We wanted to squeeze in one last road trip before Baby Young arrives. Six years ago when Luke and I traveled across the country, we checked out a lot of National Parks and both agreed Zion was by far our favorite. We have wanted to go back ever since and so it was an easy choice when it came to deciding on where to go on our babymoon.
The drive to Utah is long and not very interesting so we took the most scenic route we could by driving through Yosemite and the Eastern Sierras and spending our first night at June Lake.
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| Driving through Yosemite |
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| First night and Luke caught us a fish for dinner! Camping at June Lake. |
It was a long and hot drive across Nevada, how people do that drive with kids is beyond me! We stayed in the small town of Springdale, Utah, about 1 mile from the entrance to Zion NP, at the same campground we stayed at six years ago. At one point I said to Luke how crazy to think that the last time we were here we hadn’t even been dating for six months and hardly knew each other, and now look at us, back at the same campground, married, with a child on the way!
After some negotiating, we were able to get a prime shady site right on the Virgin River which made our five night stay absolutely perfect.
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| Our campsite in Springdale, UT |
Our first full day in Utah was Luke’s birthday and the birthday boy wanted to float the river. It was so fun and the perfect way to beat the 95+ temps. The town of Springdale runs free shuttles all day long from one end of town to the entrance of Zion NP which made floating the river and getting back to camp a breeze. We got in the river just above our campsite, floated down for about two hours, got out and caught a shuttle back to camp.
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| Katrina floating the Virgin River |
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| Luke with Zion NP in the back |
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| Birthday float |
The next day we thought we would ride our bikes into Zion, go to the Visitor’s Center and plan out the rest of the week. We packed a few snacks for our morning in the park, thinking we would come back to the trailer for lunch. Once in the park, we realized there was so much we wanted to see and do that we quickly forgot about not having a lunch and just got started on doing as much as possible. No cars are allowed inside the park. Instead there are free shuttles that run every 10 minutes taking you where you need to go. This makes for a great bike ride. We pretty much had the road to ourselves, with the exception of having to pull over for a shuttle every now and then. We would highly recommend biking through Zion, it is the best way to see the park!
Our ultimate destination for the day was the end of the road at what they call The Narrows. We stopped along the way for a quick three mile hike up through some canyons and got a great view of the valley.
We made it to The Narrows around
1:00 – the heat of the day. Hiking The Narrows means hiking in the Virgin River up through the canyon walls of Zion. As you walk up the river, the canyon gets more and more narrow creating some of the most dramatic scenery you’ve ever seen. At
1:00 in the afternoon, walking in that river was the only place we wanted to be. Man was it hot outside! The last time we were in Zion, we hiked up The Narrows as well, but it was April and the weather was about 30 degrees cooler – a much different experience! We could have hiked up that river for hours, and wanted to, but by
3:40 this pregnant lady was feeling the effects of skipping lunch so sadly we turned around and hiked back down. A special permit is required, but apparently you can do the entire 16 mile top-down hike through The Narrows which is definitely something we would like to check out the next time we visit (we just hiked a portion of the river bottom-up so no permit was required).
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| Start of The Narrows |
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| Luke walking up a section called Wall Street |
At the end of the day, we had biked 20 miles, hiked 5 miles, and river walked 5-6 miles. Luke made venison burgers for dinner when we got back. A burger has never tasted so good as it did that night.
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| Well earned burgers for dinner |
Our other big adventure that week was hiking to Angels Landing. We had heard so much about this hike (even saw t-shirts saying ‘I made it to the top of Angels Landing!’) that we just had to see what all the fuss was about. The hike is relatively short, about 5 miles round trip, but fairly steep and definitely a little treacherous at the top. The climb wasn’t that bad at all. What was tough, was walking the last ½ mile or so on the narrow spine of the mountain with sheer cliffs on either side and pulling yourself up another 500 feet in elevation with the help of some very worn cables. My heart is pounding as I type this just thinking about it! We nearly turned around, but very glad we stuck it out and made it to the top. We were rewarded with spectacular views in every direction.
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| Early morning in the park, start of Angels Landing hike |
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| Start of the cables |
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| So relieved to have made it across the spine! |
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| This is the spine you had to walk across, very scary! |
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| Made it to the top! |
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| Top of Angels Landing |
We got so many comments and looks of surprise from people when they realized I was pregnant. It made the hike that much more entertaining and memorable! My favorite was a comment from a crazy hippie man practically running down the steepest section of Angels Landing. When he saw me, he stopped and said “You are hiking this in that condition? Wow, you are all right!”
We spent the rest of our time in Zion cooling off in the river by our campsite and relaxing in our hammocks. Each afternoon as I lay on the hammock I would check in with Baby Young and see if I could feel any movement. Not only did I feel lots of movement, but it was the first time I saw the baby moving from watching my stomach! I just love that Luke and I were both able to experience this for the first time on our babymoon – how appropriate!
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| Afternoon nap |
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| Luke relaxing |
When it was time to say good bye to Zion and head back home, we weren't quite ready for our babymoon to end so we once again decided to take a slightly longer, but far more beautiful route home through Carson City and Tahoe. We stopped in Carson City and had breakfast with Luke's grandma, aunt, and cousin, and then finished up the trip with a night along the Truckee River. Saturday afternoon was spent floating down the Truckee River and Sunday we enjoyed a 35 mile bike ride from Squaw Valley to Tahoma and back. The weather was beyond gorgeous and it was the perfect way to end a wonderful trip.
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| Luke fishing the Truckee River |
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| Final night of our trip. Camping in Tahoe. |
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| Biking along the Truckee River |
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| Biking around Take Tahoe |
Our new trailer worked out great! Very comfortable, plenty of space, and easy to tow. So crazy and exciting to think that the next time we take the trailer out, there will be three of us!
