Hiking in Zion and Bryce

Hi everyone!

We had a great time over the last several days hiking in Zion and Bryce. Those parks are so beautiful.

Our first day in Zion we hiked down along the Virgin river as far as we could go before the snow bloated river was too strong and powerful to cross. It was beautiful! There were river water falls and we saw a group climbing one of the near mile high cliffs.

Next, the family hiked up to the “Weeping Rock”. It was a huge rock alcove where you can walk up under constant flow of water weeping right out of the rock cliff. It creates an airconditioned mini-rainforest type area where ferns and moss are growing. The water exiting the rock is supposed to have been absorbed from higher up over 300 years ago.

From weeping rock we hiked up to the hidden value, which is was about a 2~3 mile hike marked “difficult”. It was really fun, but challenging. We made it hundreds of feet above the valley floor and got to sit on a jagged area looking out over the trails and valley. We were holding Josh & Dan pretty close and tightly, but every was really proud that we made it that high! It was really fun!

On the next day we went on a 4 to 5 hour hike to the Emerald pools. The trail started by crossing the Virgin river via a wooden bridge, then slowly ascending into a side canyon. It gave a really nice view of the river valley and streams and waterfalls. There were beautiful flowers and plants of all types along with beautiful trees of all types of twisting shapes grabbing hold of the cliff faces.

The upper of the 4 Emerald Pools was amazing. It was a nitch hidden in the upper section of a canyon, protected on nearly all sides by 500 foot cliffs. Water spilled over the Eastern cliff wall and nearly turned back into mist before it hits the surface of the pool. The shade and moisture of the hidden little valley made it feel like we were transported to Oregon. The kids took off their shoes and played along the sand beaches and crystal water.

At Bryce, after recovering from a day of tummy aches – ugh, we drove along the scenic routes. Bryce is higher than Zion – nearly 9,000~10,000 feet above see level. There was still snow in many areas of the canyon. We took a 3 hour hike into the Queen’s Garden and Navajo Trail. It descended from sunrise point down into the canyon, through the queen’s garden and into the hoodoo amphitheater that are on most postcards of the canyon. It was a challenging hike due to the fairly drastic elevation changes, but was really fun and beautiful!