Zion

Saturday morning started out well, after a good breakfast at the hotel and with a delicious cappuccino in hand, we continued our journey to the highlight of our trip: the NP in Utah. After driving forever along little country roads (we decided not to take the highway) during which Bruno slept and I ran over a dead animal (I couldn’t avoid it, since it was in the middle of the road and other cars were coming in the opposite direction…so I thought I’d aim for it to pass neatly between the wheels…hmmm, the beast was to big)…so the miata bounced over it and for a while (read a couple of days) we left a incense trail of roasted pig, we finally made it to Zion. I must say that on the way, I was a little skeptical about the grandness of those NP…sure the scenery is beautiful. Yes there are a bunch of huge rocks around, but really, nothing to be blown away by…until we entered the park. Zion is impossible to describe. The park has such a variety of things to see, from tall “cliffs”, to steep climbing rocks, to lush meadows,…and the whole park makes you feel like this world has been designed for creatures much bigger than ourselves, I felt tiny.
When we arrived at the park entrance we were pleasantly surprised to hear that the park was free this weekend. In theory it meant that it was going to be crowded…but luckily for us, it started to rain! So while we drove into the park, most people were heading for the exit. Perfect timing! In Zion, you cannot drive personal vehicles during the summer, everybody needs to park at the visitor center and take the shuttle busses around the park. Bruno and I had decided to hike up to Angle Landing. Supposedly a hike not for the faint of hearts. About half way into the climb, you reach “Chicken Out Point”. Passed this point the trail becomes more of a rock crawling trail rather than a hiking trail…at times a little “scary” if you are afraid of heights, but that’s about it. We did witness the effect of “chicken-out point”. A young couple (read a cool 18 year old kid trying to impress his girlfriend (?)) was hiking in front of us when the guy started “whining” about “how are we going to get down, oh-my-god-I-am-gonna-die, how am I making it out alive”…funny sight! Anyway, all along the way to the top the views are breathtaking…I’d recommend the hike to all of you! By the time we reached the top, the rain had stopped…pleasant surprise. We made it up and down in about 4 hours…so we didn’t have much time to do anything else in the park and headed to our hotel in Cedar City. If you make it to Zion, I’d recommend to stay right outside the park at the western exit of the park. There is a cute little town, with seemingly nice restaurants and little shops…probably very touristy, but very cute, and more interesting than the “towns” a little further out, like Cedar City. The Knight’s Inn where we stayed at wasn’t bad though, free wifi in the room that works (not like the motel 6 wifi a couple of nights before), breakfast (cereals and toasts) included, clean rooms and very decent prices for the area. The steakhouse right across the parking lot is not a must, though ☺