Zion was one of our last stops for our road trip. I found this awesome cabin with a loft for us to stay in and the girls were SO excited about it. The cabin was about 45 min away from Zion which was a bit far, but the experience was so worth it.
On our first morning in Zion, Bob had a work call in the morning so we didn't make it to the park until around 10am. Big mistake, Zion is one of the busiest parks in the Summer in addition to the fact that most of the park is only serviced through buses. I had heard Zion was busy, but I sorely underestimated it. At 10 am not only was every lot completely full of cars, but the lines for the shuttle service were an hour and a half deep. Disappointingly it was an absolute non starter so we quickly back peddled and headed into St. George to find something to do for the day.
We found ourselves a really fun little slot canyon to hike and climb in.
I am entirely not a fan of tight spaces, but I managed to snake my way through the tight spot.
We did some yoga on the rocks and had a blast exploring.
We then went to the internet and found ourselves a cool dinosaur print site that is now a museum. It was a fun way to spend our unplanned afternoon. While a bummer that we missed a day in Zion, we were even more excited to plan our early morning adventure the next day!
We were up and out and at the park by 5:55am the next morning in the hopes of doing the epic Narrows hike. Turns out getting into the park before the buses even start at 6am gets you front row parking and absolutely no wait for service! Hoorah!
We were shuttled up to the Temple of Sinawava drop where we hiked a mile into the canyon to get to the Narrows. The Narrows is an epic water hike. You literally hike right up the river and spend most of your time in the water. I was so hoping to do this in the heat of the day, but alas the early chilly morning was our option. I was just praying we would make it at least a mile of the 6 mile round trip before we were all frozen.
You hike a full mile into the slot canyon before getting to the river entrance. The views in this place are absolutely amazing. We made it to the Narrows and started our river journey.
Lily was 100% ALL IN. She lead the way and was in absolute heaven.
This experience is unlike any other. I had so much fun. This hike has been on my bucket list for a while and even though the water was cold and we were all chilled, the place was magical.
We all had our strap on sandals even though so many people suggested we rent water boot equipment. We did great with our sandals and the water, although cold, wasn't excruciating. We all did awesome!
We stopped for snacks and warmth huddles. The sun slowly started to make its appearance and we were so excited for the heat. Turns out we Arizonians are like lizards.
Lily found a frog who desperately tried to run from her curious grasp. It was so cute too because when she finally caught him he snuggled right onto her arm and didn't want to move. It was like he said "oh, yer warm! Ill sit here a while." Lily was in heaven and wanted to keep him.
The canyon gets tighter and tighter the farther up you go. I was so proud of my girls because they made it up 3 full miles before we turned around.
On our way back home we found an opening full of sunshine and just settled for a few minutes to soack it up. We were much colder than we thought we were!
We made it all the way back down the river and onto the shuttle. The girls were exhausted, but I was still aching to go and see more of the country. I decided to tackle the Emerald pools by myself and sent my family down to the car.
The Emerald Pools is a 3 mile round trip hike with 3 seperate stops for the pools. The high pool was my favorite.
The Low pool was the most travelled. It was gorgeous and had a little waterfall flowing into it.
Zion was a magnificent place and a park I wish we had had more time in it. We left Zion and headed back into Arizona for our final night at Lake Powell.
