A couple days into the new year, we headed to southern Utah for a very short, but very lovely visit with good friends. Jen, Grant, and their kiddos were visiting family in the U.S. over the holidays. They moved to Australia from New Zealand just before we left NZ, so it had been quite a while since we had seen them. I could not pass up the opportunity to see them knowing they were going to be so close. We flew into Las Vegas on a Friday morning and made it to Hurricane, Utah, shortly after midday. From there, we headed to Zion National Park to catch the last of the light on Kolob Canyons, a quiet section of the park northwest of the more frequently visited Zion Canyon. There was some snow in Kolob Canyons, which made the kiddos happy and provided a nice contrast on the red canyon walls.
On Saturday we headed back to Zion, this time into the main part of the park. In the winter the shuttle busses do not run, so parking is a dreaded activity at every major sight. We found a couple of spots along the road and headed up the West Rim trail towards Scout Lookout. The kiddos were champions and made it all the way to the lookout, which included nearly 1000 feet of climbing. Pete and I continued up from the lookout to the top of Angels Landing, which is still as scary as it was when I hiked it with my brother in 2007. Maybe more scary with the patches of snow and ice to contend with on the very narrow trail.
Looking toward Angels Landing. The saddle we are on in this
photo is the narrowest (but least scary, actually) part of the trail.
There are chains along most sections of the very narrow path
to prevent you from plummeting to your death.
photo is the narrowest (but least scary, actually) part of the trail.
There are chains along most sections of the very narrow path
to prevent you from plummeting to your death.
Falling is a bad idea...
Looking down the canyon from Angels Landing
Pete is tasked with taking a few photos to document that I
was on our trips. Most of his photos of me look like this.
was on our trips. Most of his photos of me look like this.
The top of Angels Landing is pretty narrow too.
The view from the top was worth the climb and the sore legs.
It does not look so scary from the bottom
We explored a couple other areas of the park after Angels Landing, including a hike along the Virgin River and the tunnel to the canyon overlook. We even got to see a California condor, which is a rare sighting with only 70 birds in Arizona and southern Utah.
After a slow Sunday morning and exploring around St. George, we headed back to Las Vegas to catch our flight home. We took a short stroll down Fremont Street, put $20 into a slot machine, and walked away empty handed. By the time we got home, Pete had come down with the viral plague that had infected nearly everyone else in the house, but he was fully recovered by the time we left for Japan five days later.
