Our Amazing Vacation - Bryce Canyon

The final leg of our trip took us to Bryce Canyon National Park.  I remember being very impressed with Bryce as a teenager.  We passed through the park in the wintertime and the hoodoos were dusted with snow; it was beautiful.  In the past, we just drove to the overlooks and enjoyed the scenery...this time I was determined to "hike the hoodoos" or in other words, actually go down into the canyon itself.  This was my FAVORITE hike of the whole trip.  There was something new to see around every corner and the rock formations were fascinating.  I loved, loved, loved it!  The hike was over a mile, all downhill for the first half and all uphill the second, but it was so worth it and the kids did a fabulous job.  We'll have to go again in a few years, though, not only to do longer hikes and see more of the canyon but also because Joseph slept through the whole thing!

 Here we are at the trail head.  It was a gorgeous day!

 Looking down into the canyon we could see that we would be descending quite a ways.  The trail we followed is called the Navajo Loop Trail.

 Right off the bat you pass Thor's Hammer...I think it looks more like a person!

 The trail was a series of switch backs that went all the way down, from higher ground it makes the trail look like stairs.  At the bottom the walls of the canyon towered above you.

 Looking down we could see three little caves.  The kids hurried down and each laid claim to one.

Merritt liked his hidey-hole.

Grant wouldn't smile because he was pretending to be a bear.

Grace wanted to stay in her cave, she said it was very nice in there.

And Joseph slept through it all.  Good thing I slathered his face with sunscreen!!

 I loved all the twists and turns this trail took.  The rock overhung the trail and made a lovely shady spot.

 I had to make sure Chad ended up in some of the pictures!

We took pictures of some random guy just to remember the trail features.  This portion of the trail led to the next picture...

a really cool small tunnel, which is behind us.

We are nearing the top!  Looking back the way we came, the trail zig zags down and curves between the rocks.

 We made it!  Here's the view from another of the overlooks.

 After all our hiking fun we stopped for ice cream in the little tourist trap town outside the park.  The had a "jail" and the kids wanted to eat their ice cream in it.

Now they want out, but I locked the door and threw away the key!  Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!

We had such a great time on our vacation and have now already started to wonder, "Where will we go next year?"

Our Amazing Vacation - Zion National Park

So, even though we had lots of fun on Wednesday at the Sand Hollow Aquatic Center, there's no proof cuz we took no pictures.  It was fun though, there was a great water slide and a fun kids area with lots of water squirting and falling everywhere.  The kids didn't want to leave.  It eased their pain that we were headed for McDonald's (Grace's birthday wish come true) where there was a play land, but it was still tricky to herd them all out of the water.

Thursday dawned cloudless and sunny.  We hit the road and arrived at Zion Park around 11:00.  They have the neatest shuttle system there: you park your vehicle in the park (if you get there early enough) outside the park entrance or anywhere in the town of Spring Dale and just catch the free shuttle.  They depart regularly from the Visitor's Center and as you travel to different points of interest, you listen to a pre-recorded description of the sites you are seeing.  The shuttles are comfortable and well ventilated, and its nice not to have to worry about driving or finding parking.

Joseph on the shuttle.  He's so cute!

 Our first stop was the Court of the Patriarchs.

 

Chad got a picture of us at the overlook, but had to get a wide angle shot to get all three peaks in.

 

The peak on the far left is Abraham.  The center peak is Isaac.  You'd think that the peak on the right would be Jacob, but that is actually Mount Moroni.  Jacob is the white mountain peeking out behind the right shoulder of Mount Moroni.

After picking up the shuttle again we headed deeper into the canyon to hike the Emerald Pools Trail.

These pictures were taken on the bridge at the beginning of the hike.

Our little hikers did a fantastic job.  When their energy started to lag we would sing songs.  "My Aunt Came Back" and "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly" were their favorites.

When we reached our destination we found the trail wet... 

 with water that fell like rain from the rocks above.

 These are the "Emerald Pools" that the trail is named for.  As Merritt pointed out they are more brown than green, but you can see the algae in the middle of the water that would give the pools their namesake color.

After a much needed lunch break we set off again, this time to Weeping Rock.  Daddy the Pack Mule had a tired back by this point so I took a turn carrying Joseph around on my back.  He seemed to like the easy access to my hair.  :)  I thought I'd have an easy time of it because the Emerald Pools trail was over a mile round trip, Weeping Rock was way shorter, but, as luck would have it, the Weeping Rock Trail was very STEEP!  It was so worth it though.  It was my favorite view of the entire day.

Even though it was mid-afternoon by the time we took this shot, it actually looked like a misty morning because we were standing behind a fine curtain of water droplets and spray.

Merritt took the opportunity to stand under the dripping water and get very wet.  The moisture felt wonderful in the heat.

I just like this picture!

This one too!

This is the shelf of rock that "weeps".  Because of all the moisture, there are actually hanging gardens of flowers and ferns that grown right out of the bottom of the overhang.  It is incredible to see.  The water comes from far above and slowly travels down through the sandstone layers over the course of thousands of years to finally drip down at Weeping Rock.  Amazing!

Our final hike of the day was the Riverside Walk.  The north fork of the Virgin River that carved out Zion National Park is accessible from this trail, so that meant we got to play in the water.  We walked the trail for a bit and then turned back and took one of the river access points so that we could play around and cool off.

We had a great day in Zion and look forward to going back someday.  I wanted to throw in one final picture cuz I think Chad took a good one and because the name is cool...

This peak is called the Great White Throne.  I really appreciated all the unashamed religious references to be found in Zion National Park.  The people that settled the area sensed the grandeur and glory of God in all that they saw and named things accordingly.  Love it!

Our Amazing Vacation - North Rim Grand Canyon

In trying to decide whether to go to the North Rim or the South Rim of Grand Canyon, two things became the deciding factors: 1 - North Rim is three hours from St. George and South Rim is five.  2 - Grand Canyon has 5 million visitors annually and South Rim gets 80% of them.  Easiest Decision EVER!!  The North Rim is fantastic and I highly recommend it.  The temperature was in the 70's, the hikes were awesome, the crowds were small, and the views were amazing.  True, we weren't able to go out on the skywalk and stand on glass a mile above the Colorado River, but I wouldn't have done that anyway.  :)

Right after the entrance of the park we came across a "beefalo" herd in a meadow.  Chad and I couldn't, at first, figure out why the buffalo didn't look quite right but later read in the Park newspaper that the animals are a cross between cows and buffalo.  They look like buffalo, only smaller.

Our first stop was our campsite.  We wanted to make sure that the tent was all set up and everything taken care of because the last thing you want to do when you are tired from hiking is set up a tent.  We were able to reserve the last spot (site #55) at the North Rim Campground before our vacation started and we set up the tent in the shade of the trees.

It came together really well, but I did have to climb under because we missed a particularly prickly pine cone.

Next came the hiking.  After doing some research prior to our trip, we had settled on the Transept Trail, which follows the canyon rim, and  Bright Angel Point Trail for Monday, and the Cape Royal Trail for Tuesday.  Chad and I had decided that there was no way in the world that we were going to a mile deep canyon without harnesses for Grant and Joseph.  We found cute dog backpack/harness contraptions where the tail was the "leash" and it was seriously the best $30 spent for the vacation.  We had wonderful peace of mind and all the comments were got from people were positive.

I suppose taking a picture while pretending to fall into the canyon is a visitor must, especially for 10 year old boys.  

One of the overlooks along the Transept Trail.

Joseph pooped out and got to ride on Daddy the Pack Mule.  

Water and snack break at Transept Trail viewpoint.  We left the rim for a bit and hiked through a beautiful forest of Ponderosa Pine, Quaking Aspen and Douglas Fir.  As the trail lifted out of the forest we found ourselves at this inspirational view point.

View from along the Transept Trail.

Grant found a rock that looked like a couch on the Bright Angel Point Trail so all the kids HAD to sit on it.

Merritt contemplates the view from Bright Angel Point...

 while Joseph sleeps through it.

Family photo on the Bright Angel Point Trail rocks.  We traded picture taking favors with people up and down the trails.

A ha...a glimpse of the bottom!  The blue of the Colorado River can be seen in the distance.  The Cape Royal Trail is the only area on the North Rim where you can view the river.  Merritt was very excited to finally see it. 

 Angel's Window at the Cape Royal Trail.  We actually walked over it to get to the observation point at the end of the rock.  Chad and I both loved how all the names of formations at Grand Canyon were named after angels rather than devils, (i.e. Devil's Tower, Slide, Gate, etc.).  Seeing the wonders of nature definitely makes me think of a loving, considerate and creative Father in Heaven, not His opposite.

One final scenic shot on our drive down from the Cape Royal trail head.  We all loved Grand Canyon!

Our Amazing Vacation - Sunday in St. George

We picked a week in June for our annual family vacation and when the 15th arrived we packed up and headed south to St. George.  Using that as our base we then ventured further out spending Monday and Tuesday at the North Rim of Grand Canyon, Wednesday in St. George, Thursday in Zion National Park and Friday at Bryce Canyon.  We had so much fun and are already looking forward to next year's adventure.

On Sunday we attended church at a ward building across the street from the temple.  It was a wonderful ward and we really enjoyed ourselves there.  Chad and I each had a separate geeky Church moment when we realized we were fortunate enough to hear the Lorenzo Snow lesson on tithing right in the city where the revelation was given!  That was really neat!

After church we headed right over to the temple and took lots of pictures of the kids.

  
I wanted all the kids to smile naturally for the pictures so I started to do some funny dance moves.  Apparently I looked completely ridiculous because they all started laughing.  I realized later that I could be seen from the Visitor's Center so who knows how many people got to see me bust a move.  I'm sure they were all laughing too...or calling the nearest mental health center.

Joseph decided to be the funny man next. He had all of us laughing!  Check out Grant's GQ pose.

We did a quick tour of the Visitor's Center and spent some time looking at the Christus.  A sweet sister missionary snapped some photos for us (don't smile Merritt!) and then we headed back to our vacation pad so Joseph could have a nap.