On The Road Again!: Day 7: Thursday, May 17th-Las Vegas to Zion National Park and back to Vegas

The 2.5 hour drive to Zion National Park took us through some really cool rock canyons...the road literally wove right through them! We were shocked by the crowds at Zion as we really thought we were going off season. There were in fact no parking spots for the Visitor Center so Mark just drove around hoping for one while we ran to the bathroom and got some information on the park. When we went back out to find him, we spotted a parking spot...I sent Philip and Curtis to find Mark while the rest of us stood guard on the coveted parking space! The temperature was in the upper 90's so there was not too much enthusiasm for hikes... One hike was to the "Weeping Rock", a rock face with flowers growing from the walls due to water seeping through from above. This site' also gave us an amazing view of one portion of the park. Our final hike made the day quite memorable. It was a mile long hike on a paved pathway next to the Virgin River...after a mile, the path ends and the only way to continue is to hike 'The Narrows" which is a passageway between a slot canyon through the Virgin River. So, at the path's end, we all donned our cruddy sneakers or borrowed water shoes(thanks, Helen)...we each helped ourselves to a walking stick left on the canyon wall by previous hikers. And then we took to the 58 degree Virgin River...it took a few minutes to get acclimated to the cold water and to gain our balance as we wobbled across the rocky river bottom and adjusted to the river current. The water was up to Luke's chest at the highest point...it was great fun and we continued on for probably 30 minutes upstream before deciding to turn around and head back to the paved path and free shuttle bus back to our van. Just before turning around, we were able to watch 3 men repel off the sheer side of the canyon wall...Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the most memorable part of our trip: While we were trudging upstream we heard a bit of a commotion and people were shouting that there was a deer in the river...sure enough, there was a mule deer up to its neck in the water... it took off downstream and swam right past us before bounding out onto a shallow rocky spot. What a memory and another gift from the Lord who timed it perfectly!
Surprisingly,we dried quickly on our mile long walk back down the path to the bus stop. We were exhausted but all agreed it was well worth the effort. Our trip back to Vegas was marked by extreme winds gusting again buffeting the van around on the highway. The winds were in fact so strong that one of John's back yard gates was blown off the hinges and the heavy water basketball net was found in the pool on Friday morning. We were so thankful for the Lord's protection as we drove. After driving in utter desert darkness for hours, we neared an incline and could see brightness in the distance... sure enough as we crested the hill, there was Vegas all lit up. It is so surreal to see this sprawling city in the midst of desert nothingness!

The view as we drove through the canyons before arriving at Zion...it reminded us of the trip through Big Horn National Forest last year.

~Another glimpse~

Beautiful views...

It's a long way up!

On a hike to lower"Emerald Pool"...a kind tourist offered to get me in the picture:)

Beauty!

Awww...

The 'Weeping Rock'...with a random woman in the photo! It's hard to tell but there are tiny clusters of blue and red flowers hanging from the wall...

View from the "Weeping Rock"...those specks on the upper right side of the picture are not dust particles on my lens, it's water dropping off the rock wall...hence the name, the 'Weeping Rock'

Pensive...

Cooling off for a minute...

Zion's most vicious threat to park visitors...the dreaded ground squirrel! They had signs posted all over the place about the dangers of feeding squirrels and chipmunks and that violators would be prosecuted...there was one poster with a gruesome photo of a woman's hand after she'd been bitten and received 15 stitches...we were all spooked every-time we saw a squirrel...and they were plentiful and bold...I think they were taunting us!