The first park we visited was Zion. Everyone has a different experience when visiting this park but ours seemed to be one of "commercialization". We found out, after we got there, that the week of Easter is one of their busiest times of the year. Boy, we couldn't agree more. The first day we got to the park was a little later in the day but you would think we were in DisneyWorld on Christmas morning! The line to get on the shuttle to get into the park (which you had to take) was about an hour long! When we finally did get into the park though, it was worth the wait. The canyon is just.....well....beyond words. We spent about 4 hours in the park that day, kind of getting the "lay of the land" and plotting what we wanted to go back and do. The narration on the shuttle bus talked about the hike to Angel's Landing and how it is pretty treacherous, that made Gary and I want to do it all the more. ;) When we got to the base of "Weeping Rock" we talked to the park ranger there and he suggested Observation Point. That hike takes you to the highest point in the park and it is about an 8 mile hike. That sounded like our speed so we made plans to do that one first. It did not disappoint but boy, was it ever crowded at the top! The views were amazing but I would have preferred to share them with maybe 10 other people instead of the 50 or so that were partying at the top. I guess I am just spoiled by my beloved Sawtooths and all the hiking we did there.
We decided to take a break from the crowds of Zion and travel a couple of hours to Bryce Canyon. Now this was more my speed. It was still crowded but nothing like Zion. The whole park reminded me of more of what I was used to. Evergreens and rocks, just like home. But then, you have the Hoodoos. Oh, the Hoodoos!! So completely beautiful!!! And the legend that goes along with them. I won't tell you the legend, you will have to visit to find out yourself. We spent the day viewing the canyon from all drivable angles and vowed to come back and hike among the Hoodoos, along the canyon floor.
The next time we visited Bryce was our hiking day. Gary and I had first planned to do a 2.5 mile hike but felt like we weren't going to see enough of the canyon so we picked our own trail that ended up being only 5 miles but we were able to see a good deal of the canyon and most of its highlights. It was absolutely other worldly to be able to touch the canyon walls and some of the Hoodoos. It is something I won't soon forget. Sometimes I would just stop along the trail to thank God that I was able to experience the place I was in.
After spending Easter going to mass and just taking it easy for the day, we wrapped up our trip to St. George by going back into Zion and hiking Angel's Landing. We were told so much about it that we thought we were prepared. We were wrong! The trail lulls you into thinking that it is a piece of cake since it is completely paved all the way to the sketchy part but then.....the sketchy part. You have to go another .5 miles to get to the top and the viewpoint. It is a half mile of rocks that have to be scaled and in some parts, nothing between you and the cliff edge but a chain. It is between 18-24 inches in some parts and you have to share that with people coming down and all the other people going up. Sometimes you come upon a person that does not want to give up that chain so then you have to really watch your footing and pray you won't fall off the side of the cliff. The whole time I was up there I was madder than a hornet thinking to myself I should never have gone up there and that if I orphaned my daughter I would never forgive myself. Haha! Needless to say, we made it back.
Both parks are an absolute must see but Bryce is my favorite. :)
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