Zion National Park via Vegas (in a Day!)

At 29 weeks pregnant, Tom and I decided to have one last hoorah before the impending arrival of our second born. With Lacey safely ensconced at home with her grandparents, we boarded a plane  for a short, three night, two day trip to Las Vegas.

Zion National Park.

Obviously being super pregnant, this was not your typical Vegas trip. Tom and I rented a car for our first full day, and drove through three states to get to Zion National Park. The drive was only about 2.75 hours. We started in Nevada, skimmed through the corner of Arizona, and arrived at our final destination in Utah.

The United States has some really beautiful and unique national parks. It was 24 degrees, and alternately sunny and overcast-- a great temperature for some sightseeing and easy (EASY) hiking.

We arrived in the neighbouring town of Springdale, around 11:30am, where we ate a quick lunch, before walking a short distance to the pedestrian entrance of the park. Zion is not a particularly large park, and in the last few years, they have introduced an elaborate shuttle system that has eliminated driving within the greater park area.  I can understand why they did. The parking lots are not very big within the park, and if not for the shuttle system, we would have spent a good portion of the day stuck in traffic, circling for a parking spot. The shuttle system was well run and well executed, but we were facing some spring break crowds, and had to wait about 40-45 minutes in a never-ending line to get into the park.

We took the shuttle deep into the park, stop 7 of 9, the Weeping Rock. The Weeping Rock is an interface between two sandstone formations. They are underlain by a shale that prevents from water from absorbing into the ground. As a result, water seeps out of the rock face. It was a trickle of water during our visit, but during the winter, there can be a flood of water pouring down.  The Weeping Rock trail was very short (0.5 miles), and a little steep. It turned out to be a very short stop for us.

Next we jumped back onto the shuttle and headed to the turn around at stop 9 of 9, Temple of Sinawava. We didn't exit the shuttle at the end, just continued the ride so that we could take in the views from the bus.

On our way back we stopped at the Zion Lodge, stop 5 of 9, so we could follow the short, 1 mile trail, to the Lower Emerald Pool.

Emerald Pool (aka, mud puddle?)

Admittedly, we were a little underwhelmed by both the Lower and Middle Emerald Pool... Mainly because they were basically muddy muck pools at this time of year! Not exactly emerald, and not exactly photo-worthy! But it was some good exercise, and nice to stretch our legs on the trail.

We were able to scout a hiking trail for future visits to Zion, called Angel's Landing. At 5 miles round trip, and 1488 ft of elevation change, it was not within the realm of possibility for my seven month pregnant self. But the switchbacks and sweeping views were calling for a secondary visit.... Someday!

We headed back to our car, and started the long drive back to Vegas. It was a long day, but it was one that both Tom and I would repeat without any hesitation!