This was the part of the trip I had absolutley no idea what I was getting myself in for... Several nights camping in a national park. Whilst i love the outdoors, im by no means an avid nature finder.

Picked up the hire car in Vegas and after about 15 minutes of s***ting myself being on the wrong side of the road I was ok.

Drove to the nearest REI, which is a outdoor and camping place and grabbed a trolley.

Tent, billy, matches, freeze dried food, which i was looking forward to how the freeze dried scrambled eggs were going to go down... Pillow, and a few odds and ends, was able to hire the sleeping bag which was good.

Zion was about 2.5 hours drive NE of Vegas so I took off into the desert.

I was a little worried about time as the flight had been delayed coming out of JFK, and didnt really want to get there after dark. But things seemed to be going fine for time with about an hour to spare... Until i went forward an hour time zone wise as I crossed the border into Arizona. Godammit!

Drove into Zion which was all whites, reds and yellow mountains made even more striking by the setting sun and just managed to get my tent up in time. But, there was a total fire ban... No freeze dried scrambled eggs for me :(

The next 3 days of camping were amazing, different landscapes from desert to rockpools and high bluffs. One walk in particular called Angels Landing was fairly tough and as i clung onto the side of a mountain with a thousand foot drop off next to me I did query my decision... But the joy of reaching the summit was worth it.

The nights and days spent camping in Zion were definitely one of the major highlights of the trip and am so glad I made the decision to incorporate it.

For a total juxposition on getting close to nature, my next stop was L.Vegas Boulevard.