Zion National Park

This past week was Spring Break.  I spent the week in Utah at Zion National Park with a group of fellow missionaries.  We had a great time hiking, rock climbing, and fellowshipping around the campfire.  I was not able to post daily, so I will post them all as one.  These are just a few of my favorites!

4-25-11

Monday morning we headed out early for the park.  It was a nice, but long, drive.  We drove past interesting scenery, including these mesas.  In my class we study landforms and the kids are always really curious about what the mesas are, so I had to take a picture for them.  Maybe it will help them understand better!

 4-26-11

Tuesday morning a group of us headed out early for the "Observation Point" hike.  It was a difficult but beautiful hike.  This is the view from the top!  Beautiful!  We also did some rock climbing after lunch.  It was truly amazing to be climbing on the side of the Zion Canyon walls!

4-27-11

Wednesday we left Zion and headed over to Bryce National Park and some slot canyons at Buckskin Gluch.  We hiked around the rim of Bryce Canyon.  It was amazing to see the hoodoos as well as snow! We then headed to Buckskin Gulch which is a series of slot canyons.  It was amazing to walk through these cracks in the sandstone caves.  We had a great time exploring!

4-28-11

Thursday morning we woke up early again and headed off for another amazing hike to "Angel's Landing."  It was another challenging hike with a view at the top that made it worth it!  The last half mile of the hike involves hanging on the the edge of a cliff by using chains that have been set.  It was great fun to do some "bouldering" for that part.  Again, after lunch we did some climbing.  It was amazing to get to the top of the climb and look out at the beautiful views!  I also was able to see some amazing birds on Thursday!  I saw two California Condors as well as a number of turkey vultures.  Both of these things were incredible to me!  The condors have a 9 foot wingspan and were incredibly majestic as they soared through the canyon.  The turkey vultures were amazing as well.  I'm thankful for these experiences!

4-29-11

Friday morning we had a lazy morning.  We all got up at various times, had breakfast, then began to pack up camp.  After the tents were put away, the campsite was cleaned, and the vans were loaded we headed off on a small hike to look at some petroglyphs.  Olivia and Naomi were excited about them and it was fun to spend some time hiking and enjoying history with these girls!  After the hike we loaded up the vans and headed home.  

This week of camping and exploring was wonderful!  I came home exhausted and in need of a good shower, but it was great to get out of the busyness and noise of the city and get refreshed in God's great creation.  I am thankful for the opportunity I had to go on this trip and for the experiences I had!