The Minigans are Adventuring Again - Day 7

Woke up this morning so excited.  Today is Zion!  A few years ago I was looking through a magazine and saw a picture of somewhere I needed to be.  It was a photo of the Narrows in Zion.  I knew I had to be there at some point in my life.  Today was the day.

The morning started off with breakfast in the hotel lobby.  The hotel had yogurt and fruit as part of their breakfast so I was happy. And lots of coffee!   Great way to start the morning. 

After breakfast, there was the 30 minute trip to Zion.  Beautiful wide open spaces.  More traffic than I would have preferred but a beautiful drive.  As we got closer, the views continued to get better.    At the entrance to Zion National Park we pulled over to get a photo.  A must.  There are two young girls there that are also taking photos of themselves and the Zion sign.  They asked us to take photos of them and in return they took photos of us.   They are great!  Later in the day we look at the photos they have taken and are quite pleased.  Especially the photo they took of Jim pulling me up onto the rock  (they apparently had a sense of humor).   :-)

As our journey continued, I was amazed at the scenery.  The fun part was it just kept getting better.

Jim had told me we would drive to a spot where we would  catch a bus and ride further into the park where we would see even better sights.  During the drive to the bus stop ( the Visitors Center) I am  in complete awe and can't believe there could be anything better.  We drive through a tunnel the is completely dark.  However, they have built little portals in the side of the tunnel so once in a while you can see out.  The view from the portals is amazing.

Finally, the visitor's center.  We hop on the bus and head North.  We decided to go to the furthest spot for the bus and make our way back.  Our first stop is the Temple of Sinawava. From there we hike to the Narrows.  My dream hike!   The Narrows is not just a normal path though, it is through a river.  The Virgin River.  We hike to the entrance to The Narrows . We do not have river shoes but take our hiking boots off and decide to go as far as we can in our bare feet.  The water is sooo cold.   A little way in we realize the rocks and the current are too much for us to cross so we stop.  Jim's comment was,  " I have an ice cream headache in my feet!".   This was the phrase of the day.  We take photos and head back to the trail.  We have taken our shoes at the beginning of the trail.  I wish I had taken a photo of all the shoes left prior to people walking down to the river.  It was quite funny. There are shoes everywhere.  So many people have done the same thing we have done.

There were people everywhere sitting around letting their feet dry so they could put their shoes back on.  The water had been so cold but the sun was so very hot.  It did not take long for people's feet to dry.  With our feet dry and our shoes back on our feet we head back down the trail.  Walking back down, watching all the people walking up to the river was fun.  You could see the anticipation.

The next stop on our journey was Weeping Rock.  The hike up was ......... well, UP.  Definitely an uphill hike.  The hike was well worth it!

The water was falling over the cliffs and making a waterfall.  Absolutely stunning!   We were able to walk up and under where the water was falling and take some really cool photos.

Our next stop was Emerald Pool  We could only hike to the Lower Pool though.  The flash flooding that took place in July had wiped out the trail that led to the middle and upper pools.


The day ends with the bus ride back and then the car ride back to Kanab.  Such an amazing day!






A couple things I must say about the day.

First, I will say that none of our photos come close to how magnificent Zion is.  We tried to capture the beauty but it just can't be done.  I highly recommend you go there if you have not already been there.  You will not regret it.

Secondly, I had no idea how emotional it would be for me.  Less than 4 months ago I could barely get out of bed.  I was receiving chemo treatments.  And radiation treatments.  Now, here I am hiking up the side of a mountain.  I was humbled and I was appreciative.  So damn appreciative! During the day, Jim made sure to let me go at my pace.  This allowed me to enjoy and appreciate all I was seeing.  Could we have done more?  Maybe.  But had I worn myself out right away it would have affected the remainder of the day.    Jim is pretty cool in my book.  :-)

Tomorrow, we do it again!