May 3 2017
*********************************************
Left Fresno to head out on our 6-month road trip!

Mike did all the driving today.  The worst traffic was on I-15 thru Las Vegas.  The scenery near Arizona was beautiful.  At one point, we looked ahead at the mountains and wondered where the road was going.  Turned out we drove thru the Virgin River Gorge.

Took 11 hrs to reach the Zion River RV Resort.  This is located 14 mi from Zion NP. Very nice RV park: full hookups, WiFi, Cable TV, pool, free morning coffee and a lot of other activities.
Kudos to Mike for his superb driving!!

May 4-6 2017 - ZION NATIONAL PARK
located in the Southwestern United States, near Springdale, Utah. A prominent feature of the 229-square-mile (590 km²) park is Zion Canyon, which is 15 miles (24 km) long and up to half a mile (800 m) deep, cut through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River. The hiking in Zion National Park is world famous.

May 4 2017 - Zion NP is absolutely beautiful. Weather today was totally perfect.  We hiked to the Emerald Pools (3), Weeping Rock, the Riverside Walk, Court of the Patriarchs, and went on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive.  In all, we hiked over 5 miles which doesn’t sound like a lot but this was mountain hiking.  A real cardio workout!!

first day hiking

in front of the Patriarchs

May 5 2017 - another beautiful day.  we set out early to hike to Scouts Lookout, a nice little viewpoint where we got a good look at Angels Landing and the main canyon below.  The steep incline lets up for a little bit until we reached an amazing bit of 1930's CCC engineering: Walter's Wiggles -- a set of many steep, compact switchbacks that takes the trail all the way up to the top of the ridge above Refrigerator Canyon.  From the Wiggles, it's just a few more minutes to Scout's Lookout.  At one point along the trail I had my doubts.  Didn't know if I could make the climb.  With a little bit of encouragement from Mike, we made it to Scouts Lookout - what a magnificent view of the canyon!! It was a 6 mile hike roundtrip.

Took the shuttle to the Zion Human History Museum.  From there we hiked the Pa'rus Trail back to the Visitors' Center and had lunch.  Afterwards, we drove out on the Zion-Mt Carmel Hwy, a 12-mi scenic drive with steep switchbacks and thru the 1-mi tunnel. Saw Checkerboard Mesa.

Checkerboard Mesa

May 6 2017 - drove to the other side of the national park. Drove up Kolob Terrace Road towards Lava Point.  Roads are winding and steep.  Came upon a cowboy and a small herd of cows & calves right on the road! 

The 20-mi drive took us to Lava Point Overlook.  From there we were able to see all the peaks in Zion Canyon where we hiked the previous 2 days. 

On the way back, we stopped at Grapevine Trail.  We hiked down a small canyon wall to North Creek.  OMG!  That was a really challenging hike - steep narrow, rocky path.  Just a few minutes from the start of the hike I was so close to telling Mike "I can't do it".  But we made it down to the creek.  On the way back up, I thought I was going to die.  Must have stopped a dozen times to catch my breath.  Mike admitted I scared him.

the slope is steeper than these pictures look!

May 7 - heading out to Bryce Canyon National Park.