Zion National Park – Utah

In 1984, I turned 19 and graduated from high school and went away to college in St. Louis. My sister Mary was there, a year ahead of me, and I had two high school classmates who came along with me. These were the only people I knew. You never know who God is going to put into your life. For me, at that time, it was a group of guys who would turn those four years in St. Louis into a lifetime of memories.

Over the years since I have not done a good job staying in touch. Early on we had weddings, and then we all went on with our careers, families and life. I have run into a few now and then, and always cherished those brief reminders of the time. It is hard to explain how it would always seem to pick right up where it left off. Easy and without expectations.

I had the blessing to reignite that this past weekend. Thankfully, someone planned a 4 day trip to Zion National Park for a group from college. I was contacted to see if I was interested. I considered it for half a day, but it was not hard to get excited to go, the chance to mix my love of the outdoors and quality time with people I care about. I am also blessed with a beautiful wife who understands that need and allows me to meet it without her from time to time. (Thanks Deb!!)

I flew to Las Vegas to meet the guys and get the weekend started. I was grateful to have about 4 hours in the car one on one with John, to catch up with our families and careers, tell stories and remembrances about our shared past, and most of them were true!

That evening, the group of 10 were all reunited and together. Some of the guys I knew better than others, but the weekend was about to give us the chance to rectify that. I got to room with Brian, who I had roomed with three years of college. We had a good time catching up

The next morning, we got up early to start the wilderness experience. I admit that, while I was comfortable I could physically hack it, I was curious how many of the 50+ year olds in our group were up to it. We weren’t planning an Everest climb or anything like that, but hiking several miles at altitude takes some physical fortitude.

We met our guides for the weekend, Adam and Wally, at the Zion National Park visitor center. They got us outfitted for Day 1, which was a hike up the Virgin River Narrows. Paul has chronicled this hike in this blog before so I won’t describe it ad nauseum, but it does entail actually hiking in the river and along its banks. What this affords is an amazing look at the fantastic geology of the area. Around every curve was a new look at another awe inspiring scene.

Once we got about as far up the river you can go without a special permit, and the canyon narrowed to about 50 feet across, we turned around, and our guides made us lunch in a sunny spot next to the river. We then had the opportunity to see the river in the afternoon light, which was almost like making it a different hike altogether.

Day 2

After an evening of food, drink, laughs, jokes, remembrance and eventually, rest, we rose early for our biggest hike on Day 2. We met our guides again and headed up to Observation Point in Zion. 3.5 miles almost straight up via several switchbacks, then a leisurely .5 miles to the goal, Observation Point. Like many trials in life, you hope the hard work gets you to the goal in the end. Once again led by our excellent guides who kept us informed on what we were seeing, the history, geology, and lore of the area.

As we slowly climbed the trail, the views got better and better.

We also got more tired and winded. Once we got to the top, we knew it was all worth it.

GROUP DAY 2

After a refreshing lunch, we headed back down. We walked down the same path, but the scenery was different. As the sun moved, the same sandstone we saw earlier changed with it.

We finished Day 2 with another great evening of good food, drink and a little football and baseball on the TV. We are 50 now, and we were all in bed early.

Day 3

We had to check out of the house we rented, and were heading back to Las Vegas that evening as we all had early flights out the next day. Our guides accommodated us by setting up a hike in that direction.

Snow Canyon State Park

This is a volcanic wonder. In many ways different than any of the geology we had seen in Zion. I will let the pictures tell the story.

Lots of volcanic lava flows and tubes

At lunch, after a brief light rain, we watched these waterfalls appear and then disappear.

We walked thru the desert to more interesting rock formations and then to the end, about 5-6 miles total.

Group day 3, still smiling after a lot of miles over 3 days.

Thanks to Dave, Brian, Jeff, Todd, John, Greg, Steve, Ben and Brett. Thanks to Sean for not going and opening a spot for me. Thanks to Wally and Adam for making it easy and fun and informative and tasty, all at the same time. Thanks to Deb for understanding and making it easy for me to go. Thanks to God for friends, family, fresh air and the wonders of the beauty you created.

Let’s do it again!!

Joe

I was excited when I heard my brother Joe was going to be spending a few days in Zion National Park.  I knew that he would come back with tons of great photos and a great write up, and he did not disappoint.  Zion is a unique place, totally worth a visit.  If if is even kind of on your radar, make it happen.  

My  post from earlier this year at Zion can be found here:

https://mo-outdoors.com/zion-national-park/

For more information about Zion National Park:

https://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm

For information about Stone Canyon State Park:

https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/snow-canyon/

For information on the guides Joe worked with:

http://www.wildlandtrekking.com