Going to Zion...
So after we left the Navajo site, we decided to "swing by" Glen Canyon for a quick minute. First stop, Horseshoe Bend. This view was absolutely incredible, the Colorado River literally does a horseshoe shape around this massive rock before it keeps flowing. Pretty scary when you stand at the edge, being that the rock flakes off and you have no idea how many layers are under your feet when you're at the edge. But, we got some pretty awesome pics because of it.
Heading north again we passed through one of the Marina entrances for Glen Canyon. We decided to see if our America the Beautiful parks pass worked so we could go check out the water, and it did :)
We were able to have a picnic on the beach, in Arizona, in front of the incredible mountains sitting on the river in Utah. Of course, we took a dip, how could you not. Definitely a sweet spur of the moment stop and one of Amy's personal favorite views of the entire trip.
Zion National Park and Canyon
Coming into the park we entered on the east side. To get to the main area, we had to drive down the entire canyon and through a historic tunnel which was crazyyyy. Everywhere you looked was pure vibrant color, reds, greens, blues, yellows...it was like driving through an artist's palette. Once in the canyon floor we set up camp just outside the park, and were pleasntly welcomed by our neighbors, from Switzerland, who accidentally put their wood on our fire pit, therefore feeling bad and offering us sausages and corn on the cob...yes please! Use this fire pit anytime!!! They were super nice and gave us some great advice about the best trails.
In the morning we got an early start. A free shuttle runs through the entire canyon floor, explaining all the history behind the peaks and their names and how and why certain trails were built where they were. We decided to take the challenge and the risk of hiking the most difficult trail at the park...smart? probably not, but it was a great adventure.
Angel's Landing...the most insane trail we have ever dreamed of encountering. Two and a half hours up, one and a half hours down, essentially an adult jungle gym placed on the top of a mountain. The last 45 minutes of the ascend is lined with a thick chain, without which, no one would be able to get up or down without appropriate equipment. The final climb is on a piece of rock literally 3 feet wide max. You can see the drop on both side of your feet as you hang on to the chain for dear life. What they forget to tell you is that when you're out of shape, the big drop offs make it quite challenging on the quads. So when you are finally ready to go down, you are tired. Add in the fact that you can see intense 1,400 foot drops on either side of you, and you instantly have chicken legs (well, if you're Amy). But the challenge was well worth it because the view was amazing. You could see the entire canyon from up there. Plus, it's a great story to tell that you hiked a trail 6 people have died on in the past 7 years!
Obviously, we slept like babies that night. And we were off back down through Arizona to the Grand Canyon.