RV DAY 5: MAJESTIC ZION

Greetings campers! It only took 5-10 million years and one Virgin River to carve out what is now known as Zion in the Colorado Plateau, a 130,000-square-mile mass of rock over 10,000 feet above sea level. This is by far the most breathtakingly beautiful and well maintained park I have ever stepped foot in (Yosemite doesn’t even hold a candle.)

Upon our arrival, we parked and bedded down the RV so we could go for a nice hike while there was still day light. Since it was already dusk, we settled for the easy Emerald Pools Trail instead of the 8-mile Angels Landing Trail. This trail leads you to three different emerald pools – lower, middle, and upper, but we found the pools to be more “swamp” green than “emerald” green. We returned just in time for sunset and dined in town at the Willie’s Saloon, gorging on possibly the best nachos we have ever had.

We camped for two nights at the Watchman Campground. There are only two campgrounds in the park: South Campground is first-come-first-serve while the Watchman allows for online reservations. I would highly recommend booking at least 3-4 weeks in advance if you plan on visiting in the summer. We reserved the very last camp site a month ago.

There are free shuttles that run every 15 minutes from 7am to 11pm, but trying to take pictures in a crowded moving bus with no AC through a small window crack is not conducive to fine photography. (Not that we know anything about fine photography – we have the shittiest camera money can buy; even Justin’s new iPhone takes better pictures.)

The best way to explore the park is definitely by bicycle, especially when the temperature reaches 100° F (who wants to hike in that?) Biking through the park is the perfect medium between hiking (too long) and taking the shuttle (too fast), allowing you to gaze in awe the grandeur of it all. The majestic rocks and mountains the color of red clay generously sprinkled with bright lime green trees against a backdrop of bluebird sky. It is as if pages from a storybook have come alive (even without any fungal intake.) All cyclists share the same paved road as the shuttle buses and cars, but the traffic was next to nil. We cruised from one end of the park starting at the Visitor Center to the other end at the Temple of Sinawava, stopping in the middle at the Zion Lodge to refuel and fill up our Camelbaks with natural spring water and then the Zion Natural History Museum to watch a 22-minute orientation movie (which I fell asleep).

Start your bike ride early in the day (as in no later than 11am) before it gets too hot. The first half of the 18-mile round-trip bike ride is a gradual uphill so you do have to work a little bit, but that just means your way back is an easy downhill with the cool breeze on your back. The only disaster that happened was towards the end when we were almost home. I was coming in hot and turned too fast onto a slippery bridge. I lost balance and fell on my right side, skidding 100 feet on my arm and leg (ok maybe not 100 feet but it sure felt like it). I was pretty badly bruised, so for the next few days, I had to take it easy and not go on any strenuous hikes.

Why is it that every time I start a new adventure with Justin, I always get injured? Case in point: I had to jump off a moving train once in India because we missed our Goa stop. I got up with bloody knees and hands only to find Justin staying on the train so he could get off at the next stop and taxi back to meet us. That sonuvabitch! I stopped licking my wounds as soon as we arrived in town at the Bumbleberry Inn and had a heaping serving of warm bumbleberry pie a la mode. Justin may be a sonuvabitch, but he sure knows the way to my heart!

Next stop: Grand Canyon (North Rim). Over and out.