Tag: Zion National Park

  • First Utah Ski Trip

    First Utah Ski Trip

    We’ve heard a lot about this place called Brian Head in Utah. Everyone tells us that it’s family-friendly, and we finally ventured out there. It’s only a little farther than Mammoth. Because Mammoth is in California, and getting to Brian Head involves crossing three state boundaries (California to Nevada to Arizona to Utah), it sounds very far away.

    Brian Head is close to some national park units. We first visited Zion and strolled by the trail where we first took Daphney when she was still a baby. We also visited Bryce Canyon. Cedar Breaks, which is just a stone’s throw from Brian Head, was closed for winter.

    Here, the kids and I developed more confidence on the slopes. Great lift ticket prices, and kids ski free!

    Daphney in Zion National Park
    Daphney in Zion National Park
    Myles sitting on a split rail fence in Zion National Park
    Court of the Patriarchs
    Myles in the Navajo ski area
    At the top of Navajo Mountain
    Bryce amphitheater hoodoos
    Myles posing by the railing at Bryce Point
    Bryce amphitheater hoodoos
    Bryce amphitheater hoodoos
    Skiing down Navajo Mountain
    Skiing down Navajo Mountain
    Skiing down Navajo Mountain
    Skiing down Navajo Mountain
    Skiing down Navajo Mountain
  • Zion Narrows

    Zion Narrows

    Chad, Kevin, and Armando meet me bright and early on Thursday morning. We load up Armando’s car and head out to Zion National Park and find our site at the Watchman Campground. We inch along the trail’s knife edge through dizzying switchbacks to Angel’s Landing for a panoramic view of the park.

    This trip had been planned for months. I had logged on the morning that permitting opened in April and secured Campsite 4 in the Narrows.

    It turns out to be perfect conditions. We shuttle up to Chamberlain Ranch, where we walk through cow pastures to enter the gorge. It is cool in the shaded canyon, and we weave in and out of the river’s flow. Hiking sticks prove to be useful. Chad had just gotten his new digital camera, and there is plenty of shooting on this trip.

    On the second day in the Narrows, one highlight is the watercress growing along a side tributary, adding fresh vegetables with a peppery taste to the backpacking meals. Near the end, the walls close in, forming a serpentine sliver of sky high above the canyon walls.

    The trip back takes us through Las Vegas for a buffet at Rio Casino.

  • Zion in Autumn

    Zion in Autumn

    This last weekend in October was spent visiting beautiful Zion National Park during the peak of fall color. The highlight was Kanarra Creek and the slot canyon carved by this stream.