We drove to St. George in Utah after leaving the Grand Canyon but we went via a town called Page so we could see Lake Powell, in the Glen Canyon region. The bright blue of the lake contrasts beautifully with the reds of the canyon and there's a dam similar to Hoover Dam near Vegas.

Driving onwards took us partially through the Grand Escalante Staircase National Monument. This area was the last in the U.S to be mapped and its extremely deserted. Eventually we arrive in St. George - a morman town at the south-western corner of Utah. We stay there for two nights in a nice Best Western hotel where we can get our laundry done, relax in the pool and jacuzzi, eat free breakfast and have unlimited access to the internet! Also in St. George we all (apart from sam who returned to her trusted Mcdonalds!) had a brilliant 'all-you-can-eat' chinese buffet for $9.99 (around £5).

A fairly short drive up the road is Zion National Park where we camped for two nights. Shortly after arriving in Zion we went for a 2 hour walk around the lower end of the canyon for some good views of the area. It was also extremely peaceful which makes a change considering the parks are always busy. On the way back we passed a colourful collared lizard sat happily sunning himself as we took photo's!

Our first evening in Zion was mostly spent in the shelter of our tents as the wind came first, scooping up all the dust and, somehow, planting it inside our closed tent! The rains were close behind and poured for a good 2 hours or more. As the rain died down we cooked in the foyer of our tent, something we did lots of times in Oz. We had to go and buy firewood because our collection got soaked through. Even with fresh wood it took a long time to get going.

We had a walked planned for our second day but we didn't decide on how far to go because it was a long walk and climbed up about 1500ft over 2.5 miles, its also a return journey! We got to the top of the main section which was an achievement in itself after zigzagging up for much of the time. There, at scouts lookout, we sat on the edge of the cliff dangling our feet over the huge drop below and had lunch - shoeing away the chipmunks at the same time.

In a nearby shrub was a tiny birds nest with 4 or 5 chicks squashed inside awaiting food from the busy adults! So cute!

The next section of the walk was only 1 mile return and we thought that it couldn't be too bad although we could see the top and it was quite a way off. Also, the section of 'track' we could see had chains alongside for extra safety, not to act as a barrier but to help pull yourself up with! The girls didn't fancy it but Jase and I couldn't resist! Soon after we started this next section we could see what we were in for.

In some stages we were climbing using our hands and in others the track passed over a section just over a metre wide with a drop on both sides! All of this combined with waiting at the edge while people travelling in the opposite direction squeezed past made for a scary trip. We eventually made it to the top and were rewarded with the most spectacular views down the canyon.

Heading back to the girls was made a little worse when the wind picked up and we shuffled down on our bottoms once or twice! When we reached them my legs felt like jelly partly due to muscle fatigue and maybe more because of nerves! That was a highly exhilerating experience and not to be considered by the faint hearted!

The walk was made complete by a snake that decided to slither across the path in front of us. It was over a metre long but was very thin. I don't think it was deadly. Also that day we visited the disappointing Emerald Pool and had a very interesting evening Ranger Tour around the park.

For dinner we attempted to cook jacket spuds on the fire and, if you like them crispy, to great success! They were only on for an hour but cooked much quicker than we thought! Still tasty, however!

Do the mountain lions in zion have anything to do with the song "Iron, Lion, Zion"?!