Zion National Park!

Ohmygosh. I went to Zion National Park for the first time this last weekend, and it was AMAZING! It's like a desert version of Yosemite. My roommate Lexy and I took off Friday after work and drove 3.5 hours south to Zion. The weather was perfect at 80 degrees and sunny, with a cool breeze that was quite a friend during our hikes. The first day (Saturday) we did a couple hikes, but it was really crowded. Definitely Spring Break for a lot of people this weekend.

The next day, being Sunday, had far less people. It was really nice. We hiked Angel's Landing, one of the highest mountains of Zion National Park. It ascends 1,500 feet over a distance of 2.5 miles to the summit, and has amazing views on all sides of the canyon. This is generally considered "the best high elevation viewpoint in the park". People afraid of heights are warned (me being one of those people), but as long as I didn't look down, it was fine! It started with switchbacks ascending up the side of the mountain, then curved along behind deep in the canyon where it was much cooler. Then more switchbacks till reaching the top of the lowest end of the mountain. From there there are chains to help guide you up the mountain, and a lot of boulder-hopping and scrambling. There were parts of the trail with drop-offs on either side, about 1,000 feet to the bottom (sorry Mom...). An amazing climb, leading to an even more amazing view. I would do it again in a heartbeat! This was the ridge we hiked along to get to the summit:





We plan on going back pretty often this spring and summer. Hopefully next time with the boys. When it gets hot we will definitely be hiking the Narrows, one of the most popular photography hot spots in the park!

More pictures to be added to http://www.hollandbanksphotography.blogspot.com/ :)