Zion National Park, Part Two

After a few days in Zion hiking around we decided to be civilized. 

This is how it went:

The Tuacahn theater in St. George was presenting the Broadway production of Mary Poppins. Once that brochure was in our daughter's hands we were pretty much signed up. 

Plus, we got to change out of our shorts and runners and clean up a bit.

As we got seated it started to rain. We got pretzels, and this was the first time our kids had that hot 'cheese.' 

It was tasted, but not eaten--eeeew.

More umbrellas popped up, and all of the ponchos sold out from the gift shop.  Sadly, we sat there holding hot cheese and wearing plastic bags for about two hours before they officially cancelled the show. We did get to see the first act, and were disappointed that we couldn't see more. 

That next morning we tackled the canyon overlook trail--it's an easy hike with a great payoff at the end.

These shady alcoves are so much fun for kids--they imagined themselves as first nations people or pioneers seeking shelter.

The end overlook of the canyon.

I wish that they could be like this in the car. ("Gaaa, don't breathe on me!!!") We'll take what we can get, though.

You can tell how good a hike was by how much hamming it up goes on at the end.

So much, and these are just the highlights!

Right after that whole "We're pushing our big brother over" silliness, our daughter almost stepped on this little guy.

I had no idea that they had tarantulas in Utah! Did you? We also saw one later on by emerald pools, so watch where you sit and step when you visit.

There were also lots of chipmunks and lizards at the overlook. How cute is this little guy? (Hmmm. . . I think I've been infected with some pre-teen thing where I go gaga over cute little animals.)

On the way back down we got to do the cool 'side running thing' down this slot. What would you call this where you bounce back and forth to go down? It was a lot of fun, anyway!

Later, we checked out the popular emerald pools trail. I must have taken two dozen pictures trying to capture the scope of the canyon walls. 

The best one was though when I looked over and realized my oldest had scrambled across the rocks. That green and white dot is him, which gives you more perspective on how tiny we all felt here.

So, any photo tips for capturing the moon? (Ha, just re-read that and had to say it in the voice of Gru.) Walking out of the top pool the moon looked majestic rising above the far canyon. In an iphone shot it looks like a little speck of residual flash, though. (For future posts I may need to sort through the Mr.'s proper photos, unless you have some suggestions?)

We did all of the pool trails, then connected to the Kayenta trail to make a longer hike up to the next shuttle stop.

Our last Zion day we spent in the Kolob Canyon section. Everything about this day and about this park was just perfect!

This was the view that awaited us at the end of the first hike up to the overlook, the three pictures here go about the full 360 around the top.

What was fun about this hike is that we met two other couples up at the top, and they were all from Washington! We ended up taking to one couple for a while, as they were actually former teachers from our hometown of Bellingham. They were so nice, and since our oldest had just been learning about the renaissance era that morning they spoke with him about that for a while. Often people are curious about why the kids are on a mountain top rather than in a classroom mid-day, so it's a good chance for us to prompt the kids to practice a little speaking for themselves and what they've learned during their online classes as well as on their adventures.

From there we headed into the wilderness section. The Taylor Creek trail seemed like it was designed for kids our age--it was constant crossings back and forth across the creek so we had lots of hopping across rocks. 

This is my daughter's photos of the creek bed.

Other than the creek bed, we wandered through shady aspen paths and saw an old homestead.

We had our tickets re-booked for Mary Poppins, and our good luck held out--no rain! The presentation was spectacular, and what was better than seeing this on Broadway was that it ended with a fireworks show. I think that I have to download some tunes from this show, as occasionally we still break into song, and I wish that we knew more than two lines from any of them. I highly recommend this show!

Zion National Park, Part One

Warning . . . I'll be gushing about how much we loved Zion National Park. Did you know, though, that there is a monsoon season in the four corners area? We had no idea, but this area gets about 15 inches of rain a year (if I remember what the ranger said correctly), and we were there for all of it. It's not a drizzly northwest rain, it's a dent-the-roof sort of rain. 

We started out on the Hidden Canyon hike. Our first detour was the weeping rock.

Speaking of rock, we are 'rocking' our ponchos, no?

Dorkiness aside, they kept us nice and dry for the rest of the hike once it stopped raining.

So much beauty!

This is my daughter's photo, she thought the leaves looked like party confetti.

Climbing up the side of the canyon wall had its freaky moments. Particularly if heights and cliffs are some of your least favorite things. We highly recommend the 'moving fence technique'--dad holds the rope up front, and mom holds the back, and the little ones hold it like a railing and stay 'fenced' from the edge. Besides making them feel safe, and reducing the constant reminders to 'watch where you're going!' it also gives other hikers a clear boundary for passing. (Because zig-zagging every which way on cliff sides is the stuff nightmares are made of.)

Sometimes, though, you just need a good pep talk from your big sister.

We had lunch at the first overlook, and a good laugh. Mostly because we were tucked around a corner from where the trail leveled off, so we overheard some funny stuff. First was a sweat-drenched group of 20-somethings that were sure they had just gone the seven miles, and when they turned the corner and saw us we could tell them that they'd just come up the first mile, and the rest of the trail was through the canyon behind them. (I know, it is sort of evil that I found that so funny.) Then, the group of college boys all "Woo hoo, that was so hardcore, man!" and then they see us sitting there eating our red peppers, and then a sweet little pair of German grandmas pass them from the other side. That makes us all hardcore, too, right? =)

We started out on that valley floor. This place is full of breath-taking beauty.

So very happy to be headed back down!

 

After that we did the park museum and then the Pa'rus trail. This was a fun walk, and the kids enjoyed being able to run around.

How prickly are these prickly pear cacti?

Very!