landmarks after religious figures. I think that is pretty cool. Holly and I were discussing on our trip how, in a supposedly Christian nation, so many landmarks are named after the Devil… Devils Churn, Devils Tower, Devils pool, Hells Canyon. I have to hand it to the Brigham on this one. At least he gave credit where it’s due. One of the hikes that I hope to do someday is up to “Angels Landing.” They named it that because the first time it was seen someone said that it was so inaccessible that only an angel could get up there. Well, of course, years later someone had to take that challenge and now there is a trail going to the top. I don’t want to hike this by myself, but I can’t wait to get up there.

This weekend I actually was lucky enough to get a camping site at Zion. Every time I go to any of the parks all the campgrounds are full. When I looked for reservations a few weeks ago it was the last site left, and now I know why… the campground was beautiful! I got a site right next to the river. It was perfect. One thing I learned is that it gets really windy in the valley at night. I could barely sleep when my tent kept shaking like crazy.
Saturday, I drove over to Bryce Canyon National Park, spent the day seeing all the sites and hiking a few trails there. The main feature of Bryce is the Hoodoos which are these weird rock formations formed by erosion patterns on different types of rocks. The whole canyon is filled with these hoodoos. When you stand on top of Inspiration Point and can see into the whole canyon it is pretty amazing!
I did a hike down into the canyon to get a closer look at the hoodoos. That was not easy… well the going back up half anyway. I thought for sure my heart was gonna beat right out of my chest, but I made it and it was totally worth it.