Camping in Zion

Even though most of you who voted in the most recent blog poll said we should stay home this weekend and work on our rap album, we decided to go down to Zion National Park for the weekend. The rap album can wait. We left on Friday morning and got back this afternoon.

We wanted to stay at a campsite inside the park, but when we got there all of the tent sites were full. We found a nice little BLM campsite about 9 miles outside of the South entrance to the park, and it was right on the Virgin River (the same river that runs through Zion Canyon). After we set up our tent, we waded out into the river and enjoyed the view...

After spending the night listening to running water and subsequently having to pee all night long, we got up the next morning and went into the park to go on a hike. Saturday ended up being National Public Lands Day, so we got into the park for free! It normally costs $25. We decided to go on the "Angel's Landing" trail, which according to the trail guide was "strenous." It also said it was not for those with fear of heights, which is interesting because I definitely have a fear of heights. Here is the view of the peak we would summit from the bottom of the canyon:

We got started on the hike, and we were thinking that it wasn't that bad. Where were all the "steep drop-offs" and "poop your pants views" that the trail guide was talking about? Anna was feeling pretty confident at that point...

Then we got to an interesting point on the trail...on one side was a nice lookout and relatively honorable stopping point, and on the other side was a trail that led up to the "Angel's Landing" that the trail was named after (first picture below...the one with the death-defying drop-offs on both sides). Note the subtle warning sign.

Anna decided that there was no way she was going beyond the sign with the stick man falling to his untimely death, so we decided to stop there for lunch and enjoy the view.

But, with the newfound courage that tuna and crackers often bestow, we decided to go for it. It also didn't hurt that we kept seeing people coming back down from the trail that made us say "well if they can do it..." Forgive us that there aren't any pictures from that part of the trail, but it's hard to take pictures when you're sobbing, praying, and crawling up a rock on your belly. Here are the pictures from when we made it to the top and cleaned up my face to pretend I wasn't crying...

See the tiny little road down in the canyon by my right arm? It's a long way down...

Here is the view of a particularly scary part of the trail (taken from a nice safe flat spot). I don't know who the girl is, but I had to include her in the photo for perspective. If you are that girl and you are reading this blog, sorry for taking your picture without permission.

Apparently I have unfinished business left on this earth, because we made it all the way back down to solid ground without a scratch. After the long hike (4-5 hours), we made our way back to the campsite, enjoyed the river some more, and then made our way back home a little later.