Two Miles and Four Feet from Home: Mt Zion National Park

So we slept pretty good but it was not as cool as expected and we had zipped up a few of the windows. Around 4 I unzipped them and the fresh air came in and we slept really well until about 6:00 when I heard a loud animal breathing sound about 100 yards away. We have had a run in with a bear before and although there were not supposed to be any bears here it made me wonder. Anyway we needed to reserve our site again for our second night and it was not clear how to do that the night before since this campground operated a little differently than the other park campgrounds that we had stayed at. We decide to drive up and get in line with the new campers that were hoping to get a site. Whe got there about 6 and there were already about 4 cars in line and by the time 7 rolled around there were another 10 cars behind us. They opened promptly at 7 and went to the first rv in line. They knocked on the door and nobody answered so the rangers went around knocking on all the windows and finally some one came out. Luckily when it was our turn we were able to stay in our same site. We went back to our site and had breakfast and then headed to a doggy day care that Jasper was going to stay at so we could ride the trams and see the rest of the park. I always hate leaving him because I always wonder what he is thinking when we leave. The place looked great and the owner asked all the right questions so we felt it would be OK. We left him there about 8:30 with a plan to pick him up at 5:00. We headed back to the visitor center to catch up on the blog and all of our internet related activities. We noticed the line to catch the tram was at least 500 yards long. I am sure it went fast but still it seemed the opposite vibe you wanted to feel while visiting a national park. Anyway when we got done we went back to the campsite and Lyn fixed us a great lunch to take with us on our Zion exploration. Finally about 10:30 we decided to catch the tram but instead of the visitor center we went to stop 2 which was just about a 10 minute walk away. With only about 10 people waiting there we caught a tram and were on our way. We decided to stop at the lodge and check it out. It was pretty cool and had an outside eating and bar area. It also had a big grassy area out front with yet another 100 year old cottonwood tree. The plan was to do a hike and then come back and have lunch under the tree. We crossed a bridge that went over the same river that flowed by our campsite. Then the paved trail started to go up and after about .5 miles of climbing we were rewarded with a small waterfall and two pools of water that had a really cool rock ledge. It looked like something from an Indiana Jones movie complete with snakes and a tarantula. We decided to hike further and see the middle pools. It was up a pretty good incline with lots of stairs but had a very cool vibe when you reached it. By the time we enjoyed the view and took pictures we headed back down and arrived at the cottonwood tree just in time to join everyone else and have a picnic for lunch. After relaxing a bit we headed for the tram and went to our next stop, This stop had a short hike to the Weeping wall. It was only .2 miles aways o other than being super steep it was pretty easy overall. It was kind of a cave that you stood in while water dripped off the ledge. It was beautiful and the water felt great. By now it was about 3 and we were going to pick Jasper up at 5 so we rode the tram and just took in the sites. One hike that we were not prepared to do was one called the Narrows. It looks awesome in every way and everyone that does it has a great big smile on their face. We will be prepared next time and do that the next time we come because we are coming back to this beautiful place! By now we were pretty sweaty and our campsite has no showers so we decided to go back and take a real swim in the river. Not just dangling our feet. The water where we were was to to three feet deep at the deepest and was really cold once you got in waist deep. Lyn who is not a big water person was the one that insisted that we go swimming. She dove under first and pushed me to go ahead. It was exhilarating to say the least and you went from feeling hot and grimy to one of refreshed and exhilarated. I had forgotten that Lyn grew up on a river and had many fond memories of swimming in one. Finally after about a half an hour we decided it was time to go get Jasper. We picked him up and the owner said he was friends with everyone and had a great time. He looked worn out and happy so I have no doubt what she said for a second. We headed back to camp and at the last minute decided to go drive the 12 mile east entrance scenic route again. It was still awesome in every way and we finally made it back to camp at 7. It turns out that the 1.1 mile r=tunnel was built in 1930 . Wow! Lyn fixed a hodge podge dinner complete with french fries for an appetizer. We are trying to use up all of our left overs since tomorrow we will be in our first hotel of the trip. We are meeting one of my coworkers there and it is too hot to camp. So tomorrow we are headed to Vegas and feeling great about our trip. We have been really inspired by all of our National Parks so far and have many more to see before this trip is over. After dinner we headed up to the visitor center and sat outside and used their WiFi while charging our devices. All three of us are totally worn out! I think Zion National Park got the best of us today. This park is so amazing. I have loved every park so far and they are all unique in their own way but except for the crowds this one has the most wow factor. We will be back! Tomorrow we hit the road for Vegas and it is just over a little three hours. Exciting times for sure!