Captains Log: 23 July 2014.
12:07 a.m.Take a wild freakin guess.
3:22 a.m.Seriously contemplating putting Ny-Quil in a bottle.
7:00 a.m.Who wants breakfast?
The Hampton Inn has a typical hotel breakfast layout, but everything here tastes really good. I finish up early and decide to wander the lobby while everyone else is still eating. I really like the rustic Wilderness Lodge-type vibe they have going on.
7:30 a.m.Were packed up and on the road again! We wanted to leave early for two reasons. One, this is going to be one of our longest driving days of the trip. And two, we have another destination in mind that would benefit from the Rope Drop strategy.
We head back into the park. Good morning, Zion.
We head back up the gorgeous drive cut into the side of the mountains and into the tunnel where we had entered the day before.
7:48 a.m.Just on the other side of the tunnel, right by the east entrance, is a small parking lot. It fills up quickly, so its a good idea to get there early. In this case, weve achieved our goal and there are several spots available. This is the trailhead for the Canyon Overlook Trail. The trail is approximately one half-mile (one way), climbing and then clinging to the side of some hills to reach an overlook giving a view of
well, lets not give the whole show away already.
Julies nervous about the trail. Weve looked at some pictures online, and it has everything you could possibly want in a hiking trail: a climb up a rock face, sheer drop-offs right at the edge, rickety bridges, caves
I mean, who wouldnt want to try that, especially while carrying a 6-month-old baby?
Well, Julie wouldnt. I was fully prepared to strap the baby carrier backpack on and continue full speed ahead, but Julie wasnt comfortable with that idea. The trail does have railings against the biggest drop-offs, but still, she wasnt feeling it. I didnt want her to miss out on the views, but she said she didnt think shed be able to enjoy it if she was anxious about the baby the whole time. So she told me to go on ahead with the big kids while she stayed behind to nurse the baby and let him nap in the van.
7:57 a.m.The steepest climb on the trail is right at the beginning. You go up a series of switchbacks to climb the face of the rock. Heres a view of the tunnel entrance as we climb. The parking lot for the trail is just to the left of this picture.
As we move along, we encounter rock overhangs, narrow paths along canyon edges
Rickety, slightly unstable wooden bridges threatening possible doom
Partial caves
and the four of us agree that this is easily one of the coolest, most fun hikes weve ever done in our lives.
A half mile isnt too terribly far to walk. Its just enough to make it feel like youre working towards a goal. And that goal lies at the end of the trail:
Sometimes in life, you get a glimpse of Gods creation that is so perfect a work of art that it becomes pointless to try and put it into words. In these cases, its best to just shut up and take it in. So if you dont mind (and really, why would you?), Ill do just that.
I dont know exactly how long we stood there, taking in the view. I do know that we took approximately 14,605 pictures. And we did actually find a fellow tourist capable of framing me and the kids in the shot without obscuring the scenery. If you recall, earlier I had said that Zion is really a hikers park. You need to get out on the trails to truly appreciate what the park has to offer. There is no finer example than this spot.
8:40 a.m.We make our way back down the trail to find a calm, serene Mommy and a happy baby waiting for us.
8:45 a.m.Were on the road again. Were sorry to leave Zion behind, but there are even more treasures to come. Were heading to the Grand Canyon.
When planning the trip, we knew this was going to be a tough day. From the east entrance of Zion, the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is 5 hours by car (
See map here). Theres one road. And you have to drive all the way around the canyon through 100-degree temperatures in the Arizona desert to get there. The road is just a 2-lane back country highway, and much of the drive looks like this:
So, yeah. Were talking a daunting task here. The good news is, the kids have plenty of electronics to distract them, Drew has plenty of plastic water bottles to chew on, and the bridge over the Colorado River is a good place to stop halfway to have our usual gourmet lunch.
9:52 a.m.Were back in Arizona. Were moving along pretty well. Youre not going to believe this, but Dave has to go to the bathroom. Thankfully, were in the middle of nowhere, theres not a lot of traffic, and David is a boy. We use this time to reinforce the lesson that for boys, the world is your toilet.
10:38 a.m.We pass right by the entrance to Grand Canyon National Park.
No, really. This is the entrance to the
North Rim. Julie and I debated this long and hard. I have been to the North Rimmany, many years ago in my youth. Julie has never been there, and of course neither have the kids.
This is the only road you can take to get there, and it is so remote that only 10% of the visitors to the Grand Canyon actually make it to the North Rim.
We really, really, really wanted to go. The problem is, the road is 42 miles one way before it dead ends at the North Rim
overlook and lodge. So unless you book a stay there, youre driving an extra 2 hours out of your way, not including time spent at the overlook. Given that we already had to drive 5 hours total, we thought adding the North Rim would be too much with a baby in the car. It feels like were missing out. The views from the North Rim are more lush and green than the more famous spots to the south. Its much quieter and a more remote experience. Who knows when well ever get back there? Alas, well just have to come back someday.
11:00 a.m.Once we leave the pines of the Kaibab National Forest, we descend into the desert. The view gets a lot more interesting here, as we drive along the outer edge of Vermillion Cliffs National Recreation Area. We snap a picture here that looks to me like a classic Road Trip shot:
11:38 a.m.Weve made it as far as the Colorado River. So far, everything has been going exceedingly well. The ride has been fairly quick and uneventful, the kids are behaved, no one is screaming at anyone else in the car, no one is backseat (or sideseat) driving, and there have been no more unscheduled bathroom stops for anyone in particular. The plan is to stop at the parking lot/visitor center for the Navajo Bridge, the distinctive span that crosses the Colorado. This is another spot that I checked out ahead of time on Google Earth and thought to myself, Self? That would make a perfect place to stop for lunch.
We pull up to the entrance and
Well. Thats inconvenient. Now what do we do?
11:40 a.m.We cross the bridge. Just on the other side is another parking lot, leading to some tents where Native Americans are selling jewelry and other crafts. I guess this will have to do for lunch. Luckily, theres a path going up to the bridge so we can still check it out on this side. So all in all, things are just fine. As I said, theyre going exceedingly well. Julie and I are very pleasantly surprised at how easy this drive has been to this point, given how much we were dreading it earlier. Nothing can stop us now!
Wait, was his shirt always that color?
Im pretty sure the car seat wasnt that color before.
Crap.
Id better stop this journal entry right here. This is gonna take a while.
Coming Up Next: We paid thousands of dollars to see this great big hole in the ground!
At least he was happy.
not so much!
