Zion National Park
We spent last weekend enjoying the sunshine and outdoors in Zion. We planned this trip months ago as a first ever camping trip with my family. We've never actually traveled all together before, and I was so happy with how it turned out. Our little family was joined by my mom flying in the day before, she drove down with us, my brother John and his wife Ayme and their baby Trinity from San Diego, and my sister Diane and her husband Reed from Modesto.We stayed at the Zion Ponderosa Resort (after much research on my part, I really wanted everyone to have a good time) because the location was pretty good, but the amenities were the best. They had individual showers, two pools, and two spas, laundry room, putt putt golf, climbing wall, restaurant, etc.
It turned out that we were especially grateful for the laundry room. Matisyn threw up all over herself, the car seat, the stuff stored beneath her seat, you get the idea on the ride down. We still had an hour to go, but hero Daddy had most of it cleaned up before my mom and I were out of the restaurant and knew what happened. When we got there Matt set up camp, mom watched the kids, and Diane helped me take everything over to the laundry room. Exciting beginning! Luckily she was fine for the rest of the trip, so I'm not sure what was wrong.
Emilyn slept through the night for the first time ever camping. The two things that were different were first, I snuggled her in my bed until she fell asleep (we've never had to do that at home, so I never considered it camping, but I think it really helped calm her down). Second, she had a warm snugly sleeping bag that she couldn't kick off as easy, that kept her warm. Halleluiah for whatever worked to get us a decent night's sleep!
The first day John and Ayme hadn't arrived yet, they stayed over the night before in Vegas. So the rest of us headed into the park to the shuttle bus section. We hiked the Weeping Rock Trail first, and then did the Riverside Walk, which I had never seen before. It really was beautiful, and flat, which was nice for Matisyn especially, I thought. That was about a four mile day. Since Emilyn is too big for the Baby Bjorn front pack this year, she had to be in the backpack, which meant Matisyn had to walk. We were a little nervous about this, and how much it would limit our hiking options. Matisyn complained a little and had to be carried for a short time, but for the most part she hiked all on her own. That was the hardest day for her. The hikes got longer, and she was amazing. I can't believe how many miles she put in. She liked the harder, climbing ones best. She loves having to jump over rocks and climb up hills, much better than the flat. Crazy huh?!!! After our hiking we headed back to our camp and took the kids swimming.
The second day we were able to hike all together. We hiked the Lower Emerald Pool, Middle Emerald Pools, and up to the Upper Emerald Pool, and then the Grotto Trail. I think that was somewhere around 4 or 5 miles, and Matisyn hiked it all. The middle two trails were on the moderate list instead of easy, and she loved them best! The view from the Grotto Trail was amazing. We took the girls swimming again when we got back, even though the pools were pretty cold, because they can never get enough of the water, and Matisyn loved the water slide.
The third day Diane and Reed headed home after breakfast that morning. The rest of us headed off to a kind of hidden hike to Observation Point. Normally it is 8 miles round trip with over a 2100 ft. elevation gain to get to the top. When you are staying at the Ponderosa Resort there is a different trail right off their property that starts much higher so there isn't close to as much to climb. The manager drove us to the trail head so we could find it. It ended up being farther than we were expecting, 6 miles round trip still, but it was worth it. The view was spectacular. We were looking down at the little people on the top of Angel's Landing, which is crazy because I've done that hike a few times before, and it is hard and HIGH already. Matisyn, again was a trooper, and made most of the hike all by herself. We held her tight at the top because of the cliff drop offs, and I had to piggy back her some of the way down, but she did great. We discovered that Emilyn might not be a fan of heights. She was in the backpack and anytime Matt went closer to the edge to look over (not too close though) she would start to whimper, and say "no, no Daddy, no fall, no fall down." She also cried a bunch at the top because she was mad we wouldn't let her loose to run around and fall down those big cliffs. She was also mad I had forgotten her blanket. Matt ended up having to pack her up and head down the mountain early so that everyone else could enjoy their hard earned view!
We had a wonderful trip, and are so grateful that our family traveled to our neck of the woods to enjoy some of the places we love so much. Thanks everyone for some great memories!
Emilyn was so excited when we let her loose to "hike" on her own for a while outside of the backpack.
What a fun trip! I am so glad everyone had a good time.
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