Zion National Park

again, it's been awhile. no apologies though...just an update of the past few months for you instead.

so, back in april we took a trip down to zion national park for the weekend. coincidentally, we went down there the same weekend two years ago: earth day! this time, we had truman (though i was unknowingly pregnant last time), and brought joel's sister anne along with us as well.

on the way down south, we stopped at cove fort, in between cedar city and beaver, utah. it is an incredible historical site, very well-maintained and definitely worth a short detour, if you get the chance.
after that stop, we went and checked in at our hotel in st. george. yes, this time we stayed in a hotel instead of camped! in our defense, we do have a very curious little guy who would've loved to check out the fire and creek nearby. so, yeah, we took the easy way out and you know what? we loved it and had the best time! early the next morning we got up and headed into the park. it was saturday and we were off to angels landing after a quick drive through the architecturally magnificent tunnel:
so, if you've never been to zion's, or never heard of angel's landing, oh my! it is absolutely the most incredible, beautiful, wondrous hike EVER! it is a work-out, but when you get to the top, it is absolutely stunning: UN-b-e-l-i-e-v-a-b-l-e!see the top, yes- the very top, peak in these pictures? that's where the hike ends. yep, pretty insane! poor joel had to carry truman in the backpack carrier the whole way: and we were all exhausted after, but it was the best! once you get to what you think is the "top" there is still the most deceiving 1/2 mile left to go: straight up! at that point, we left truman with anne and joel & i continued the trek up. there are some chains, but not really a trail since a lot of hit is just "bouldering" your way up! i'll tell you what, as tired as i was, at that point there was no way i was stopping until i made it all the way.self-photo from the top (while we may not look great, check out the view behind us!):
yep, we were on the top of the world and LOVED it! joel even told me he was very impressed with me, and wasn't sure i could do it! our happy reunion after joel and i got back from the peak: the next day, we stopped at the st. george temple and walked the grounds and took a few pics before heading back into the park:
it was a short trip, but it was a GREAT one! we look forward to many more to come!