Zion National Park

Zion National Park (Utah) is a cool park, although probably lesser known to East Coasters than parks like Yosemite, GC and Yellowstone but it seems to be a staple for West Coaster outdoors-y types. The park is full of rock climbers and hikers… there are less “snap one photo and leave” tourists here. This seems to be due to the fact that the entire canyon is only accessible by shuttle and there are no scenic overlooks. To see this park you have to get out and walk, hike or climb.

We got up early Saturday and did a hike into the Zion Canyon “Narrows.” A famous hike that offers superb views of the narrows Zion slot canyon from the bottom up and an ever present risk of a deadly flash flood. People die here each year from either not being prepared or walking into the canyon when storms are in the forecast in the Virgin River headwaters. The hike is about 8 miles roundtrip up into the canyon with about 70% requiring that you actually hike in the river. The water levels can range from ankle level to deep enough that you have to swim to proceed. Luckily the water levels were fairly low, but we were up to our thighs in a couple of places which was a little uncomfortable considering the water is moving quickly and it is cold (64 degrees). The mostly sandstone canyon ranges anywhere from 100 feet to about 15 feet wide in some places. The sheer walls reach up over 1000 feet, which blocks out the sun and causes a dark and narrow passage through some sections. Since we got an early start, we were treated to relative solitude for most of our trip and were able to have a lot of the canyon to ourselves. Tomorrow we are headinig out to Bryce Canyon but are going to get in a nice long hike early in the morning which takes us along the ridge tops for some top-down canyon views.

Grand Canyon

Yep, it is still there. This was Sara’s third time visiting, my second and we still love it. Despite all the new things we have seen this summer, Grand Canyon remains near the top of our list. It is the perfect way to put things in perspective and realize how inconsequential we are on this giant rock. Humans have been around for about 100,000 years, it took the Colorado River 5 million years to carve the GC, the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old and the rock exposed at the bottom of the river is about 1.8 billion years old… the rock is so old that it was formed before the Earth’s atmosphere contained oxygen.

We spent Wednesday afternoon walking the Rim Trail, checking out some overlooks. We got some cocktails from the El Tovar Lodge and enjoyed the evening dangling our feet over the edge as the other tourists gasped. On Thursday morning we got up super early to avoid the danger of hiking in mid-day and hiked down into the Canyon via the South Kaibab trail. The South Kaibab offers supreme South Rim scenery and the chance to hike about halfway down into the canyon. The trail is about 6 miles roundtrip with 2500’ of elevation change which is not too bad normally, but the rising sun and the heat on the canyon floor made it quite strenuous. We managed to get far enough down to see the river from an intermediate ledge just past Skelton Point (named so because of the many mules who have met their demise by falling off the switch backs in the trail). We spent the remainder of the day relaxing around camp. Thursday evening was concluded with a ride out to Hopi point for a spectacular Grand Canyon sunset. Today (Friday) we are heading up to Zion National Park in Utah.

Phoenix, AZ - Hanging with the Pettengills

We continued our hiatus from the outdoorsy life and spent the past few days at my sister’s house in Phoenix, AZ with Tara, her husband Matt, and their 18-month old little girl Avery. We got in on Sunday afternoon, and enjoyed a great dinner, and played with Avery for a while, before she went off to bed. On Monday, Tara and Matt went to work while Chris and I were on baby duty for the day. Now most of you probably know this is a BIG DEAL for us… alone, taking care of a little baby… all day! But we made it through, fed her, played with her, put her to bed for her nap, and she was still alive when Tara came home at the end of the day. All in all, it was a success.

We continued our hiatus from the outdoorsy life and spent the past few days at my sister’s house in Phoenix, AZ with Tara, her husband Matt, and their 18-month old little girl Avery. We got in on Sunday afternoon, and enjoyed a great dinner, and played with Avery for a while, before she went off to bed. On Monday, Tara and Matt went to work while Chris and I were on baby duty for the day. Now most of you probably know this is a BIG DEAL for us… alone, taking care of a little baby… all day! But we made it through, fed her, played with her, put her to bed for her nap, and she was still alive when Tara came home at the end of the day. All in all, it was a success.

Tuesday Tara had off from work, and she and I went to the gym, my first “official” workout in about 2.5 months. It felt good to be back at the gym, and I didn’t feel too out of shape – maybe I’ll be able to do that half marathon in October after all (Chris slept in!). We spent the rest of the day hanging out, swimming in the pool, picking up some items we needed from REI, visiting with Tara’s friends down the street, and basically just having a great time relaxing with family.

This morning we packed everything back into the car, and are headed North to the Grand Canyon for the next few days. We were very sad to leave Tara & Matt’s house, and can’t wait to see them again in October!

Los Angeles, Dylan King Style

On Saturday, we experienced the nice weather and beach lifestyle in the back of Dylan’s convertible as we drove down to another friend’s house from JMU in Huntington Beach (45 minutes south). We hung out at his place, watched some people break-dance on the boardwalk (they were learning and terrible), kite-boarders and general freaks of the beach for a while. We hit a good local watering hole for some college football and brews and burgers and finished out the night just catching up. We had a great time in LA with everyone, the beach lifestyle is awesome, the L.A. traffic surrounding it is not.

On Sunday we made the long drive to Phoenix to see Matt, Tara (Sara’s sister) and Avery. We stopped along the way in Joshua Tree National Park for lunch since it was right off Route 10. Joshua is a beautiful and quiet desert park, but hot and dry with little color in the summer. Today (Monday), Sara and I are baby sitting Avery, doing laundry, reorganizing the car a bit and enjoying some air-conditioning while the thermostat climbs outside.