October 22, 2009
Right when the kids went off-track for 3 1/2 weeks the weather turned really cold and snowy up at Yellowstone so we decided to make a trip to Southern Utah instead for some warmer weather. Unfortunately DH had a conference for work he had to present at and was really busy with that, Luke had the Pinewood Derby, and I was busy with coaching Luke's soccer team. Finally we were able to break away and take a trip the Thursday and Friday before the kids went back to school. We toyed with the idea of camping but the trip was decided somewhat last minute and I wasn't able to get the supplies that we needed for camping out. Luckily I found a pretty cheap deal on a hotel room not too far from Zion National Park and so we left early Thursday morning and headed straight for the park.
It was a good 4 1/2 hour drive down to the park and once we got there we started out by having lunch near the Visitor's Center. Then we boarded the shuttle bus that takes you to different stopping points in the park. It was pretty interesting because the shuttle buses played different recordings that gave some of the history and details on some of the features in the park.
We started out by taking the Emerald Pools hike which takes you to 3 different pools that are formed by water flowing through the canyon. There are 3 different loops that you can take depending on how long you want to hike and how many of the pools you want to see. The kids were having so much fun that we ended up taking the longest loop and visiting all of the pools. We borrowed a backpack carrier from a neighbor before we left and that was definitely a back saver for DH and me. Plus there were many parts on the different hikes we went on that had some steep drop-offs so it was nice having Baby K contained somewhere where we didn't have to worry about her.
Starting out on our first hike. It was much greener there than any of us were expecting. I was expecting something similar to Bryce Canyon where you have the red rock and a few trees interspersed here and there. We also saw some beautiful colors as the leaves were starting to change to their fall colors.
The total hike was about 2.8 miles and the kids did great until the end when Kitty needed to use the restroom... I took her on ahead and we walked as fast as we could to try and make it back to the restrooms before it was too late. Then I decided it would be safer to just put one of Baby K's diapers on Kitty just in case since Kitty's extra clothes were in our car back at the Visitor's Center. One of the downsides to the shuttle system that they have at Zion Canyon is that anything you might want for the day you have to carry with you - and since water bottles are pretty heavy we tried to minimize what we carried as much as possible. Plus we were carrying jackets for everyone because the temperature was right on the edge of needing one and we all ended up wearing one by the end of the day.
After that first hike (and a bathroom break - and let's just say it was a good thing Kitty was wearing a diaper:) ), we hopped back on the shuttle bus and took it to a stop with a short hike up to Weeping Rock. The total round trip was just 1/2 a mile and we let Baby K walk most of it to give DH and Baby K a break.
If you look closely at the picture you can see water dripping from the rock above. This area is called Weeping Rock and there was water just dripping everywhere out of the rock face and the overhang above our heads. The kids loved sticking out their hands to have the water drip on it.
After Weeping Rock we got back to the shuttle stop and took the next shuttle back to the car. By the time we made it out of the canyon it was getting dark! It was after 7:00 at this time so we headed to Hurricane, UT where we got dinner and then made our way to our hotel. It took the kids FOREVER to fall asleep that night!! DH and I thought that for sure they would be all tired out and would fall right to sleep. Well, apparently the excitement of sleeping in a hotel room kept them going well into the late night!!
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