Zion - to be explored today!

Monday July 11, 2005 Zion temp: 107

The cabin was warmer last night than the first night, and I didn’t even turn the heater on until the morning. We all froze the first night!

We packed up camp for good and left by 8:30, thinking we were going to be late for the kids program, but it turns out they are doing things a little different for the summer because the area they normally use for that is under renovation. So we were able to instead sign the kids up for the 11:00 Jr. Ranger program to take place at the Zion Lodge. Parking at the museum, Mike took the shuttle to the Grotto stop to climb to Angel's Landing. The trail guide said it should take 4 hours, but Mike figured he could do it in 3. The kids and I stayed at the museum to watch the Movie about Zion, which was really amazing. Austin and I even got teary-eyed at the beauty of it. After that we took the shuttle up to the lodge, where we had a little time to kill, so I got a coffee and a pretzel for the kids, and we worked on their Jr. Ranger workbooks.

Checkerboard Mesa, East of Zion

Camp started out in the theater of the Zion Lodge, and ended up outside. The topic was “Who Wants to be a Park Ranger”. It was a very interesting talk about the history of the Rangers, the different kinds of Rangers, and the jobs they do. Outside they did a little obstacle course and mini-water brigade, which they both said was their favorite part (probably because they got to dump the water over their heads when they were done!)

Mike met us at the lodge before the kids were even done with their camp, and it only took him 3 hours to do the hike. He said it was amazing, the highlight of the park, and the best hike he’s ever done (even better than Mt. Marcy). The cliffs were amazing, and he said at one point on the camelback, the sheer dropped 1,000 feet on one side and 200 on the other. He spent about 20 minutes at the top, and he said you could see everything. He videotaped his descent, so I’m looking forward to seeing that. I’m so glad that he got the chance to do that. I think I may have been too scared, but I would’ve tried it anyway.

We ate a very nutritious lunch consisting of a burger, chicken fingers, chili dog, fries and onion rings in the lobby of the lodge – it was too hot to eat on the café since all the tables were in the sun, and the grass was wet from the sprinklers. In the gift shop, Emma got the Ranger outfit, complete with hat, glasses, and binoculars. She looked so stinkin’ cute, and decided to wear it then and there, no matter how hot it got. We hopped the shuttle to one stop to the Court of the Patriarchs and took in the view there before heading back to the museum to pick up the car. At the museum we picked up a souvenir Parks Passport book, where you collect stamps from the parks and stickers. The kids had their Jr. Ranger books checked and signed, and then recited the official Jr. Ranger of Zion Park oath to receive their official Zion Jr. Ranger badges.

Finally on our way out of the park, we stopped on the east side to check out a little slot canyon, and for Austin and I to walk up to the point where a couple of formations have managed to survive. We were probably gone for 45 minutes while Mike and Emma waited in the car, but we were really glad we did it. It was magical up there, and I think I got some really good pix.

Our Impressions of Zion:
A lot of cliffs, mountains, interesting to see how many years of rock had built up and washed away – Austin’s first impressions. Austin and Emma liked the lower falls and pool the best on the Emerald Pools trail. Emma liked getting her hair wet, and Austin noticed how the mineral patterns looked like the pattern of a snake.