Musings from an Anchored Traveler: Zion National Park Adventures

I flew to Las Vegas via Detroit on Saturday the 16th. I arrived in Vegas around 9 and after renting a car, met my fellow Couch Surfers at a hotel in Vegas around 10:30 p.m. Meera is a girl from London who has been teaching Math in Upstate NY on a Fulbright teaching exchange program. Jarod is a guy from China who works for an American company working in Chad (in Africa) and is a wireline logging engineer. (Look it up). But he was a geology major in school and so is fascinated by stuff like rock layers. lol

Anyway, they went out that night, but went straight to sleep since it was 1:30 am my time. They didn't get back until 2 and we woke up between 6 and 6:30 to leave by 7. We drove to St. George which is the closest "big" city near Zion where we stocked up at a Super Wal-Mart with food and more camping supplies. I then made an executive decision to have BBQ for lunch at a nearby restaurant that smelled amazing. Per usual, I was done before they'd taken about 3 bites. The place's name was Dickies - apparently a chain out of Dallas - and they had free soft-serve ice cream, which made me happy. We then continued on to Zion, at which point I realized, I had forgotten my national park pass - the pass which expired at the end of this month that I wanted to use before it expired. The entire reason I planned this trip. So I had to buy another one for $80 since we'll be going to enough parks to make it worth while in just this one trip.

On the positive side, even though we didn't arrive until after 1 p.m. (UT time - an hour later than Vegas time), there were still camp sites available. We found a great spot with some trees and close to the bathrooms. But the drama continued when I took out the tent I hauled all the way here in a $23 checked bag - I lent it to a friend a while back and she returned it. I figured all was in order - but no. The stakes and tent poles (that pop it up) were missing. So Meera and I went on a search for tent poles at three nearby outdoor stores. None had any that would work with my tent - so we had to buy a new tent.

However, after figuring out how to put it up, it turned out to be pretty nice for only about $58 total. Bigger than mine too. We were so hot by this point, we walked down to the Virgin River which runs right behind our camping ground and swam/waded in the water which had a surprisingly strong current.

Meanwhile, Jarod, who has (let me re-phrase, HAD) a digital water camera was taking awesome shots of all of us. I kept telling him to put the camera in his velcro pocket of his bathing suit, but he didn't. Then, as he was wading upstream in the strong, strong current, I hear "I dropped my camera." He said he was actually trying to put it in his pocket and that's how he dropped it - but who puts a camera in one's pocket (under water) while going upstream with a current?? Anyway, we immediately began the search. The camera was bright pink so we figured it wouldn't be too hard to find (he bought it that color for this very reason). But where he dropped it the current made seeing through the water very difficult and there were many different sized rocks on the bottom. My guess is that it got lodged under one of the rocks - if it had gone downstream we would have seen it. Jarod kept diving down while holding a heavy rock to keep him down, looking for it with borrowed goggles from sympathetic onlookers, but to no avail. All his photos from his time in America - DC, Vegas and here. He handled it a lot better than I would have though.

By the time we were done, we looked like drowned rats - we were so cold and tired. After changing into dry clothes, we took the Zion shuttle up to the River Walk trail that is about 2 mi round trip and follows the river. It is a beautiful walk and pretty easy. After that, we went to the weeping rock trail (at about 7:30 pm) which was very short. At the top there is a big overhanging rock and water continuously drips off it, so that when you stand under it you feel like you're taking shelter from the rain. That is where we met Eric.

Eric, 22, is from Santa Barbara, Ca. and was in the park with his parents who were resting after their earlier hikes. He was taking photos on his very cool DSLR so we started comparing shooting techniques and next thing you know we're all sitting down and talking under the watery overhang. We told him about CS and he was thrilled. He was also excited that I was from NC, where he hopes to relocate soon. Eric was a geography major and he develops topographic maps, though he hoped it would involve more outdoor endeavors than it does. He mostly sits at a desk.. He has not been to the East Coast even - so I hope he'll come visit soon so can show him why NC is so awesome! lol

We all went back to the Zion lodge with him where we sat on the comfy couches and chatted for a while. We left about 10:15 because Meera and Jarod were exhausted (no kidding!). We got to bed around 11 and woke up again at 5:30 a.m. to prepare to go watch the sunrise on the Temples of the Virgin (three giant mountains that the sun hits as it appears from behind the opposite mountains). It didn't actually start showing until about 7:15, when the golden sun looked to be melting down the mountains, as though being poured on slowly from some invisible giant. It was incredible to say the least.

From there we rested a bit at the camp and then prepared for the Angel's Landing Hike - a 5 mile or so round-trip straight up to an overlook that is indescribable. The top .5 mile you are clambering over red sheer rocks and you have to hold onto heavy chains in order to not fall to your death (which 6 people have done since 2004). Meera didn't want to go on that part, but Jarod and I went up - and it was worth every step! The view over the canyon was breathtaking, the breeze sweet, the company....amusing. There was a group of more So. Cal guys up there - but distinctly different from Eric. They were all loud, very "male," college kids who were smoking and doing daring moves that freaked me out. They were nice, and also loved the whole CouchSurfing thing (which they also had not heard of), but man, it made me think "were guys this dumb when I was in college?" Oh, and none of them had been to the east coast either - what is it with Californians?

When we met back up with Meera, we continued a different direction on the West Rim Trail which goes for 3 miles, of which we prob. did 1.5 miles. From there, we had a great view of the trail we'd just hiked up to Angel's Landing.

The way back down was tough. My knees were not happy and I felt like my legs were swollen. When we were almost back to the trailhead, we saw a path down to the river and I was like "I'm going swimming - now." They humored me and we went down to the river where I stripped down to my running shorts and sports bra and they waded in. My legs felt a bit better after soaking in the frigid water.

Jarod and I were done after that, but right near the trailhead another trail to Emerald Pools starts - it is about 2 mi round trip. Meera went on that and Jarod and I took the bus back to our campground. I went to the part of the river by us and "bathed" with eco-friendly soap, then washed clothes. After that, Jarod and I just rested and waited for Meera. She finally returned and Jarod and I left for the lodge which is where I am now writing this. Jarod just asked if I was writing a novel. Well, I'm a writer - sue me.

So, tomorrow we'll leave by 6:30, go to an amazing overlook to watch the sunrise on the way to Bryce Canyon, and do more hiking. If I can find internet there, I'll update again soon. :)