Zion & the Grand Canyon!

Dan (scroll down for Emily's perspective)

Driving into Zion is pretty darn impressive. It reminds me of the sandstone Yosemite. My friend Eli told me he cried from the beauty when he first saw Zion. For me I was just keeping my jaw off the floor and trying to somewhat keep my eyes on the road and not crash the van.

Our first day we were still feeling pretty worn out from our climbing in Vegas so we rented some bikes and rode them up and down the scenic drive. It was a pretty leisurely ride on the cruiser bikes and it was a really fun way to take in the views. Em and I were both kind of jealous of all the e-bikes just zooming by us the whole time though.

Feeling rested we got in a couple of days of climbing after. It’s interesting because you would think humongous cliffs all around would be kind of heaven for us but a lot of big climbs here are aid routes which is a more gear intensive, slower, and complicated style of climbing we don’t have the equipment or expertise to really do. The climbs we did get on though we’re quite fun and probably a good intro into the rest of Utah climbing for us. Emily also got a new pair of climbing shoes that she got to break in a bit. Both days climbing we ran into a couple from Texas that have been living in their van working remotely for the past year. Can’t say I wasn’t jealous of their setup.

After our two climbing days Emily’s parents arrived! They managed to take some time off from work and we made sure we could spent some time with them in Zion and the Grand Canyon. Their first couple of days here we did some nice hikes in the park.

Unfortunately the two most famous hikes ‘the narrows’ and ‘angels landing’ were either closed or we needed to get in through a lottery system so we didn’t get a chance to do them. We still got to see lots of nice views though and I think Jamie and Christine enjoyed what we got to do regardless. It was really great to see ‘vacation Jamie’. He loved absolutely everything we saw and kept saying he could retire in Zion no problem. He even loved the cups at the restaurant we ate at!

Unfortunately while we were in Zion the van finally started to give us some issues. It was making some screeching sounds from the engine when we’d idle or start driving so I had to go to the mechanic to get it sorted. After 2 days and several hundred dollars later I got some parts I didn’t need replaced replaced and the mechanic put his hands up in the air and said he gives up! The issues didn’t seem to come up on longer drives so we just went ahead and drove to the Grand Canyon anyways. I ended up just topping up the oil and the sounds seem to have gotten better so I guess that’s a good thing!? We’ll be keeping our eye on it.

I always tell people who have never been to the Grand Canyon that it’s hard to picture how absolutely massive it is. You see it in pictures and you know it’s supposed to be big but actually being there gives you a different perspective on just how ‘Grand’ it is. Em and I got into our campsite and decided to walk along the rim trail to go meet up with her parents. The views were pretty breathtaking and you could just walk up right to edge of the cliff. I’m kind of surprised people aren’t falling off the edge everyday given how busy it is there. There were also cool rock samples along the trail of all the different layers of stone making up the canyon. Em and I touched every single one, Christine did not understand why we would do that.

After dinner with Emily’s parents we took the shuttle back to our campsite and cuddled up in the van. It was hovering around 0C at night time while we were there!

In the morning we woke up and we’re packing up when we saw a familiar van driving by. It was Bill and Amy! They just so happened to have camped on the same loop as us it was a pretty sweet coincidence. We decided to get another site and stay an extra night to hang out with them and go on a hike together into the canyon itself. Before heading out on the hike we went back into the Grand Canyon village to say goodbye to Emily’s parents and use the shower in their hotel room (thank you!!). It was great seeing them and it also gave us a needed break from climbing.

After saying goodbye we met up with Bill and Amy and went on the ‘Bright Angel’ trail. We only hiked down partway but it was still really beautiful. I don’t normally love to hike, I usually consider it a slightly annoying thing I have to do to get to the climbing wall, but doing a rim to rim hike one day would definitely be a cool adventure. After finishing the hike we bought a tub of ice cream which the four of us crushed and had a nice fire into the night.

The next day we went our separate ways again. We’re heading straight to Moab, Utah to climb some perfect cracks in the desert. This is probably the part of the trip we are both looking forward to the most. We’ll be seeing Bill and Amy again in about a week!

Emily

Utah was was near the top of my list of places I was super excited to see, and it didn’t disappoint!

A few things I noticed rolling into Utah: how rural it is! We didn’t cover all of Utah, of course, but the all parts we did see were extremely rural. As in, we didn’t see a single Walmart in the three weeks we were there! There were ranches and cows everywhere ! Even more than in Texas. One morning while dan and I were sound asleep we were woken up by the van shaking. I peeled back our window covers to find a cow on the other side staring right back at me!

Characteristic of Utah, almost everywhere you look you’ll find tall and vibrant red and orange mountains, buttes, mesas, pinnacles. Pretty much everywhere you look there’s a unique and breathtaking view. I was also incredibly surprised at how green it was! Despite being in the desert, Utah had a lot of green bushes and trees and a bit more water than the previous desert States we visited.

I also noticed that in nearly every park we visited in Utah, Indigenous peoples were referred to as “ancient”, and there was a glaring gap between when they freely inhabited their land, and when settlers came and forced them off it.

Our first stop in Utah was Zion National Park, which is located in a tiny touristy town called Springdale, and on Southern Paiute territory. The main strip is lined with little shops selling rocks, souvenirs, kitschy art, and often a healthy stack of copies of the Book of Mormon.

On our first day, we rented some cruiser bikes and rode Zion’s scenic drive. Riding into the park, we were enveloped by colossal, orange cliffs. Every few minutes we would spot a waterfall exploding out of a hole in a cliff. It was pretty surreal. We listened to a recording on the shuttle bus that told a story of a Mormon settler who stumbled upon Zion, painted a picture of it and brought it back to wherever he came from to show it to his community and they didn’t believe him that it was real!

The next couple days we spent climbing in the park. It was pretty neat! Lots of people were stopping to watch us climb with binoculars, which only gave me minor performance anxiety (lol).

On our second day, we had a beautiful view of a waterfall and the entrance to the famous “Narrows” as we were climbing.

After a few days my parents joined us! After the longest amount of time I’ve gone without seeing them, I was certainly missing them a lot and was really happy they came to explore Zion with us! We explored some of the park’s trail’s and some yummy food and drinks at some local restaurants. As an added bonus, we used their hotel shower and got in on the continental breakfast where I got to make use of the mini waffle machine.

After exploring Zion, we took a little detour back to Arizona to check out the Grand Canyon. I’m not sure what I was expecting but it was much grander than I thought it would be! Dan even said “it’s going to be bigger than you think”, and I was still shocked! After spending weeks in the desert, it was nice to have a bit of a change of scenery. Grand Canyon looked and felt like parts of Canada, which also gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling of home. On the downside, it was cold. For the first time, we layered our duvet with our sleeping bags to stay warm!

Here, we met my parents for dinner with a view of the Grand Canyon (tip - a “chopped steak” is actually just a naked hamburger patty).

The next morning we had a nice surprise when Amy and Bill drove past our campsite!! We decided we’d stay an extra day with them and explore the Grand Canyon a little more together. We said our final goodbyes to my parents as they went on to explore Arizona for a bit, and met up with Amy and Bill to do part of the “Bright Angel” trail. The trail ventures down into the Grand Canyon.

Afterwards, we were all craving ice cream so we grabbed a tub and headed back to our campsite. Because it was cold outside, we awkwardly stood in a small patch of sun while we ate the ice cream. Afterwards, Amy built a great fire (as always), and we finished the tub of ice cream after it turned to soup.

Next stop - more of Utah as we explore the Moab area!