Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Kanab, UT

#104 (November 12, 2022): Zion National Park’s Watchman Campground is conveniently located adjacent to the visitor center.

This morning after picking up some maps and talking to the ranger inside, we were ready to go explore the beauty of Zion. From the visitor center, we hopped on the shuttle bus, which is the only way to get deeper into the park on Zion Canyon Scenic Drive unless you have a reservation to stay at the lodge located off the drive. We got off at The Grotto stop to hike the strenuous Scout’s Lookout Trail. This 4.2-mile roundtrip trail takes you to the beginning of the infamous Angel’s Landing trail, which we will have to save for another day since it requires a lottery-won, timed-entry ticket to enter.

The hike up to Scout’s Lookout was very intense and quite crowded; it didn’t take long for us all to shed our winter coats. LOL! The number of switchbacks seemed endless. And yet, every time we stopped to catch our breath, we were rewarded with another moment to breathe in the scenery and snap a picture in an attempt to capture the beauty surrounding us. Reaching the summit of this trail was a relief, no doubt. But, oh! The views from the top of Scout’s Lookout on such a beautiful fall day were glorious. The brilliant yellow leaves of the aspen trees against a backdrop of limitless shades of pinks and oranges from the towering Navajo sandstone monoliths—the walls of this cathedral-like sanctuary—together, resembled stained-glass windows, and the site of it all on a bright sunny day was truly remarkable. The word that comes to mind to describe this national park is reverent. If God created a cathedral here on earth to display His majesty, then this place is it, and we are seated right in the middle of it! We stayed at the top of Scout’s Lookout, 1000 feet above the bottom of this beautiful canyon (and yet the surrounding cathedral-like walls still towering above us), for quite a while to take it all in, basking in the reward of our labor, before making the descent to the bottom of the canyon.

Afterward, we rode the shuttle back toward the front of the park, stopping at the Human History Museum for a quick look before heading back to the RV for the evening.

#105 (November 13, 2022): Oversize vehicles such as our big-hipped dually require a $15 tunnel permit that must be used during limited hours when rangers are on duty to manage traffic. When we arrived just outside the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, traffic stopped (sorry, folks, behind us); a ranger radioed the other ranger on the other side. We waited several minutes for any and all vehicles to clear the tunnel from the opposite direction, after which we were permitted to then drive (without our RV, of course) through the tunnel straddling the lanes. We were now driving through the tunnel that was the reason for our 3-hour detour the other day. Sigh. Because today is past daylight savings time, the times to pass through the tunnel are less: 8 am to 4:30 pm. To be late, means another 3-hour detour or a night outside the park, not in our RV. Neither option is one we want to risk; thus, this reduced time complicates our day excursions outside the park.

On our drive out of Zion along Zion-Mount Carmel Highway, we saw our first bighorn sheep ram, the ones with the big curly horns. We’ve seen bighorn sheep in Custer, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountains, but they’ve always been the females and young sheep, not the daddy rams with the big curly horns. We were excited to finally see one! Yay!! We also passed the Crawford Arch and Checkerboard Mesa; this place is a geological wonderland!

We drove an hour and a half north to Bryce Canyon National Park; the entire time GuideAlong’s Mr. Dave was narrating our drive out of Zion, between the parks, through Red Canyon and Dixie National Forest, and into Bryce Canyon. He did an excellent job guiding us throughout Bryce and its numerous beautiful stops and lookouts on its 18-mile Scenic Drive. Today is a bitterly cold day. Although the snow-capped rock spires, also known as hoodoos, were a special site to behold, resembling a powdered-sugar-dusted bundt cake, we were disappointed that we weren’t able to hike the trails down inside the canyon because of ice on the trails. To walk amongst the hoodoos will have to be saved for another day, which may be just as well since our time here is limited because of our oversized vehicle tunnel permit curfew of 4:30 pm.

If I had to use one word to describe Bryce Canyon National Park, the word would be holy. It is a holy experience to stand at Inspiration Point, on the rim of this canyon—me, a tiny being overlooking such a vast canyon, filled with innumerable hoodoos, standing all like statues, seemingly facing a similar direction. It is aptly called the Bryce Amphitheater, for it looks as if people, for as far as the eye can see, are encircled, gathered for a common purpose. To me, this was a sweet glimpse into what it may be like to be a small being, standing on the rim of Heaven, peeking down above a vast sea of innumerable souls, as far as the eye can see, circled and gathered for a common purpose—to worship their God & Father, and His Son seated at His right hand, their Lord & King. And is this white sprinkling of fresh snow on their heads their white veil, a veil for this awaiting bride? It was a moving moment! God is so good, and He is no doubt seen throughout all His creation. What a masterful carving and holy creation He has on display at Bryce Canyon National Park!

Thankfully, we returned to Zion with enough time to hike the short, relatively easy, yet oh-so-wonderful Canyon Overlook trail just outside the tunnel. The overlook provided us our best views and photos of this reverent cathedral in which we stand. Simply marvelous! What another glorious day!

#106 (November 14, 2022): Chris and Neil won the lottery today! They won timed-entry tickets for the dangerous, and highly-sought-after Angel’s Landing trail in Zion. They left late-morning to catch the shuttle from the visitor center to the hike; they returned that evening with huge smiles, a sense of accomplishment, and quite different reviews. LOL! Chris, like most visitors, thought the experience was exhilarating yet terrifying as they traversed the narrow trail and ledge to the top of Angel’s Landing, so named because it was once said that only angels could land [and stand] on such a place! In fact, gripping chains are used on the trail in particularly narrow spots to give visitors something to hold onto. Crowding on this trail is incredibly dangerous and thus the reason for the timed-entry tickets, and the tickets are in such high demand that a lottery system is needed; unfortunately, not everyone who comes to Zion gets the chance to climb this iconic world-renowned hike. Neil, on the other hand, thought this epic trail was not scary, very doable, and he loved every minute of it! He celebrated his summit by sitting on the highest rock at the top so that he could be as high as possible as he soaked in this momentous occasion.

Meanwhile, the girls enjoyed a quiet day at the RV, resting and doing school together. They made weathervanes out of drinking straws, plastic cups, and paper plates to go along with their meteorology lesson, and they were pleased to confirm their weathervanes actually worked! They also got out their mini Solo stove to test and watch the effects of “wind” on fire. Turns out, wind helps, not hinders! They roasted hot dogs over their mini fire pit, which believe it or not, is the first time we’ve roasted hot dogs on our trip!

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to conserve our limited water supply for the week, this evening we ran out of water after only 3 nights of our 6-night stay. Should we leave early and find somewhere else to stay with full hookups?? Determined to not have to leave early from this now proclaimed favorite national park, the kids’ eyes lit up in thrill and excitement; they could make an assembly line, filling pots of water and hauling the water back to an empty tote or “tub” that we could store in the shower. We could use the water to flush toilets, wash dishes, and filter it through our Berkey for drinking. Thankfully, we were parked fairly close to the comfort station (aka bathroom), which had an outside sink for washing dishes. So, everyone took their positions. After Lily filled a large pot with water at the outside sink station, she handed it to Neil who, riding his One Wheel, carried the filled pot to Emily, who was standing next to Bethany on the road near their RV; Neil then grabbed an empty pot from Bethany and took it back to Lily for refilling. Meanwhile, Emily then took the filled pot to Chris and Joanna who were standing at the door inside the RV; one dumped the water into the empty tub while the other exchanged an empty pot for Emily to take back to Bethany before Neil returned with another filled pot. In just a few minutes, we had collected several gallons of water, enough for now. Ironically, the kids were disappointed that the assembly line worked so well; we were done so soon! They had hoped to trade positions and duties at some point. LOL! Oh, and by the way, we did it all in the pitch dark of this dark-sky park with headlamps on our heads or lanterns in our hands! What a fun memory! The kids had saved the day; we can stay!!!

#107 (November 15, 2022): Emily and the kids headed out for a full day of adventure in the nearby city of Kanab, once known as “Little Hollywood,” where hundreds of western movies and TV series episodes have been filmed. First, they hiked a dry riverbed through the Upper Huntress Slot Canyon, which is really more a wash rather than a slot canyon. On the 2.6-mile hike, we were excited to spot different animal footprints in the pink sand; now, which animals do these belong to? We suspect a bighorn sheep and a mountain lion perhaps. Getting to the trailhead and then back to the highway was super nerve-racking for Emily, but with lots of prayers and with the kids' help, we made it back safely! Gracious! Let’s just say, an ATV would be more helpful than our wide big-hipped dually to access this trail!

Next, we explored Sand Caves, which the kids thought was a fun place to play hide-and-seek. The tan sandstone walls with rich caramel swirls look like a petrified latte! So cool and unique! The floor of the cave is soft sand, hence the name. It’s hard to describe Sand Caves with words only. Pictures are very helpful. It’s just really cool!

Just up the road, we stopped at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary to see if we could take a guided tour. But since we were short on time and wanted to get a couple more hikes in before our tunnel entry deadline, we opted for a self-guided driving tour of their property inside Angel Canyon instead. We had 3 favorite parts of the tour. First, The Little Theater, which was once used as a filming set for The Lone Ranger, was brilliantly built in a natural alcove with acoustics so good that you can hear someone whisper about 80-100 feet away. Spectacular! Second, next to the Little Theater, was “the Disney barn,” a barn built by Walt Disney in 1973 for the movie, One Little Indian. Third, Angel’s Rest, a pet cemetery on the property, has 2,000 wind chimes all in the key of D. We rolled down our truck windows and listened to the beautiful sound of the chimes blowing in the desert wind. Delightful!

Next, we stopped to walk through The Belly of the Dragon, a super fun short hike through a straight, but intestine-looking tunnel. It’s quite funny! The kids loved climbing on the rock inside and making the whole place an obstacle course. We hiked a few minutes past the tunnel, but quickly turned around since we had done the best part of this trail, and we wanted to squeeze in one more hike if possible.

Last, we hiked Red Hollow Trail to a slot canyon. Yay! Our first slot canyon of the day! Although we’ve been seeking slot canyons all day, this is the first one yet! LOL! The others ended up being a river wash, a network of caves, and a tunnel, which were all super cool; but now, a slot canyon! It was a perfect hike for us with enough challenge to make us use all fours at times to climb over obstacles and such, but not overly strenuous, which was nice since this is the most we’ve ever hiked in one day! We wished we had more time to play in the canyon, but we definitely want to make it to Zion’s tunnel before our afternoon deadline of 4:30 pm! Driving back into the park, we spotted even more curly-horned daddy rams! Alright!!! So cool!

That night, we were all overdue and more than ready for a shower and a laundromat. So, we went to Zion Outfitters just outside the national park’s south entrance for hot showers. Afterward, while our laundry was washing at the laundromat, we grabbed some Subway and grasshopper ice cream. It was nice to end the day with clean laundry and clean bodies after such a full day of adventuring!

#108 (November 16, 2022): Sadly, today is our last day in Zion. We have all had an amazing time during our stay here. After some morning schoolwork and a virtual music lesson, we went into the town of Springdale, located just outside Zion’s south entrance, for a little shopping. Since Zion is Neil’s favorite national park of all, we definitely need to find him a souvenir shirt.

We are low on water again. This time, Chris thinks that if we can get a shorter water hose, then we might be able to siphon the water directly into our freshwater tank and thus be able to use the faucets again and flush the toilets without buckets of water. That would be fantastic! This is the longest we have gone without water and sewer hook-ups, 6 nights! We didn’t know if we would be able to stretch it here this long, but with the kids’ help, and showers and laundromat in town, we are so glad to have had this amount of time. Thankfully, we found a short hose at a camp supply store in town to try out later tonight!

We ate wings, salad, and chicken tenders for dinner at Zion Pub, and ice cream and bumbleberry pie for dessert at Bumbleberry Inn Café. At night, with headlamps on our heads and lanterns in our hands, we set up our water assembly line again. This time, our tub of water was outside the camper, and Chris successfully figured out how to siphon the water into our freshwater tank! Woo-hoo! Victory!!!