Road to Lake Powell (Page, AZ)

It was a pretty short but scenic drive. We pulled into an observation area of the lake and it was a real nice sight to see after so much desert.

Zion National Park

We arrived at Zion national park with our mouths open. The cliffs there were tremendous and gorgeous. We were greeted by some mountain goats walking carelessly along the edges. Eugene was able to reserve a campsite spot right in the middle of the park. We arrived, set up shop and had some soup, tea and played some Durak. After, Eugene stood up to gaze and the beautiful sky, while I retreated to the safety of the tent after being tormented by the insects. We woke up early next morning since we had an event filled day. For the first part of the day, we set up to hike to Angel’s point, a hike that is 5 miles long and gains 1,500 feet in elevation. The hike was pretty strenuous but we got through it at a pretty good pace. The last half mile is where you get your money’s worth though. It is a narrow passage along the rocky ridge of the mountain – so narrow and steep, that they added chains to hang on to while you climbed over, into and around rocks. Thankfully it wasn’t as scary as we thought it would be and we made it up all the way to the top without a problem. We were greatly rewarded for our efforts with breathtaking 360 degree views. It was truly a phenomenal sight.

After hiking back down, we took the bus to the last stop to do a hike called The Narrows. We about one mile alongside a stream that ate away the mountains to form a small valley. When the road ended, we started hiking the stream itself. The only way to do this was with actual hiking shoes on because the stream bed had many large and uneven rocks. The water was actually pretty pleasant and so we continued on with no problem. The water got as deep as your waist sometimes but was mostly knee high. We reached a very picturesque part that we saw in a book and to our surprise there was no one there. We snapped a few photos and turned around for the trip back. We arrived at our car wet and happy and refueled with a cold watermelon.

We proceeded to drive out of Zion to our next destination: Page, Arizona where Lake Powell is located. On the way we stopped by at Escobar’s Mexican restaurant in Kanab, Utah, after getting another rave review from my parents. Since I didn’t see a sample platter on the menu, I created my own: a beef taco, beef chili burrito, and a quesadia. Euge had a veggie burrito. The food was good and cheap – no complaints except that for $2.50, we got a spoonful of quack. =[

Next up: Lake Powell…

Bryce Canyon

After packing all of our stuff up we got an unusually early start on the park. We drove to sunrise point and prepared to go on a 2.3 mile hike down into the valley. It was really cool to get right into the rock formations and examine them up close. Along the way, we wandered into a green part of the canyon, a striking difference from the previous mile. There were two giant Douglass Firs and Eugene wrapped his arms around one for dramatic effect. We then had to hike up a steep zig zag trail up to Sunset point, from which we walked about a half mile back to our car.