Thank You Most Chubby President For Mukuntuweap National Monument (d/b/a Zion National Park)

Gonzalo and I found ourselves wishing we had just one more day to shoot the shit with Ron and Mike, one more day to explore Canuyonlands, but it was time to move on to Zion National Park.  We took our time packing up, said our goodbyes, and found ourselves tooling down scenic UT-89 past small towns struggling to stay alive.  We had lunch at the charming Prospector's Cafe in Marysvale, Utah and continued onto the "big" town of Pascuitch to get our grocery shopping done.  The hardest decision of the day was which of the iconic Utah beers to get… the WaSatch Evolution Amber Ale barely edged out the Polygamy Porter.

Pleasantly surprised at the wide selection of local craft brews, including the cycling inspired beers (photo credit: Gonzalo)!

First things first before setting up camp.  I'm a pro at picking the best campsites on the edge at the generally overcrowded national parks.

We had three full days to explore so we picked the three hardest hikes: (1) Angels Landing (with an add-on of Emerald Pools), (2) Hidden Canyon and Observation Point, and (3) as much of the Narrows we could manage without renting the gear.

While not particularly technical, Angels Landing is a big rock fin that you traverse.  The hike requires a steep hike up with a psychological component that makes it difficult for the acrophobic because it requires rock scrambling on a ridge with steep drop offs on both sides.  Although a bit crowded at the summit, we found some solace atop a rock formation and exploring the other side of the summit to the final drop off. 

The true summit of Angels Landing (photo credit: Gonzalo).

Exploring a drop off with cairns set up to mess with us... there was an itty bitty cairn set up just before the cliff edge.

Hidden Canyon and Observation Point started off the same trailhead and offered two very different kind of hikes.  Hidden Canyon is a mostly unmaintained "trail" at the bottom of a canyon with a rock scrambling and climbing obstacle course of sorts.

Gonzalo attempts a technical approach.

The one time being little is an advantage...  (photo credit: Gonzalo).

The hike up to Observation Point, however, is basically straight up and challenging only for the weak-lunged.  Luckily, that's a lot of people and we had the trail to ourselves for most of the hike and I took the time to truly enjoy the silence.

"Photogenic cacti" on the edge of the trail on the Eastern Rim.

Gonzalo teasing a chipmunk with his snack at the top.  It's clear this guy has been fed one too many times.

Aaaaand, sneaky lil bugger.

Taking some time to enjoy the hike down from Observation Point.

This beautiful canyon meandered aside our trail (photo credit: Gonzalo)

Originally, I didn't really intend to hike the Narrows after a friend of mine did it and couldn't walk for weeks afterwards.  I thought maybe we could do some shorter hikes in other parts of the park.  But the Narrows is one of the iconic hikes in Zion that I decided we could make a day of biking from the campsite to the trailhead and see how far we could make it.  We knew that the National Park Service highly recommended wetsuits this time of year, so I dug out my whitewater kayaking/rafting gear, while Gonzalo decided to brave it in what he had.  He also brought his inflatable sleeping pad.

We discovered that at this time of year, the water is not only freezing, but the water levels are high with a fairly swift current.  We spent about an hour battling fast, waist-deep waters and numb feet before we decided to turn back.

Gonzalo takes the first steps into the icy cold waters of the Virgin River.

Later that afternoon after we had warmed up, we did some learning at the Zion Human History Museum, which was small but really interesting.  It was there I discovered that President Taft, our fattest president, proclaimed the area a national monument in 1909.  For those not in the know, I love miscellaneous Taft facts because I did a report on him in middle school, and to this day, he is one of the few early presidents that I can remember anything about.  Anyway, at the time, it was called Mukuntuweap National Monument, but was later changed in 1918 to Zion National Park because it had greater "ethnocentric" appeal.  In other words, it sounded too "native."

On the way back from the museum on the Pa'Rus Trail.

After 10 extraordinary days of camping, hiking, cycling, and not showering, we made it a Motel 6 (from which I write this blog post) just north of Salt Lake City to make ourselves presentable, recharge our electronics, and otherwise just relax with no agenda.  It was a luxurious evening of watching movies and ordering in pizza.  Time to pack up and head out to Boise, Idaho!