Zion National Park

First of all, here are our photo albums for Zion National Park and the Pine Valley Guard Station.

Thankfully we arrived to much warmer weather in Zion. Staying true to our tradition, the day we arrive at a new national park we make sure to get at least one hike in. Our first trek was to Emerald Pools: lower, middle and upper pools. We encountered fall colors and some nice but small sized pools. Our campsite in Watchman campground had great views of the surrounding towering sandstone walls.

The highlight of the trip was hiking the Narrows. The Narrows is a 16 mile long slot canyon carved by the Virgin River. A shuttle took us up a long, winding, bumpy road to the start. Our fishing waders would keep us warm as we hiked our trail, which was almost entirely through the Virgin River. We took two days to do the hike, although some people burn through it in as little as 12 hours.  It was an amazing place! Hiking through the river was not easy. The water level was nice and low and created some side trails along the bank. The deepest sections were waist high but typically the water was mid shin to knee high. We must have crossed that river hundreds of times trying to find the best route.

Huge walls!

Narrows fun together!

Massive walls and our trail - the Virgin River

Our campsite along the river

At times if felt surreal being surrounded by 2,000 foot high walls only 30-40 feet apart.

at the end!

The water and air temps were cool and there was no need for sunscreen. The Narrows is notorious for crowds of people in the summer. We found out the time to do it is late October and midweek. The only people was saw the first day were two guys who rode the shuttle with us. On the second day we started to run into day hikers and photographers over the last 4-5 miles of the hike. It was pretty cool that we went so long without seeing anyone else. It was an exhausting but epic adventure. We celebrated with burgers at the lodge and cheered Happy Halloween with pumpkin beers.

We spent the next day recovering and took a short bike ride from our campground along the Virgin River. On our last full day we woke up early to hike Angels Landing. The trail consisted of two sets of switchbacks to get to Scout’s Overlook. Then we hiked and stair stepped up and along a narrow spine of the mountain with chains to hold on to. It is quite the quad and butt burning trail! A shout out to Lisa’s Uncle Dave from NJ who told us it was a must do when visiting Zion, and we agree! We were amazed at the spectacular 360 degree views of the Zion Valley from the very top.

Our goal - Angels Landing

The trail was a thigh and butt burner

Lisa: "we're not going up THAT are we?!" Ryan: "yep"

Amazing views of Zion and the Narrows from above

We spent five wonderful warm-ish (but really windy) nights in Zion but we were ready to move on to the next adventure. From Zion we would head back to St. George to resupply. From there we headed north to the Dixie National Forest for a rest weekend at the Pine Valley Guard Station before Vegas!

Pine Valley

If you haven’t looked for forest service cabins in your area you must (check out recreation.gov). We found this great one bedroom cabin with electricity and a wood burning stone near the Pine Valley Recreation area about one hour north of St. George, UT. The recreation area and surrounding wilderness is big with hiking trails, lots of camping spots and a small reservoir to fish in. We were pleasantly surprised to find the campgrounds closed and the place practically deserted. Our joints and heels were still sore from hiking in Zion so the first day we took it easy and biked around the area. We cooked, baked, read and relaxed in the rocking chairs on the porch. We went on an 8 mile Sunday day hike to the top of ridge with views of the Pine Valley, reservoir, the small town of Pine Valley and the surrounding area. It felt like we were living in the lap of luxury with four walls, a roof and a lighted warm place to spend our evenings.

Pine Valley Guard Station

Making coffee - for Ron Bibler, who is complaining that all our pictures look the same 

We hiked to the top of those rocks

Our wood burning stove kept us nice and toasty 

The next three weeks are going to be filled with lots of fun…Vegas, San Diego and then two weeks in Hawaii! We’ll keep you posted!