About Beautiful Zion National Park I (March 3 - 9)

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from Zion, my favorite park in the United States.

My brother Warren and his friend, Lea joined us for dinner on Saturday night. You will remember Warren because he is the brother from Park City, where we skied several weeks ago. Warren and Lea flew to Hurricane for the weekend. They stay at Warren's hangar at Hurricane and get around on his motorcycle.

                                  

Sunday morning founding us hiking in Zion. The weather was perfect and we decided to start with Canyon Overlook and then hit Pa'rus trail. The red and white Navajo sandstone rise 3,000 feet in the canyon. The views are breathtaking.

 Bear and I are posing at the entrance.

 Even views through the sun roof are spectacular.

 Approaching the mile and a half tunnel that we drive through to get to the Canyon Overlook hike.

 The light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

 I am definitely a happy camper on this hike.

 A view of the tunnel from several hundred feet up on the trail.

 The end of the hike finds spectacular views.

 Our second hike, called Pa'rus Trail runs along the Virgin River. It is a very easy hike that is paved and  dog friendly. Bear cannot go with us on hikes in national parks, but is allowed on this trail.

Roger and I hiked two smaller trails on Tuesday, Grotto and Kayenta.

 Virgin River

 Emerald Pools connect with Kayenta for the trip back down. The waterfalls are easy to spot on this part of the hike.

We rode bikes in the park on Tuesday with Warren and Lea.  It was a great ride from the Visitors Center to the Narrows and back. Sadly we had to say goodbye to Warren and Lea as they left for Park City that afternoon.

The best hike this week occurred on Thursday, when Roger and I climbed Angels' Landing. This particular hike rises over 5,000 feet with lots of vertical, short switchbacks. The views are truly incredible and remains my favorite hike of all time.

 At the top of Angel's Landing. The gloves came in handy to grab onto rock and chain as we made our way to the top. 

One of the most beautiful views in the park. Lots of work to get there, but well worth the effort. You can see the Virgin River along the floor of the canyon.

It was a great week at Zion and we are looking forward to spending all of March in the area. Thank you for checking in with us. We appreciate your interest in our travels.