Camping in Zion National Park

A few weeks ago, we took the last of Richard's mandatory, use-it-or-lose-it vacation days to go camping at Zion National Park.

We met some of Richard's family there from California. Christina and Troy came with their three girls and James and Katherin came with their three children as well.

All in all, it was a fun trip. On the drive down, our family stayed at Heather's house for a night to split the drive into two legs. It was fun to see the Johnson crew. As we were driving down to Southern Utah, we were earlier than Richard's siblings, so we stopped to tour Kolob Canyons. We took a little hike at the top of the scenic drive along the Timber Creek Overlook trail. Aubrey sat atop Richard's shoulders most of the time and pulled on his ears.

The first night at camp was SUPER windy, which made it difficult to set up camp and cook dinner. I will also blame the wind for the fact that, while cooking tinfoil dinners, I set a half-full bag of charcoal briquettes on fire. Oops. We stayed up late that night, eating s'mores and telling scary stories. My favorite story was about a boy named Billy who got stuck in a tub full of marshmellow goo. Oooo, spooky...












The next day, we awoke and made a great camp breakfast (after wrestling with the camp stove.) After a short scripture lesson on God's creations, we headed to the park.


We drove to the park's south entrance and took the shuttle into Zion Canyon. We started at the visitor's center and watched a film about the park. Here we ate lunch and saw some of the rock formations--Altar of Sacrifice, Sundial, and West Temple.

Next we hiked to the Lower Emerald Pool (with slight drama from the chillens). James and co. made it up to the Middle Emeral Pool as well. The rest of us took naps on the grass back at the base of the trail.

For our last hike, we completed the Riverside Walk at the Temple of Sinawava. This was a beautiful hike along the Virgin River between beautiful cliff faces. While this hike was two miles roundtrip, Aubrey ran a majority of it. While giggling.

On the shuttle trip out of the canyon, we shared trail mix and dozed. Back at the camp, we had dinner and relaxed for the remainder of the night. The next day, we all packed up and went home. (Actually, our family went back to Heather's again. But not before eating at In and Out. Mmm.) What a great trip!