Another Summer, Another Epic road trip in the books.
I just realized my posts have all been off a day since I somehow skipped day 2... I have posted the whole trip, but just labeled them all wrong... No idea how I did that!
Looking back now it looks like I posted the pre-drive as day one, and then skipped day one today three on my posting labels and my links inside of my posts. I corrected for this post but I'm not going to go back and fix it for all the prior posts. Sorry for any confusion it cost but really I don't think anyone cares cuz they're mostly just looking at the current day's trip.
- Pre Drive Friday Night to Altoona IA
- Day 1 Drive to Denver Co - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
- Day 2 Part 1 Drive to MOAB, Hike Corona Arch!!
- Day 2 Continued - Jet Boat Tour and Sunset at Dead Horse State Park
- Day 3 - Sunrise at Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Part 1
- Day 4 - Star Gazing at Arches National Park then an afternoon at Capital Reef National Park
- Day 5 - Day 4 Sunset and Day 5 Sunrise at Bryce Canyon National Park
- Day 5 - Evening Drive to Zion National Park - The Road of Tunnels
Zion is absolutely beautiful, but the canyons block all signals.
I couldn't use my phone or GPS to map out our hikes because I rarely ever got a signal. I quit trying so I won't destroy my battery. But because of that I wasn't able to get the stats like I was before and I kind of missed something on some of these trails..
Some of the trails have been closed since I was last here. Rock slides caused closures of one of the best trails, Observation Point via East Rim trail. While you can still get to it, you have to leave the park and hike in from the outside. Its hard, with limited parking and can't fit into our plans since it would take 6+ hours along to drive and hike it. I was pretty disappointed the kids couldn't do this one since we loved it so much the last time.
Hiking the Narrows
I've been to Zion National Park once before with my wife when we were we're just married, and we got Grandma to watch the kids. One of the hikes that was always on her bucket list was to hike the narrows. The only problem with trying to hike the narrows is you can't control if you ever get to actually do it. The narrows is basically one giant slot canyon that will have massive flooding events if it rains. The problem is because it's in a desert all the rain doesn't soak into the ground converges to the low point and gets in the river. Has to see by some of the pictures the canyon walls I'm way too high to climb and you can get stuck. It's hard to know given the forecast in rain elsewhere we could be coming but the park does its best to notify people.
The scary part is 2 weeks before we got there a hiker unfortunately lost their life because they got caught in a flash flood.
As we got into our cabin after hiking the emerald pools, we sat down on the porch to relax. Unfortunately it started to rain the first night we were in Zion. We are only staying two nights, and there is no guarantee the next day would be any better. As it rained we were worried about what the river would like in the morning since I had planned to hike the narrows first thing.
We got up like many others and got the first bus to the head of the narrows and we're walking to the trailhead. There were other hikers going in the same direction but we all knew we had to wait at the trailhead until we received word from the Park service at the trail would be open and we could all proceed.
Luckily for us while the weather still sketchy for later in the day the Park service open to trails only took off with the kids to hike the narrows. We decided that we weren't going to go very far, definitely not trying to hike the whole thing and we might not even make it halfway.
Normally when you hike the narrows the water is crystal clear and you can see where you're stepping. Most people also rent boots from an outfitter and waterproof socks. Just allows you to walk through the river much more comfortably. We decided against that and actually just wore old tennis shoes that we knew we're going to go in the trash when we were done.
Since it rained so hard the night before the water was not clear, and was nothing but chocolate milk. The issue with that was you could not see the rocks and it was much more unstable and difficult to walk through the water since you couldn't see your footing.
I took long to GoPro and try to take a few photos. It was dark overcast day and canyon spend a little more difficult so I don't have that many great photos of the hike.
The Grotto to Canyon Overlook Trail
After we got done hiking the narrows we went back the room to clean up since we were so dirty and her shoes were trashed. We had a little snack a little lunch from all the food that we packed I'm headed off for another hike. We decided to go hike The grotto trail. The grotto will take you to three different locations. One is a loop back to the emerald pools, the other is up to Angel's landing, and the third is the west rim trail. I've done the Western trail before and it's a nice trail but it is just a long trail that you have to double back on to the back. The real adventure for us was seeing if we could make it up The grotto trail because it is such a steep and unforgiving trail. The entire trail is paved going up but that doesn't make it any easier. The trail gained over a thousand feet of elevation in 1.6 miles one way. The elevation gain was brutal after all the hiking we had already been doing. I think this is the first time that I started to hit a wall and really suck wind. My oldest who was feeling a bit more chipper was more than happy to remind me that I said it was supposed to suck, and that we would remember it more that way. Every time I would say I needed to catch my breath or maybe needed a break he would just say it's supposed to be painful dad keep up. Nice to know that my son was listening even though he acted like he wasn't.
Canyon Overlook Trail
After getting back and even some more food we decided not to be finished for the day because why would we quit hiking after we had already hiked close to 10 miles that day. The canyon overlook trail is not nearest strenuous as the other trails. The interesting thing about the canyon overlook trail is that there is no real parking for it. And it's actually outside of the transportation for the park. You have to go back through the tunnel that we went through to get into the park. While the round trip distance is only about a mile with 163 feet of elevation gain. I felt every step because of the heat and my exhaustion. That's sad the hike was well worth it because of the stunning views and it gave you and unlimited parking meant that you had much more space to yourself to enjoy the views without being crowded in.
Always stay At the Zion Lodge, The Best View and Super Relaxing
Both times I have gone to Zion I stayed at the Zion Lodge. I can't recommend it enough the first time I stayed in one of those little duplex cabins you can see in the photo when it was just my wife and I they were ideal. I was hoping to get one of those again but given the fact that we needed more space with the boys we ended up staying in the main lodge area which is closer to a hotel. Either way they do a really solid job and give everyone a balcony or porch to sit on and take interviews. Given the views and the lack of cell phone signal almost everyone sat on a porch will see the music read books or just talked. Get a chance to meet your neighbors find out a little bit about them it was really nice. It's also some of the best sleep anyway of us got on the entire trip or on any trip actually. There's a certain energy that you get from being in that place. It's a calming energy just really puts you at ease it makes you feel like you are where you're supposed to be.
I spent every minute we weren't hiking sitting on that porch and just rocking in a rocking chair. Drinking coffee, eating a snack, or just sitting there and watching the cliffs, looking for condors, or start gazing. Everyone is respectful and quiet and my sister really peaceful place.
No driving!!
Holy smokes a full day without driving I'm not sure what to do. Well that's not exactly true I did drive from the lodge to the canyon overlook which I'm sure was a couple of miles and took me 10 or 15 minutes to get out of the park and find the parking spot. But let's not count that, let's just say it was mostly a non-driving day since I didn't change locations and I didn't drive outside of the park area.
What a great day
I couldn't ask for a better day> got the Hike the narrows something my wife has always wanted to do!. We also got some other great hikes and views in, all while staying in one of my favorite places ever. I could honestly see going back often even if just for 2-3 days of staying the park.
Looking forward to the next day, We will continue to hit up what Zion has to offer before starting the Journey back north and then east. we have plenty yet to see, but this was a big goal and highlight for us.
Vacation Stats
No updates to the stats since the count of the drive in the last post, and I'm not counting and driving this post.
Pre Drive Friday Night
Day -1 -Drive to Altoona
- 271 Miles
- 4 Hrs
Day 1 - Drive to Red Rocks & Hike - Drive to Look out Mountain and Eldorado Springs
- 694 Miles Red Rocks
- 10 Hours to Red Rocks
- 65 Miles Round Trip
- 2 Hours Round Trip
Day 2 Drive to MOAB - Hike, Jet Boat Tour and Dead Horse State Park
- 342 Miles
- 5.5 Hours
- Corona Arch, Pinto and Bow Tie Arch
- Jet Boat Tour
- Dead Horse State Park
Day 3 Arches National Park
- Sunrise at Delicate Arch
- Sand Dune and Broken Arch Trail, Balanced Rock, Windows Trials, Double Arch
- Mesa Arch
- Sunset at Whale Rock
- Driving 80 Miles, 1H 50M
Day 4 Sunrise at Arches, Drive to Capital Reef and Bryce Canyon
- Drive to Capital Reef 156 Miles 2hrs 45m
- Hickman Land Bridge
- Petroglyphs Panels
- Dixie National Forest
- Drive to Bryce Canyon 107 Miles - 2 Hrs
- Sunset at Bryce Canyon
Day 5 Sunrise at Bryce Canyon and Drive the Tunnels to Zion
- Sunrise at Bryce
- 7 Mile Hike on most of the trails.
- Drive 85 Miles (2 Hrs) to Zion
- Hike Emerald Pools
Day 6 Full Day In Zion National Park
- The Narrows Canyon
- Scouts Over Look via West Rim Trail
- Canyon Overlook Trail
Vacation Running Stats
Are running stats or getting up there, with a drive time of at least 28 hours and at least is 1700 miles excluding all the day driving to trailheads and activities and back and forth to be a pretty massive trip so far. It's a good thing my Chevy Silverado is so good on gas at an average of 17.2 miles to the gallon.
Here is the overall view of the drive excluding many of the small excusions
Tracked Totals including excursions
Total Miles - 1800
Total Time Driving - 30 hrs
Total Drive