Taking-In Zion's

The beauty of Spring Break is that it's a week long. That's one whole week in which your family is still at school and work and YOU have nothing better to do than get out and do something. You have a vehicle that can take you from point A to point B. You have some money that you are willing to part with for the sake of memory making...what are you going to do?

Road trip to Zion National Park anyone?

Before the sun was even up on Tuesday morning, I was over at Shanna's house loading up the trunk of mom's old car, which happens to be more spacious and more reliable than my awesome little Escort, Lex. Then we were off to Michelle's where all the last odds and ends needed for our trip were piled into the backseat.

Along the way, we picked up Kaitlin, who lives in Cottonwood Heights, and crammed her in the backseat along with the cooler and Michelle. Carpool lane, here we come!

We stopped at the Mapleton freeway exit and met up with Kaitlin's roommate Mary. What a relief it was to see her vehicle - there was definitely space begging to be filled! So we lovingly transfered Kaitlin and her belongings to Mary's mode of transportation, and the five of us were in rather comfortable positions.

The road was long and long and long and the Fillmore gas station was our friend. But eventually we made it to the Hurricane/Toquerville exit down in Southern Utah. We were supposedly super close according to my Google Map! Yes. My car needed some gas and so we stopped to fill up and discuss which way to go. Seemed like all we needed to do was look for this street and turn left - no prob. We drove down the main street in Hurricane searching for this street, but suddenly...we were getting back on to the freeway? What? Blast. We turned around and Mary and I drove up and down the city trying to figure out what the map was telling us. Who wrote these directions? Mary stopped at a gas station and was directed in the right way again. When we realized how vague these directions were, Mary stopped at another gas station and was given more clear-cut and precise directions. Yay...but dang...after a 30 mile detour, we realized that the gas station I had stopped at clear back?..was essentially on the road that we were looking for..."Good grief," said I. We returned to the Google Map - and sure enough, it told us no lies. We are just defective map-readers.

Finally we were on the correct road to Zion's once more. The excitement was back! Until...

We realized that we were going to have to pay the price of two entrance fees. The campground we had reservations for stated that it was "located right outside of Zion National Park." I figured in my mind that we would drive both vehicles down, park one car, and all pile in the other and drive into Zion's. Then we would only have to pay the $25 entrance fee for only one car. But they threw us for a loop! "Located right out of Zion National Park" actually means "You have to pass the ranger station and pay the entrance fee before getting to our campground." We had two cars. That meant $50! We tried to beat the system by looking for a place we could park Mary's car in the town of Springdale, but they were too clever - everything stated "No over-night parking" or "2-hour parking only." We consulted as a group and decided to just go ahead and pay the $50...Grr...

But I really can't complain. The adventures that ensued were absolutely priceless!

Hidden Canyon
Mary is an avid hiker. Originally, her and Kaitlin and a few others were going to take a backpacking trip down to Zion's, but it completely fell apart at the last minute. Michelle, Shanna, and I were also planning on going to Zion's but we had the intent of doing day hikes. Kaitlin and Mary still wanted to make it down to Zion's though, and Kaitlin asked if they could come along with us. I was absolutely enthused about the idea! Of course! So with Mary by our side, it was basically guaranteed that we were going to get to see Zion's in a whole new light (I've been to Zion's twice prior to this excursion).

Looking over the map, it was decided that we were going to hike Hidden Canyon. It was rather warm down at camp, and it seemed very unlikely that we would need jackets or anything, so we piled all our camping gear into Mary's car (we would set up camp later - we needed to get out and do something!) and all hopped into my car.

Hidden Canyon is very steep, but we were ready for anything! We trudged up the cliff side and came to a point where snow completely covered a part of the trail. We carefully manuevered the slippery slope and came to an interesting surprise. The trail kept going! We delved into the canyon. Jumping over puddles, scrambling across logs, pulling ourselves across rocks, it was clear that this hike was for adventurers. It was grand! Until we got cold. Our hands had completely lost feeling and we felt abnormal tingling sensations in our fingers when nerves tried to work. So I stuck my hands in my armpits, and was able to manage just fine. After that hike, we took sweatshirts with us where ever we went.

Me...with straight hair and no make-up

Kaitlin and Mary 

Michelle and Shanna crossing over

Kaitlin and Mary, trying to see what's beyond the boulder

That hike was perfect for helping us to begin to understand the beauty that lies in Zion.

That Night
We set up the tent and had dinner. Kaitlin and Mary tried breaking a piece of firewood so that it would actually fit into the fire pit. The people in the campground next to us had pity on us when they saw Kaitlin and Mary running and karate kicking this log placed against a rock. They donated some of their firewood to us. :) We suddenly weren't so annoyed with their music anymore.

Mary's got skills

The wind was really wretched at night. It blew and it blew and it blew! So we all had a rather restless sleep. Michelle was clobbered by the tent attacking her from one side, and Mary kept getting smacked in the head with the things she stored in one of the pockets attached to the tent. During one part of the night I heard Kaitlin whimpering out little moans, "Uhhh....stop it." I felt bad for her - it was a such a simple request. ;) Then me and Shanna were inhaling tent all night and dived into our sleeping bags.

Angel's Landing
We got up bright and early so that we could hike Angel's Landing, the famous climb of Zion's. There was hardly anyone on the trail. The morning air was cold, but so refreshing in comparison to Logan air. We were constantly stopping and taking pictures and scaling up the walls to look into hallowed out areas. We eventually made it to the portion of the hike where you are walking along sheer cliff and it's really important that you hang on to the chains they have connected to the rock face. It was so great! But alas, snow and ice rained on our parade. The closer we got to the top, the more dangerous it became. There were areas covered in ice with no chain to hang on to. In the summer time, it would be NBD (no big deal), but in our case, it seemed like it wasn't worth the risk. We made it close to the top, but didn't dare to go any further. We felt accomplished! Shanna has a deathly fear of heights and hardly had any traction on the bottom of her shoes, so we were all impressed that she was willing to make it as far as she did. It was neat watching her overcome her fears like that. When we came back down, we could see a whole bunch of color moving across the mountain, there were definitely people here now.

Climbing up Walter's Wiggles

Note the drop off on either side. It's so intense! Love it!

Shanna's got it - don't even doubt it

 Mary, Kaitlin, Shanna, Michelle, and Me

This is a far as we dared go - but you still get the view

I don't know who started it, but once we reached flat ground, we began to run to the trailhead. It was the most invigorating run I have ever experienced! I wasn't thinking about how much my body hurt and how my lungs needed air, I was just focused on keeping up pace with Kaitlin and Michelle, who were in front of me, and tightening my hoody that was wrapped around my waist. I didn't even realize that we had been running for that long! It was so funny watching the reactions of people coming up the trail while we were booking it down. They noted all our Aggie gear and made comments about how great it is to be an Aggie. ;) Michelle had a BYU hat on, and got many a "burn" as we passed by, but all that matters is that WE know Michelle is an Aggie at heart. We also passed "The Second Floor" on our way down - it was fun to see all those people from our building that we know!

We also came to the realization of 'fat fingers' - where all the blood rushes to your hands? Yes. Kaitlin and Mary resolved this problem by walking down most of the trail with their hands in the air.

Emerald Pools

The last time I went to Zion, I only ever made it to the Lower Pools of the Emerald Pool hike. This time, we went all the way! Can I just tell you how GORGEOUS the upper pool was? Man! It reminded me of Lake Powell in so many ways. The pool was in the shadow of the steep red cliffs and there was water cascading off the edge from high up above. The sound of falling water is absolutely soothing. Me, Shanna, and Michelle climbed over to a little sand bar and Kaitlin and Mary attempted to meditate on a rock. :) It was the perfect place to do yoga (according to Mary). On the way back down, we saw a sign that pointed us to "The Grotto." We figured it would be a neat thing to check out, but little did we know that it was taking us to a completely different trailhead called, "The Grotto." So to get back to the car, we had to follow a trail that follows the river and runs next to the road. Don't worry, we found mom's old car with no problemo.

 Kaitlin, Mary, Michelle, and Shanna

Michelle and Shanna on the sand bar 

Mary and Kaitlin - just sitting and listening

Walking to "The Grotto"

Archaeological Site
Well we went back to camp and recouped for a few minutes. And we looked at the map to decide what to do next. Watchman's Point sounded good to us, and it was within walking distance of our campsite. In the process of finding the beginning of this trailhead, we stumbled upon an "Archaeological Site." It was super short and we figured why not? It was .4 miles round trip. So we hiked up to the top of this hill and read the sign that said "This is an Archaelogical Site"...and that something cool was once here. Whoa.

I assure you, something cool was once here.

Watchman's Point
It was the heat of the day when we decided to attempt this hike, so we were all rather warm. Kaitlin and I read a sign that said to note the transition of the landscape: from the green that surrounds the riverbed to the sudden change into desert. The trail was going to take us to the top of a small mesa where you could see the city of Springdale and part of Zion's. It was actually really interesting to note the transition they were talking about. We forged our way through "the desert" and saw a few lizards. But although it was the heat of the day - about 4:00ish, the more we hiked along, the closer and closer it approached my favorite time of day - dusk. The air began to cool and we made it to the top of the mesa. Mary wanted to get to the edge and we followed her there. When we arrived, we found a couple sitting there admiring the view. We asked them to take our picture and we struck up a conversation with them.

We found they were from Idaho and that they planned to spend the week in Zion's. They seemed like seasoned travelers and like they had a lot of advice to give. We exchanged stories and had great laughs as we talked with the woman. She told us of the trips she made when on Spring Break when she was in college and of their experience traveling through the snow storm to get down there. It was then that I realized how much I love hiking. When you're in an area like Zion's you all have a common desire - a love and appreciation for this beautiful world. You all share a bond as travelers and it automatically connects you as friends, no matter your age. You look out for each other and offer advice as you come down and they come up a trail. As part of this unofficial bond between hikers, this couple suggested that we drive through the tunnel and hike to the Canyon Overlook. We thought this was a lovely idea! So after saying our good-byes, we set out to do just that.

Kaitlin, Mary, and Shanna

Canyon Overlook

We made it down to camp once more, and automatically got into the car - we all knew what to do! So we drove through the scenic route of Zion. It was great...and had intense switchbacks like the couple had warned us of. We passed through the mile long tunnel that was constructed in 1930. We kept our eyes open for the trailhead, but I totally missed it. And we kept looking for it the whole way up the canyon. Finally we reached Checkerboard Mesa, but you couldn't even tell why it was called that because it was covered in snow. At that point, we consulted the map and realized that the trail began exactly as you came out of the tunnel. Thus, we drove back down. Another driving detour? I seem to be good at that....When we arrived there were a lot of people standing in the parking lot and taking pictures, and I couldn't figure out why. So I found a parking spot and popped the trunk to grab our stuff. It was then that I looked up and saw a baby mountain goat! Then we walked towards the people and realized that there were actually a lot of mountain goats scattered all across the mountain side. It was pretty sweet, but not what we came to see. :) So we began our hike.

The backside of a goat...yes, I took pictures too...

It was one of those hikes where I felt it was irreverent if I were to talk, but of course we did. ;) Shanna and I stopped to take some pictures under the overhang that the trail took you through. But Mary, Kaitlin, and Michelle continued on. Usually we stop and wait for each other as we get ahead, but this time was different. Shanna and I never caught up to the rest of the group. I saw little side trails that diverged from the main path that I wondered if Mary had taken, but I just decided to stay on the main trail. Very soon we came to the end of the trail, which opened up into an expansive view of the canyon. There they were. Michelle, Kaitlin, and Mary were scattered about, but were all very quiet. I walked up to Mary, who immediately apologized for not waiting for us, but Kaitlin wanted to make it to see the sunset.

...The Sunset? I hadn't even thought about that! I was suddenly so very excited and could understand why we were all in a rather reverent state. I was so glad Kaitlin had thought of that! All of the hikers there, which weren't many at the time, were very solemn and contemplative. There were photographers, and someone who layed down on the rock and looked as if they were asleep. This was a magical moment - there's something about dusk.

We all found places amongst the cliffside and just sat and watched as the sun quickly sunk behind the mountains. The air cooled and we all sat in shadow, but the tips of the highest mountains were still doused in sunglow. There was so much gratitude in my heart - for that moment, and for this Earth. It's so beautifully created; everything has order. I thought to myself, "All things testify of Christ" and I offered a prayer in my heart to my Heavenly Father. How could I not?

Michelle, (Mary), and Shanna

"...doused in sunglow."

Kaitlin (I love this picture - just saying)

Mary

That Night

Our Campsite at Watchman's Camground (D5)

We were all exhausted from the hours of hiking that we had accomplished that day, so it wasn't hard to just lay in your sleeping bag and let Sleep find you...unless you are Shanna. ;) The wind was blowing again, and the rain fly of our tent was stretched to its limit. It was evident that the rain fly made the rushing of the wind worse than what it actually was, but I didn't want to get up and take care of it. It would last one more night. Right?

About 15 minutes later, Shanna started tapping me in my halfway-between-sleep-and-conciousness state. I instantly rolled over and heard her explain that she believed the rain fly had slipped off. I crawled out of the sleeping bag and unzipped the tent. Lo and behold, a rain fly! It had slipped right in front of the entrance, creating a wall. I collapsed the poles and folded up the bundle of fabric. There was no use putting it back on the tent when the bungees that were meant to keep it down were mangled. I threw it in the back of my trunk and sunk back into my sleeping bag.

Now I could sleep. So I did.

Taylor's Creek
We got up earlier than the morning before and started packing up camp. It was windy, which caused for difficulty in folding up the tent, but we managed. We ate breakfast and loaded up the cars...I swear there was more stuff than what we had intitially started with...everything had doubled in size. Where were our moms when we needed them?

We said good-bye to Zion in our hearts, and drove away to Kolob Canyons. It's on the opposite side of Zion's, but was on our way home, so we decided to look into hiking over there. Luckily, we didn't get lost this time. I was able to enjoy the quaintness of the small towns of Springdale and Toquerville and imagine what it would be like to live that close to such an awesome place.

Eventually we made it to the Kolob Canyon Visitor Center and Mary and I went inside to talk to somebody about the trails. Our initial plan was to hike to Kolob Arch, which was a 14 mile/8 hour hike. The ranger told us that it was icy and muddy, but people had been doing it recently - it shouldn't be too big of a deal. Then we consulted with everyone. It was Kolob Arch, or Taylor's Creek. The Taylor's Creek hike was 5 miles/4 hours and I had done it in the past. It's actually one of my all time favorite hikes that I've ever been on. All of us but Mary were leaning toward Taylor's Creek due to the fact that Kolob Arch was so long, so we twisted Mary's arm (bless her heart) and she said she would come along.

The trail started off incredibly muddy, but dried up fairly quickly.The trail follows the creek and often requires creek-jumping-skills, which we all soon became professionals of. It's such a lovely hike as you wander through the canyon. We began running into snow, but it wasn't anything that would stop us. We came to a historical cabin along the way and admired it as one should. And from about that time forward, there was a slow transition into snow - it just got deeper, and deeper, and deeper. Pretty soon we were sinking into snow up to our knees. We forged ahead and realized that we were no longer following any footprints. Now we were in charge of creating a path! We lost the trail, but there's really nowhere else for one to go - you just follow the creek because there are canyon walls on either side of you. Our group kept going and going, and finally, we just didn't know where else to go.

It so happened that we spotted some footprints again and they had climbed up to the ridge above in order to avoid the snow. We figured we might be able to do that too. So we did. I know, I know. You're supposed to stick to the trail! But we were ready for adventure and thus scaled a mud wall - we wanted to get to the end. Yet, once we were all on top of the ridge, we realized that the terrain was just too difficult to get through...and Mary ripped a massive hole in her pants...it was awesome. ;) But it suddenly wasn't worth it anymore. I believe we spotted the double arch alcove, but I couldn't be sure, and it looked to be about another mile or so to go. We stopped and snacked and looked for a safer and less steep place to get down off the ridge. Another hiker came in, and looked about as lost as us, but I think she kept going on. Kaitlin and Mary scouted another way down and the rest of us followed suit. It wasn't too difficult, but we were soaking wet by now. Our pants were wet up to our knees and then some, and our shoes were squishy, but there was little we could do except head out the way we came.

Maybe Kolob Arch wasn't such a bad idea after all...

As we worked our way out, we became less careful when it came to creek-hopping. We were wet anyway! :) We finally got back to the dry area where we ran into more hikers coming in. These hikers were wearing shorts, and some, even sandals. There was another group with a younger girl, and a few others who definitely were not prepared for what was ahead of them. We would stop by and talk with them (hiker bond, you know) and show them our pants. Their eyes always seemed to pop out of their head and they would laugh. We carried on toward the car, with Michelle and Shanna quoting "Emperor's New Groove" all the way back. ;)

Michelle

Kaitlin and Mary - they swear they really were leaning. ;)

Whoa...Mary REALLY has skills

Admiration for history

Mary fell into this hole. :) Look at her pants!

Shanna, Michelle, and Me

So we didn't make it to the destination, but it was memorable...and now we were ahead of schedule and would be home earlier than we had planned. We were ok with that.

The Drive Home
The drive home was a straight shot with hardly anyone on the road. After Fillmore, I was super tired, so I had Michelle take the wheel while I took a nap in the back seat. Apparently it was very epic, and caused Shanna much laughter. :) Oh Michelle. Thank you for driving us to JC Mickelson's in a cautious manner (Now you know that 80mph zones do exist!).

Mary and Kaitlin spotted a billboard for this little restaurant, JC Mickelson's, a couple of hours back, and we thought it would be fun to stop by and have some real food together - no more sandwiches. Plus, Kaitlin really wanted a scone. So we did! We ate there and all ordered Barbeque Pork Sandwiches (at least they weren't turkey or PB & J), which were delish. And we had an awesome waitress. Not only did she put up with our showerless stench, but she waited on us with great skill. :)

We eventually made it to the Mapleton exit and dropped Mary off, then we had Kaitlin in the backseat with the cooler and pillows, and put little Michelle up front between Shanna and I. We all made it home in one piece!

Oh how exhausted we were! BUT OH HOW IT WAS WORTH IT!!!!

This Zion's Trip was so memorable - for all the people we met, for all the jokes we had, for all the moments we were able to experience, for everything I learned about myself. Good grief! I couldn't have asked for more!...well, I could have asked for the price of gas to be cheaper, but I will look at all the good things that out-weigh the bad. :)

So I finally get home, and I begin the process of unpacking. Only Dad and Marie were home at the time, but everyone else was at the Youth Spectacular Practice. I tracked mud in and was sweeping it up when mom and Jord walked in. I was expecting them to say something like, "Jessie! You're home!!!"...but I got nothing. They didn't even aknowledge me. I couldn't figure out why, but I kept sweeping anyway. Finally my mom turns to me, "Jessie? Whoa ho. I didn't recognize you!" Then Jord walks back "Whoa! It is Jessie." Apparently I don't look anything like "Jessie" when my hair is straight and I have no eye make-up on. They thought I was Val's friend and my mom was waiting to be introduced to me before she said anything...Jord thought my mom had finally caved and had gotten a maid, or an "Alice" as we call them.

I'm still not sure what to think about that whole situation... :) Haha...my own mother didn't recognize me.

And thus you have experienced the rather brief, but not brief, trip of Jessica, Michelle, Shanna, Kaitlin, and Mary. Hooray for the Spring Break of 2010. May all that joy carry on into this next week of school!