Zion National Park, Utah

Zion National Park is located in south-eastern Utah. It is a canyon (small compared to the Grand Canyon) with sandstone walls with shale caps. The highlight was a hike up the Narrrows of the Virgin River. It is an interesting hike because there is no trail and in most places the river runs right up to the walls of the narrow canyon. You have to walk in the water. We hiked about a mile up the river around sunset. The boys loved it! They did a lot of swimming and playing with the sand and mud.



Along the way there was a small waterfall. Actually, it was quite tall with only a little water. We saw a mule deer walking in the river. We also ran into many people that had walked down from the top. A 17 mile hike in the water that they started around 6 am. They were all pretty beat up by the time we saw them.



Here is a picture of the boys being sworn in as Junior Rangers. To earn you badge each kid must participate in a variety of activities specific to each National Park. In Zion the boys did a 3 hour program with rangers called "no arms, no legs, no problem". It was about snakes. The best part was it was no parents allowed. So Diane and Tom did a hike to the weeping wall where water seeps through the sandstone and continously rains down from an overhang in a cliff. Because of the water there is a hanging garden where plants grow right out of the wall. It was really cool!



The boys got to spend a lot of time in the water for a vacation in the desert. Here are some pictures of them tubing in the Virgin River just outside the park. As you can see they loved it!