Day # 2 Grand Canyon, Hiking the Rim Trail

Today we spent the day hiking the Rim Trail. We took the shuttle to the end at Hermit's Rest and walked our way back. Most of the time the Canyon was in view. It was great to see it from so many angles! We also took a short hike down Bright Angel Trail but just to the tunnel and back. That is the trail that goes all the way to the bottom. You can walk down in about 5 hours and need to allow 8 to climb back up. It is recommended that it be done in two days- so we did the Rim Trail instead! Another time......maybe.

 Check out the condor!

 These are trails leading to the floor of the canyon.

Bryce Canyon NP to Grand Canyon NP via back roads!

We left our cozy cabin in 20 degree weather just after seeing the sun come up. It was a beautiful sight to see. Now that we are on four wheels instead of two we can take the road less traveled and we found one that went through the western side of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. It passed Grosvenors Arch and many small canyons- we only walked a short distance into one.

This is where we stayed at Bryce Canyon NP

Last view of Bryce at sunrise

It was so cold as we headed out, the sprinklers were freezing!

Bryce Canyon NP

Today we spent a very cold day touring Bryce Canyon. Temperatures were in the 20's so were were not prepared to hike. We drove the length of the park (it is small) and checked out the look-out points. The sights were just beautiful- it it were just 10-15 degrees warmer we might have hiked a bit.
First, are pictures of the trip from Zion to Bryce. We had snow showers for most of the day. The tunnel is the longest in the National Park system. It has windows cut into the side where you can look out, but are not allowed to stop.

 Below is Checkerboard Mesa- can you see why??

Next are pictures taken inside Bryce Canyon NP. The tall structures are called hoodoos and they are everywhere in the park. I could have posted 20-30 more but that might have been a bit much!

Tomorrow we will head for Grand canyon NP!! We will spend two nights there and head for home late Saturday night.

Day # 2 in Zion NP

It was an adventure filled day- we hiked to Scout Lookout and Cleveland attempted to climb on another 1/2 mile to Angel''s Landing. I didn't even try (well, I did but as soon as there was no chain to hang on to, I was out of the game!) but he gave it a good go!! You'd have to see where the trail goes to understand. I am sure if you looked it up there are photos of Angel's landing. It follows a ridge where at one point there is only the narrow ridge and a chain. It was very windy and crowded so it was hard to focus on your climb. You had to be watching out for the other climbers especially the fearless ones that just breezed up the trail. And the kids- I cannot believe parents would bring their children on this trail. Once he made it back down, he had to collect himself as he was a bit shaken by the whole experience. He was leaning over the edge to see how far down it was, lost his balance and rolled into a cactus bush- ouch! Now he was shaken up and had a leg and hand full of cactus spines! I tried to pull them out of his pants but they just got stuck in my hand. Once back at the hotel, I took the tweezers to him! We continued hiking along West Rim trail that has no end- literally our map showed it just going off the edge of the map. But it was much quieter, fewer people and beautiful weather so we walked and walked and walked....etc. Now back at the hotel we are in recovery mode- I am nursing blisters and Cleve is just sore!!

Above is the easy part of the hike- 2 miles of very steep trail that we had to ascend and descend. I couldn't get a good photo of Angels Landing, but that 1/2 mile section is the very difficult part.

Tomorrow we'll leave Zion and head to Bryce NP. We'll be staying at the Bryce Canyon Lodge in the park so it should be a real treat!!

Day # 1 in Zion NP

We arrived in the area around 10:30 and first needed to secure a motel- we found a very cozy one called The Bumbleberry Motel in Springdale just outside of the park. From there we chose two hikes- one strenuous one to Hidden Canyon and the other the Riverwalk up to the Narrows.

 We found a mini-arch!

Yup- that is me making my way around a very narrow pass holding on to the chain!To my left is a very steep drop off!

 Cleve is not happy abut all of the other tourists who are here on the Riverside Walk at the Narrows!!

Tomorrow we will hike Angel's Landing,another strenuous hike with steep drop offs and hair-raising narrow paths with chains to hang on to!! This not for those who have a fear of heights. Today's hike was a good warm up for tomorrows climb.