Day 14 Friday May 27 Zion National Park / Hurricane, Utah (Two weeks on the road)

Having scouted Zion the previous day, we had a clear game plan.  We would drive to the Visitor Center, board the park shuttle, take it to the far end of Zion Canyon and hike to the Narrows.  The Narrows is where the canyon narrows down to a point where if you want to keep hiking, you need to get into the icy Virgin River.  We hiked the Riverside Trail up to the narrows and opted to stay dry.  It was a gorgeous hike along the river between the canyon walls.  The canyon walls rise to 7000 feet which is 3000 feet above the canyon floor which is at 4000 feet.  This 2 mile trail was very popular and very easy. 

We returned via the sandy trails along the river wherever possible.  We were very glad we did the Riverside trail.  

We took the shuttle to the Grotto stop and refilled our water bottles for our hike up the Kayenta trail.  This trail involved a climb part way up the canyon wall and was totally different than the Riverside trail.  This climb provided views down river that you could not get from the bottom of the canyon.

We observed beautiful wild flowers and various critters including begging squirrels, chipmunks, a variety of birds and even a snake that crossed in front of us on the trail.

The Lower Emerald trail descended back to the river and the footbridge delivered us to the Zion Lodge.  We went into the Lodge for lunch and ended up at an outdoor table on a second story patio.  We decided to resume hiking and picked up the Grotto trail which took us to back to the Grotto in the park, effectively completing a 3 mile loop.  

From here, we took the shuttle to our last hike of the day.  This was short but steep up a steady incline to another overhang entitled Weeping Rock.  The views from here were worth the half mile climb.  The ferns and flowers were growing from the sheer rock face on the humid shady hillside.

We felt good physically after our hikes as we boarded the shuttle for the 40 minute ride back to the Visitors Center.   A half hour later we were back at our hotel in Hurricane.  Teare caught up on emails while I went for a 3 mile jog in the high plateau desert town.  

We walked a couple blocks to dinner while watching the Cavs win the Eastern Conference Finals and punching their ticket to the NBA Finals.  We returned to our hotel to enjoy the post game.  What a perfect ending to a perfect day!   

Tomorrow holds the promise of new locations and adventures.  Our trusty Impala is raring to go, so hop in the back seat, have a couple cherry twizzlers and come along with us…