Last night we realized that we were actually camped closer to Zion than Bryce Canyon, so we decided to head there first. Zion is one of the busiest national parks, and it's advisable to get there early to find parking and enjoy slightly less crowded trails. We did not manage to pull off an early arrival to the park, and pulled into the visitor center lot around 10:30am. At that point parking was completely full inside Zion, so we had to drive out to the nearby town of Springdale and walk around 1.5 miles back.
Once we were back at the visitor center, we waited for a shuttle to take us to our chosen trailhead: Angel's Landing. Nolan had originally wanted to do the less crowded hike to Observation Point, but that trail was closed due to a massive rock fall. So Angel's Landing it was!
For those who haven't heard of it, Angel's Landing is one of the most famous hikes in the world. The trail starts with a short flat section before beginning to climb up a set of switchbacks built right up next to a cliff. From the top of those switchbacks, the trail enters a steep red rock canyon.
After the canyon, and another set of even steeper switchbacks, you come to a point that looks out over the rest of the valley called Scout Lookout. We grabbed a quick snack there before beginning the final section of the trail.
The last half mile of the Angel's Landing trail is what makes the hike so famous. The trail starts climbing up over the sandstone along a thin ridge. At every point of this section of trail there are steep drop offs ranging from 800 to 1000 feet. One section of the ridge is only a few feet wide, with sheer cliffs on both sides. The trail features a single chain to grab on to for support, but it is still nerve-wracking to hike along!
The trail had a lot of people, and we often had to stop and wait to let people heading down pass by. But eventually we made it to the end.
Pictures do a much better job than words for describing the views from Angel's Landing. We had lunch on a flat section of rock looking down at the rest of the valley. There were lots of people milling about taking pictures, talking, and enjoying the fruits of their hiking. We learned later that 18,000 people hiked Angel's Landing on Labor Day! Once we had our fill of the view, we began the return trip.
Down the chain
Down the switchbacks
Through the canyon
And back out into the valley
Even though the hike was only 5 miles, the combination of elevation, chain climbing, and heat meant that we were all tired at the end. We caught a shuttle back to the visitor center, and a second shuttle took us all the way back to our car. A successful trip to Zion, even though it only included one hike.
Back in Blue, we drove two hours over to Bryce Canyon where we had actually reserved a campsite! It was really nice to talk with Veronica and Josh around a fire while enjoying macaroni and cheese. We're both so glad they're joining us for this part of our trip!
Day 64 (September 26, 2021)
We immediately understood why Bryce was named after Bryce Canyon. This is definitely both of our favorite canyon we've ever seen. The whole thing is just chock-full of the cool looking rock towers called hoodoos. We went on a several mile hike that began with the sweeping view from above. Josh pointed out that the canyon of countless hoodoos looked like the dribble towers that Nolan makes on the beach. We had never considered that before, but indeed they were very reminiscent!
We then hiked gradually down into the canyon. It's amazing how different it is to experience the hoodoos by looking down on them from above versus walking amongst them.
Next, a very satisfying narrow section between two giant cliff walls.
And finally, a step climb back up to the top.
We finished our hike at around noon and headed to the first come first served campsite loop, which had plenty of available options. The four of us did a little reading, played a game of 2v2 Innovation, and then headed out to see Bryce Point and a natural bridge.
Recreation of a photo of Bryce at the same spot many years ago
Day 65 (September 27, 2021)
We drove a couple of hours to St George, where we ate yummy burgers, drank milkshakes, and then went axe throwing! It was a blast. We learned all sorts of different throws and threw various objects (the classic axe was indeed the most fun). Each of the four of us got a bulls eye at some point!
We made a quick stop at these colorful rock things (something about signifying both the natural beauty and the colorful Las Vegas scene).
That night, we camped in the Mojave Desert amidst lots of Joshua trees.
Day 66 (September 28, 2021)
When we woke up, we could actually see the surrounding area better, and discovered that we were in a little oasis of live Joshua trees in the middle of a vast section that had all burned.
Sadly, this was the last day with the four of us. We drove to LA, ate lunch in a park, and then dropped Josh off at airport and said our goodbyes.
But that night, we got to stay at Veronica's parents' house! We chatted with her family, wrote a blog post, did our laundry, and then had an amazing feast of steak, salmon, veggies, and salad for dinner as well as chocolate chip cheesecake for dessert.
After a lovely hot tub session, we headed off to bed. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Cruz, for welcoming us so graciously into your home!
Days 5 - 9 (July 29 - August 2, 2021) We spent the next five days enjoying ourselves at Cape Disappointment State Park. We spent a lot of time doing various activities at the campsite. Monisha learned some ukulele, Bryce and Lexie set up a slack line for all to enjoy, and there were lots of great hacky sack circles along with some soccer juggling. At one point the hacky sack got stuck in a nearby tree and Dylan came to the rescue with his climbing skills. However, there was a dead branch on the tree which broke and led to him falling around 12 feet to the ground. Luckily he was okay. This photo was taken moments before his fall: In the evenings, we all gathered around a propane campfire (no wood burning due to the dry weather) to sing songs and talk. We also collectively created haikus and proverbs that addressed important philosophical topics such as when brown dogs have tails or tales. Throughout our time at Cape Dis, our affection for Blue grew and grew. And the emergency...
Days 21 - 23 (August 14 - 16) Well, we have an update, but it’s a bit of a sad one. — One quick note: for the next 10 days, Monisha won’t have cell service or data, Nolan will have somewhat spotty cell service and access to data, and we’ll only occasionally be on wifi. Texting Nolan is the quickest way to reach either of us. We can also sometimes access email using data on his phone. Monisha will get iMessages and emails when we have access to wifi. — Firstly, the good news is we did it! We made it to Canada! Our original plan to get to Canada involved leaving Seattle midday Saturday, driving halfway to Banff, camping in Kamloops, then driving the other half on Sunday. After learning about a huge wildfire outbreak right where we had planned on camping Saturday night, we adjusted our plans a bit. We decided to drive two hours north to stop short of the worst of the smoke, camp at a rest stop in Bellingham, and have a long driving day the rest of the way to Banff on Sunday. Saturday...
We left Cape Disappointment with Bryce, Lexie, Conner and Lorelle and drove about 3.5 hours to Nolan's childhood home in Seattle. Since Lexie, Conner, and Bryce were all working that week we mostly spent time with them in the evenings and did our own things during the day. One day we went over to Whidbey Island with Aunt Lorelle to hike Ebey's Landing. After the hike, we stopped by Price Sculpture Forest: a woodland art exhibit full of interesting sculptures. Seattle included some good catching up with friends. We visited Stephanie Lim and shared a wonderful dinner prepared by her housemates. Monisha went paddleboarding with Slim a few days later where she ran into more frisbee friends, had lunch with Khalif, and got boba with Will Chen! We took a nice 2 hour bike ride with Aunt Lorelle, and got to traverse the Ballard Locks. Monisha was a little nervous during the first half of the ride because it was entirely downhill and she knew that the second half would include a...
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