Friday, May 9, 2008

Zion, Zion!

We made our first road trip of the summer. We left Spanish Fork Sunday afternoon and drove to St. George. My aunt and uncle were nice enough to let us stay at their place for the night. Paul was thrilled that they had satellite, so he was able to watch Game 6 of the Stars vs. Sharks series...sadly, the game lasted until 12:40 am, going into 4 overtime periods. I went to bed long before he did - he of course stuck it out til the end. But we won! So now it's off to the Western Conference Finals!

Anyway, back to the trip. We left pretty early in the morning to go to Zion National Park. It was a nice day...not too hot, a little overcast at times, and the park wasn't very busy since it was a Monday. And Hattie was an angel. Paul just carted her around in the Bjorn all day, while I lugged the backpack full of stuff since I'm always overly prepared. The highlight was definitely hiking up Angel's Landing. Everyone was impressed that we brought a baby...she was certainly the most popular person on the trail. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

This is called the Court of the Patriarchs, three rock formations (from left to right) named Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the white one behind the red one). The red formation is actually called Moroni.

Our destination: Angel's Landing

Paul and Hattie making their way up Walter's Wiggles, a series of 21 very steep switchbacks.

Paul and Hattie prepare to begin their ascent up the ridge to Angel's Landing, with 1200 foot drop offs on both sides.

We stopped for a rest in the shade and a nice Guatemalan took our picture.

We made it!

The view from Angel's Landing

Hattie slept most of the way down the trail, thank goodness.

Hattie started getting impatient with her hat.

I'm sure fried foods are bad for babies.

Melanie standing under the Weeping Rock...there really is water falling on me.

The Great White Throne, the largest monolith in the world.

Hattie got really tired.

Me and Hattie posing...she just wanted to be out of the Bjorn at this point.

We saw this tree on the drive home. Click on it and you'll see that it's full of shoes. Does anyone know anything about this tradition? We thought it was quite unique.

6 comments:

Laura Bernard said...

Looks like a fabulous outing. Glad Hattie was such a good traveler. If you ever find out about the shoe tree let me know. Strange.

Noelle said...

Wow, I'm impressed you hiked Angel's Landing with a baby. I have yet to hike it but I'm REALLY looking forward to it some day. I'm glad you're going for all these adventures in the last few weeks you have in Utah. :)

Jess said...

I was specifically thinking of you when I wrote that about my dog :) Sorry again about that!! Your trip looks like fun! Yeah, I definitely miss Idaho/Oregon. Texas is not quite the same, but I'm learning to love it in a different way, I guess :) Heard anything from Southwestern??? Sorry, I probably ask that way too much.

Next time you're close by we should totally watch Mansfield Park!!

kd said...

Love the images & I'm so glad you guys made it to Zions. You don't yet know how lucky you were to accomplish that hike with a baby...

Melina Ficek said...

Yes the shoe tree, there are several in Oregon on the way to John Day and on the way to Bend. I know story about them, but it is too gross to tell you.

Trulee said...

Wow looks like fun.