Oh Zion, Dear Zion......

Two years ago, when I was pregnant with Lucy, Jordan and I spent spring break in St. George. We spent some time in Zion National Park, but were unable to do anything too rigorous because my sciatica was so bad. We decided to go back to Zion this weekend to do some of the hikes that we missed out on before. On the first day, we took the shuttle into the park and then realized that we'd left Lucy's sippy cup in the car. Jordan found this water bottle at the convenience store in the park and filled it with juice for Lucy. The thing was huge!

The first hike we did was the Emerald Pools trail. It lead to a beautiful waterfall.

After our hike we stopped and ate our lunch in a shady spot in the park. Lucy was being really cute so I snapped a few pictures.

That afternoon we went for a bike ride around St. George. My bum is still not in "bike shape" so my bum bones are pretty sore. Our friends, Scott and Brandon drove down to St. George that night, because they wanted to hike with us the next morning. We got to Zion around 1:30 and then started the hike to Angel's Landing. If you're not familiar with Angel's Landing, it is a pretty strenuous hike with many steep switchbacks for the first two miles. The last 1/2 mile, is up very narrow fins. There are sheer cliffs on either side of you, and all you have to hold onto are chains bolted into the rock. Jordan was a trooper and carried Lucy in a backpack up all the switchbacks. He didn't want to risk taking her the last 1/2 mile so he headed back. Scott, Brandon and I continued to the top of Angel's Landing, which is 1200 feet high. It was a little nerve-racking, but such a cool feeling when we made it to the summit.


This is before the last 1/2 mile stretch.

You can't tell from the picture, but there are 1000 foot cliffs on either side of me.

The summit.



The hike up was amazing, but pretty brutal going back down. By the time we reached the bottom, my back and knees were killing me. If you can get over your fear of heights, this hike is really fun and the view from the top is spectacular.