SW National Parks: Part 3 - Zion, Bryce Canyon

Day 8: We stayed overnight in Springdale, UT and got up to be in Zion National Park at the crack of dawn so we could take in a bucket list hike for our family--the Narrows. I could not do this hike with Jolene some years back because we were not prepared with multiple pairs of hiking shoes and the water was too high. Neal had done it with some family but did not go in far.

After being herded into a shuttle like cattle, we were off. We enjoyed the easy Riverside Walk trail to the entrance to the water at it's end, grabbed a hiking stick near the entrance, and welcomed the thrills ahead.  There were sections with dry ground and some places where the kids hiked their backpacks high on their backs. 

We planned to go just as far as we wanted but in the end we did nearly the whole hike. Neal and Sophie stopped at a large spot of land that was sunny to have lunch just a distance past the mouth of Orderville Canyon, near Imlay Boulder. Rhys and I were still feeling good and continued on, and in the process, leaving the majority of hikers behind. We passed through some beautiful sections and navigated around some boulders where we stopped to rest and snack before we had to return due to time. From our estimations, after asking fellow hikers and looking at hike descriptions and maps, we think Rhys and I were about 1/3 mile from Big Springs with the majority of hikers returning due to the boulders and deep waters before or at Big Springs. I'm glad we turned back too, because it was a long hike back, being tired and sore. 

We did move faster on the return but not all that much faster because, well, we were walking in a river, if not previously stated. We also were wearing good hiking sandals with decent arch support, tread, and snugness but also with open toes and an absence of ankle support. If we had to do it again, we'd rent boots like so many fellow hikers but that's for our kids to remember and and our grandkids to benefit from. We were also catching quite a bit more sun in that it was then afternoon so we were grateful for the river.

We all fell at least once with myself going for a record at three. Just before Rhys and I rejoined with Neal and Sophie, a wonderful Asian man was my angel after I fell twice in the same spot. Rhys was quite upset after my first fall because he could not help me up, dealing with his own difficult footing. Then, while grabbing my stick and forcefully pulling myself upward off one knee, I wend down again, miserably gashing my shin. Our good Samaritan scooped me up under my arm and assisted me until I stood at the river's edge. He didn't speak English but he didn't need to when he saw the huge amount of gratitude in my eyes. The river was contaminated with toxic cyanobacteria bloom so we were all very careful to not get our heads in the water but every time someone fell, we were saying a silent prayer that it hadn't flung into an eye or mouth..  

We also all peed in the river multiple times, and very likely hiked in everyone else's pee.  Yay, nature. There wasn't a lot of dry land with good coverage. It smelt pretty bad of urine in some areas. We read to just pee in the river, though you won't find that on the Zion National Park website. Deeper waters were our friend, we'll just say.

In all, we estimate, from the Temple of Sinawava and back, we hiked 9 miles, about 7 miles of that in a river.  Gritty, sticky, smelly, and sweaty are the adjectives that describe why I was adamant about only hotel-ing it, when Neal mentioned camping during trip planning. Here's to not folding!

We were beat, proud, and very happy. Back in Springdale, we showered, ate a lot of pizza, did laundry, and crashed for the evening.

Day 9: We woke up and Rhys was a teenager! Happy birthday to our nature loving, kind-hearted, intelligent, and handsome son! Off to Bryce Canyon National Park, UT via Red Canyon! We were so sore from yesterday that we did not do any hikes. We just enjoyed the viewpoints, took lots of pictures, especially of the birthday boy and walked a bit. It was a gorgeous day!

We made out way out of Bryce Canyon and were very concerned when the braking any at steep grades put the car into a shudder. We had the tires worked on before the trip but the shuddering was a big wake up call. We made our planned stopped in the middle of nowhere Tropic, UT to celebrate Rhys' birthday where we gave him the pick of the three open restaurants, all of which we could walk to. We grabbed dessert from a small grocery store--individually wrapped ice cream treat for us and a box of a couple miniature frozen chocolate cakes was Rhys' choice. Given the summer heat and the distracting cuteness of the cat that had adopted the hotel we were staying out, his cakes were thawed and ready to eat when he returned to our room.