"How beautiful if nothing more, than to wait at Zion's door"
Last summer I was navigating my way through the grid system and trying to find a decent mall in this state. This summer I'm embracing my inner Mountain Woman and figuring out what all the fuss is about. I'm doing this in designer jewelry though...that's my compromise.
4th of July weekend gave us the perfect excuse to pack the car, drop the puffs off at the Farm and road trip to southern Utah. We proceeded to experience some of the more amazing things in our own backyard. Like...
...Best Friends: The animal sanctuary where the show Dogtown is filmed is my new "happy place." It's home to dogs (of course), cats, birds, horses, pigs, and bunnies who are looking for their forever home. In the meantime they are taken care of at the sanctuary where they get to spend their days in the appropriately named, Angel Canyon.
...the North Rim of the Grand Canyon: When you're heading to the "less popular" area of the GC, you don't expect the view or the atmosphere to be so spectacular. We were getting ready to have a "storm" too so it was even better. After coming to terms with how small we seemed in the middle of all that space (and being asked to get off the rocks because of lightning), we kicked our feet up at the lodge. They had this super posh clubhouse surrounded by quaint little cabins and possibly my favorite part---real margaritas. Toto, we're not in Utah anymore.
...Zion National Park: For our first adventure we decided to hike Angel's Landing. This trail is deceptively called a "strenuous" hike despite all of the warnings about falling off the side of it.
Sure, it starts out with paved pathways which we totally laughed at but then we got to Scout's Lookout/Chicken Point. That's where we got our first real look at the last 1/2 mile where it quits being "hiking" and starts being "rock scrambling."
There were heavy metal chains to help keep your balance because in some spots you just couldn't trust the sandstone rocks. For most of the way up (and down) there is a 1,000 foot drop that's just hanging out to the side of you. I'm not afraid of heights but it was truly an awesome sight.
Being at the top was beyond words. If you looked down you could see the "chocolate (Virgin) River" that looked like something out of Willy Wonka because of the flash flood the day before. If you looked to the right you had an almost prehistoric view of the place. It was like a scene from Land of the Lost (the TV show) and you were just waiting for a pterodactyl to swoop by. If you looked straight down you would've realized you were at a 5,785 foot elevation.
Angel's Landing got it's name for more than just being among the clouds. A Methodist minister named it in conjunction with another mountain called the Great White Throne. He thought the throne was that of God and one of the "arms" of it should be Angel's Landing. What better place for angels to rest but at the side of God?
It wasn't 'til we came down that we realized how hungry we were. We crashed for lunch and did the Emerald Pools trail and called it a day.
...Bryce Canyon: It's called a "helluva place to lose a cow" and you could really just shorten the sentiment to a "helluva place." It was the perfect recovery hike from the day before and a completely different type of landscape. We went through the Queen's Garden, Navajo Loop and Wall Street. Everywhere you looked there were hoodoo formations that looked like people, castles, mythological objects, you name it! We even found a kissing tree (a tree growing inside another). Aww.
The road trip was a success and as soon as I can upload the rest of the pictures you can follow along too. You don't even have to worry about sore legs!
4th of July weekend gave us the perfect excuse to pack the car, drop the puffs off at the Farm and road trip to southern Utah. We proceeded to experience some of the more amazing things in our own backyard. Like...
...Best Friends: The animal sanctuary where the show Dogtown is filmed is my new "happy place." It's home to dogs (of course), cats, birds, horses, pigs, and bunnies who are looking for their forever home. In the meantime they are taken care of at the sanctuary where they get to spend their days in the appropriately named, Angel Canyon.
...the North Rim of the Grand Canyon: When you're heading to the "less popular" area of the GC, you don't expect the view or the atmosphere to be so spectacular. We were getting ready to have a "storm" too so it was even better. After coming to terms with how small we seemed in the middle of all that space (and being asked to get off the rocks because of lightning), we kicked our feet up at the lodge. They had this super posh clubhouse surrounded by quaint little cabins and possibly my favorite part---real margaritas. Toto, we're not in Utah anymore.
...Zion National Park: For our first adventure we decided to hike Angel's Landing. This trail is deceptively called a "strenuous" hike despite all of the warnings about falling off the side of it.
Sure, it starts out with paved pathways which we totally laughed at but then we got to Scout's Lookout/Chicken Point. That's where we got our first real look at the last 1/2 mile where it quits being "hiking" and starts being "rock scrambling."
There were heavy metal chains to help keep your balance because in some spots you just couldn't trust the sandstone rocks. For most of the way up (and down) there is a 1,000 foot drop that's just hanging out to the side of you. I'm not afraid of heights but it was truly an awesome sight.
Being at the top was beyond words. If you looked down you could see the "chocolate (Virgin) River" that looked like something out of Willy Wonka because of the flash flood the day before. If you looked to the right you had an almost prehistoric view of the place. It was like a scene from Land of the Lost (the TV show) and you were just waiting for a pterodactyl to swoop by. If you looked straight down you would've realized you were at a 5,785 foot elevation.
Angel's Landing got it's name for more than just being among the clouds. A Methodist minister named it in conjunction with another mountain called the Great White Throne. He thought the throne was that of God and one of the "arms" of it should be Angel's Landing. What better place for angels to rest but at the side of God?
It wasn't 'til we came down that we realized how hungry we were. We crashed for lunch and did the Emerald Pools trail and called it a day.
...Bryce Canyon: It's called a "helluva place to lose a cow" and you could really just shorten the sentiment to a "helluva place." It was the perfect recovery hike from the day before and a completely different type of landscape. We went through the Queen's Garden, Navajo Loop and Wall Street. Everywhere you looked there were hoodoo formations that looked like people, castles, mythological objects, you name it! We even found a kissing tree (a tree growing inside another). Aww.
The road trip was a success and as soon as I can upload the rest of the pictures you can follow along too. You don't even have to worry about sore legs!
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