(mobile viewing/reading better in landscape mode ... my website is weird.)
About
The plan was to meet up in Vegas with friends to see Dead & Co. at Sphere. But Carolina insisted that we head west a few days early so we could enjoy some time at the national parks. She's smart like that. I, however, was perfectly content to do a quick turn-and-burn to the worst city on the planet, see a couple Dead shows at the big fancy circle thing, and then get the hell out of Dodge. Nevertheless, I indulged this wild idea of hers to actually go outside and experience nature. And so our trip to Sin City started with a rental car and a drive out to Zion.
Angel's Landing Lottery
But before we even left Atlanta, I had to enter us into the lottery for permits to hike Angel's Landing at the next day. It was more or less straight forward - and there was even a helpful how-to video. Angel's Landing is the big ticket hike at Zion National Park. Which is why they limit the number of hikers on the trail. The lottery opens at 12:01am the day BEFORE your planned hike. And there is a $6 application fee.
Vegas to Zion
It takes about two hours to get from Las Vegas to Zion National Park. The drive is scenic in that beautiful southwestern way. Mountains and large expanses of nothing. We only got to enjoy it for a short time before it got dark, but it was stunning. I made sure we listened to "A Horse with No Name" by America because it seemed weirdly appropriate.
Cable Mountain Lodge
When you only have two full days and your ambition is high, time is money. So we opted to stay at the Cable Mountain Lodge right at the very edge of the park. There were less expensive options deeper in Springdale - and a free shuttle to take you to and from the park - but being able to wake up and walk to the welcome center was worth the extra money. Plus we were going to have an early start. We lucked out with the lottery and scored to permits for Angel's Landing. Unfortunately, we arrived in Zion later than we would've liked - somewhere around 11pm - so we didn't have a chance to look around. Basically, it was check in, brush your teeth, go to bed.
Angel's Landing Hike
So, I'm finally getting to writing all this eight months after the trip. Thus, some of my normal obsessive notes might be a little fuzzy. But I'm pretty sure we were up good and early so we could get a start on the Angel's Landing hike before it got too hot. It takes about four hours and spans 5.4 miles. To get there, we grabbed the other free shuttle - the one INSDE the park. No cars are allowed inside Zion, so everyone has to use the shuttle to get around. It was a short ride. We took it to stop 6 at the start of the Grotto Trailhead. You simply cross the road and go right along the West Rim Trail. Now, if you don't get a lottery permit, you can still hike part of the trail all the way up to Scout Lookout. But beyond that ...
At Scout's Lookout a park ranger will check your permit, and it's advised to have a screen shot saved on your phone. But here's a little tip in case you don't win the lottery and still want to hike to the top. Hang out just before Scouts Landing (or with anyone you meet along the way) and ask other hikers if they have any room on their permits. A lot of times, people back out once they get to Scout's Landing. So, if one person from a party decides to hang back, you can go in with the person who has the other permit. People are cool like that, and it happens a lot. Regardless, we were good to go. So it was up up up to the top, carefully placing our feet along the stone walls while grasping onto the chain ropes. It's steep in parts. And narrow. But it really wasn't that hard. Honestly, it was no worse than the difficult parts of Camelback Mountain back home on Phoenix. But definitely hard enough to scare away people who probably shouldn't be doing it. I think it was maybe another 45 minutes or so to the top after Scout's Landing. Worth it.
Water Shoes
Being that our hotel was right on the edge of the park, we took advantage of that to head back to the room for lunch and a breather. We were also able to re-fill our water and unload whatever we didn't need for part two of our day: The Narrows. This is the big water hike, and it's recommended that you rent a walking stick and special shoes to help you wade through the river. I think it was like $32. Zion Outfitter was just outside the park, literally steps away from our hotel. It's a well-oiled machine at this place. Just slinging shoes and sticks at warp speed. We opted to leave our regular shoes in a locker there for $5. Then it was back on the shuttle all the way to stop 9: Temple of the Sinawava. It's a proper long shuttle ride - maybe 30 to 40 minutes from the welcome center. So find a seat and get comfy.
Narrows Hike
There's no permit needed to hike The Narrows, so called because you walk through the river in between rock walls where it's, well, narrow. Depending on the flow of the river, they sometimes have to close it off. But it wasn't a problem for us, and it only got up to torso high in a couple places. In total, we only did about an hour in the river, not counting the 20-minute walk to the entrance from where the shuttle drops you off. We could've gone a little longer but for the fact that we were starting to feel tired and Carolina got sunscreen in her eye. But we got the point. It was fun, nice to do in the afternoon heat, and definitely (somewhat) do-able in the same day as Angel's Landing if you get an early enough start. By the time we got back on the shuttle, we were ready to be done for the day. So was a young girl who passed out on the ride. I can't even imagine what this place is like in the peak summer season. People must be dropping like flies. Anyway, the girl was fine. Just a little involuntary nap.
Dinner at Zion Canyon Brewpub
After The Narrows we went back to the room, showered up, and then walked back to the little village area near the outfitter to a brewpub for dinner. It met all my needs in that it had beer and burgers. Both were good. And sitting outside was lovely. You get to just pause, sip an IPA, and look up at the mountain walls set aglow by the setting sun. I'm sure there were plenty of other options for food in Springdale, but nothing was going to beat this.
Zion to Bryce Canyon
After a decent night's sleep, we were up in the morning - not too, too early - to head out to Bryce Canyon. It's about a two-hour drive. Not particularly scenic on the fast route, but easy enough. We certainly didn't arrive in time for one of Bryce's legendary sunrises, but we had resigned ourselves to this in exchange for catching up on sleep. Bryce is far less crowded than Zion, and we were able to park somewhat close to the trailhead at the Sunset Point parking lot.
Figure 8 Trail
I did a lot of research leading up to this trip and settled on what I guess we call the Figure 8 Trail. It's a six-mile down and back hike that let's you experience the very best of the canyon by doing the Navajo Trail, The Peek-a-Boo Loop, and the Queen's Garden Loop. Here's how it works: Start at Sunset Point where you can get a good view of Thor's Hammer, and veer right onto the Navajo Trail toward Wall Street. This is where you wind down the canyon, flanked on both sides by gorgeous red/orange rock walls. At the bottom, you'll be in the canyon where you need to turn left toward the Peek-a-Boo Loop along the short connector trail. The connector ends at a T-junction where you can go left for the Tropic Trail. But we go right. That takes you to the start of the Peel-a-Boo Loop where you can either start left or right. I recommend left so that you can actually make a proper Figure 8. But it's all the same. It's a loop. Once you complete the loop, you'll back track along the connector back toward the Navajo Trail. But instead of going back up that trail, turn right onto the Queen's Garden Trail. This will take you all the way back to Sunrise Point, thus completing the Figure 8. Mazel Tov. Now go empty the sand from your shoes and admire the dirt caked on your legs.
The two-hour drive back to Zion is supposedly more scenic if you take the 19-mile stretch south down 63. I didn't really notice anything special, but we may have done it wrong. But it was pretty cool to come back to the hotel through Zion. Somehow we ended up at the other end of the park and had to drive through it to get to the main gate. We passed a guard stop that was either not manned, or just too late in the day for them to care. Either way, I'm pretty sure I could've talked my way out of not having to pay a park fee to enter just to get to our hotel. But we'll never know.
Drive to Vegas
The next morning, it was one lat photo at the Zion sign and then back on the road to Vegas. Our friends were arriving from Atlanta and we were all staying at the Venetian which is attached to Sphere. We would see them later. Dropping off the rental car and then taking a nap came first.
Dead and Co.
We had dinner in the Venetian before the show with our friends Matt and Nora, and then settled into our seats for the June 21, 2024 performance. I had been to Sphere twice before to see Phish, so I had sorta done my homework and knew that the third tier or seats was actually pretty good. Not too high. Not too low. You really get to experience it all. Highlight was a 16-minute Eyes of the World.
Let's just say our room had a pretty good view.
Dead Forever Experience
Another nice perk of staying at The Venetian was being right there at the hotel for the Dead Forever Experience. It was basically just a big nerd-fest for Dead Heads including a photo gallery, artwork, and other Grateful Dead relics. It was also here that we met up with Nathan and Leanne who had come up from Arizona. Nathan and I dorked out with the audio machine where you could isolate specific instruments from classic Dead shows.
Lots of Dead Heads drinking and swimming. Read: Making bad daytime decisions.
Night two for me and Matt. Nora and Carolina went to the Beatles Cirque show. So we went with Nathan and Leanne who got in the spirit of things by putting a finger up in the air looking for a miracle. She had a ticket. It was just because. It was another fine show. Check out the Morning Dew.
And That Was That
We hiked. We swam. We rocked out. We went back to Atlanta and slept for a month.
No comments:
Post a Comment