Zion National Park… the final park.

The final park and leg of our vacation is Zion National Park. We were out the door around 7:30a.m. and with a short 5 minute drive (and about the same amount of wait to get into the park) we were parked at the visitor’s center and ready to hop the internal park shuttle. We took the shuttle to the farthest stop of the park so we could hike the mile long Riverwalk trail to the entrance of the Narrows. The hike was an easy paved hike along the Virgin River. We weren’t planning on hiking the several more miles of the Narrows, but thought we would at least see the entrance of it. What we didn’t know about the Narrows is that the hike is through the cold waters of the river and that at the end of the Riverwalk trail we couldn’t go any further unless we walked through the water. Unfortunately we had not come prepared for this and I did not want to walk through it in my tennis shoes and socks and then be stuck with wet feet the rest of the day. Tom W. was wearingclosed toe sandals that were appropriate for the hike and Sean begged and begged to do it in his socks and tennis shoes. After some debate, it was decided that the boys would make the hike and the girls would hang back. Beth had fun playing on the shores of the river bank, but after a bit she got the “nature calls” feeling, so her and I headed back to the start of the trail to visit the restrooms. Beth and I only waited a short amount of time before we were rejoined by the rest of the family. My Tom said he didn’t actually go very far because the water got deep and he had his wallet and cellphone in his pockets, and of course the camera. Tom W and Sean went a bit further, but after looking at their pictures doesn’t appear that they got to the iconic Narrows spot. We all said we would like to go back, and with having the right equipment, do the hike of the Narrows.

The next stop off the shuttle was to the Weeping Rock. This short .3 mile hike uphill took us to where water is seeping out of the rock. A volunteer park ranger type person told us that the water has been carbon dated to be 12,000 years old. Essentially the rock has been accumulating water like a sponge and now has nowhere else to go. Sean and Beth had fun trying to catch drops of the 12,000 year old water on their tongues.

At the next shuttle stop we broke out the remainder of our picnic lunches. Tom and I had a PB&J while others had turkey, crackers, apples, and cookies. Feeling replenished we bagan the hike to the Emerald Pools. The first part of the hike was an easy hike that took us through a couple of small waterfalls and then upwards towards the first pool. The first pool was somewhat disappointing and not really all that scenic. We then continued onward an additional .3 miles up to the second pool. The hike was all vertical and a little more strenuous, but it was worth it. The second pool was much more impressive and scenic. We sat in the cool shade and rested for about 10-15 minutes and took in the views and then began the descent back down.

With these three hikes under our belt we felt as we did all that we could do for our time at Zion National Park. There are other, longer, much more difficult trails that I would love to come back and hike someday. The trails at Zion did not seem as kid friendly or easy as some of the other parks, and this park may be better suited for adults.

After a visit to the bookstore and gift shop, it was time to get on the road for our 3 or so hour drive back to Las Vegas. At the beginning of the trip we all made a guess at how many state’s license plates we would see on the trip. Tom W guessed we would see all 50 on the high end and my Tom guessed 13 on the low end. I think we saw 13 states on the first day! As we were driving out of Zion National Park I think we had 5 or so states left to include Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota, Rhode Island. Somewhere just outside of Zion as I was driving, I said “Is that Alaska in front of us?” Sure enough! Then shortly before we got to Las Vegas I spotted North Dakota as well. We didn’t get all 50, but we sure did get close. We all had fun playing the game.

Knowing that we would probably all be tired from the vacation, Jen had made reservations at the La Quinta by the airport instead of at a hotel on the strip. We were all ok with that and after having dinner at a place that looked like it came right out of the 70’s next to our hotel, Tom and I returned the rental car and got back to the hotel with just enough time to re-pack our carry-on’s and get to bed before our 3:00a.m. wake up call.

We really enjoyed exploring all of the National Parks on this packed non-stop vacation. We are happy to say that the vacation with the Wilwerts went off without any problems and their travelling bad luck did not make an appearance on this trip!