Zion National Park

After Buckskin Gulch we drove a few hours to Zion National Park which is also in Utah. Once we arrived we set up camp and checked out some of the nearby sights. We took it easy because the next two days would involve a lot of hiking.

I thought the hike at the Smokies in NC was the hardest thing I have ever done. The hike at Zion blew it out of the water though. The first day we did 9 miles, most of which involved steep ascents up canyons and cliffs. I think it took us around 6.5 hours to get to the backcountry campsite. Very difficult, but entirely worth it. The views from up top were indescribable. It is a great feeling to look down at how I had come, knowing that I had to work so hard to reach that point. It was nice to unwind by enjoying what I saw. After setting up camp, it was late afternoon and we all passed out for a few hours, then made some delicious dehydrated meals, and passed out for the night.

This was mountain lion country but I wasn’t too worried because

a) I am good with cats

b) Apparently, mountain lions run away if you throw rocks at them and fight them back

Needless to saw, I was very excited to encounter a mountain lion so I could whoop its ass and use the story to make myself look cool. However, I was not lucky enough and will have to just pretend I did.

The next morning we woke up early and hiked back down. This time it was almost entirely downhill, as we just were coming back the way we came. Hiked at a much brisker pace, despite Justin suffering severely from mucus/cold problems, and got back to the bottom in a around 3.5 hours. Stuffed our faces with burgers, pizza, and hot dogs, and then loaded up the car and departed for Las Vegas!