Here we go – Zion in the books!
We left Minnesota early Monday morning, but Isaac caught his lost Z’s on the plane.
We landed in Vegas early afternoon, swung through In N Out for a late lunch, and then hit the road to Zion. The landscape right outside of Vegas is largely flat and brown, but a couple of hours into our drive, things got interesting…
We made it to our hotel in Springdale just in time for an evening swim in the day’s last rays. I was wowed by the little town’s backdrop, with dramatic peaks in every direction. I couldn’t wait to do some exploring.
First things first, though.
I love a good hotel bed snuggle.
Tuesday dawned sunny and breezy. I walked along the river with the kids to the nearby coffee shop while Shane headed further down the road to see about some e-bike rentals.
Rentals secured!
We breezed through the park entrance and it was one stunner of a view after another.
Water stop. Photo stop.
We hopped off the bikes a few miles in to hike the Emerald Pools Trail.
Higher…
Higher…
And a quick descent.
We found a little ledge beneath the falls to eat our sandwiches and drink our neon Powerades.
Isaac was such a sweet little trooper, scampering around in the heat. My fanny pack full of gummy bears helped, but still, he gets lots of credit for hanging tough.
The bridge back across the river at the other end of the trail was closed, so we summoned our pioneer spirit, found a shallow spot, and forded it. Time to give Juliette trooper credit – that water was cold!
Though there were busloads upon busloads of visitors traversing the park, there were moments like these when we felt like we had the whole magical place to ourselves. Shane is so good at getting us just the right amount of off the beaten path.
Onward!
We stopped at the overlook at Big Bend and I made a mental note: must come back here.
We zoomed all the way to the end of the road and then turned back, satisfied that we had fully maximized our bike rentals. This was such a good way to see the park – most of the road is closed to cars, so we shared a lane only with other bikes and the occasional park bus.
Cold drink pitstop at the lodge…
And then the final stretch.
Just. Couldn’t. Make it.
Afternoon pool time.
And then watermelon margaritas to round out a spectacular day. Five stars, all of it.
On Wednesday we used the shuttle bus to make our way into the park. We hopped off at the Temple of Sinawava and set out on the Riverside Walk, thinking we’d do our hiking early while the kids were still feeling carbo-loaded from their pancake breakfast.
The trail ended at The Narrows, which is an adventure I’m putting on my bucket list for another day when we don’t have a toddler in tow.
Another quiet, crowd-free place to pause. Just a boy, his mama, and a river.
We played a lot of hide and seek on the walk back. “Run up to that tree and hide, Isaac! I’ll come find you!” Whatever it takes…
We got back on the bus and then disembarked at Big Bend, again in search of a place to call our own.
Found it!
We ate our lunch and roamed a bit.
The kids got real cute.
Shane scampered across a fallen tree while Isaac shouted at him to pleeeeeeease come back.
He made it back across, assuring the kids it was easy-peasy, and then a branch broke and he fell knee-deep in the water. Whoopsie Daisy.
BIG BEND. One of the best log lunches I’ve ever had.
We vegged for awhile back at the hotel and then grabbed dinner at a burger joint in town. It was so nice to walk everywhere – restaurants and cafes and pottery shops lined up just-so.
And ice cream? What more could one want? I can’t even imagine.
Leave a Reply