Zion and Bryce National Parks - Eileen's Travel and Mountain Adventures

We arrived the Watchman Campground in Zion National Park to find others camping in our spot.

They were in no hurry to leave and hung out to watch us put up our tent. They actually milled around all night long.

After setting up camp, we head into the park. We only had the afternoon so we decided to head straight to Angels Landing. We knew we would be stopping for many pictures and this way we were sure to get everything in and be back at the shuttle before dark.

The meadow leading to Angles Landing was full of color. This would be my third trip up Angels Landing and probably not my last.

Jim and Brooke with Angles Landing I the distance

We took our time on the hike up stopping at almost every switchback you take in the view.

Eileen and Jim on the trail to Angles Landing

When we came to the saddle below the climb up Angels Landing, we saw a herd of people heading up the chains. We opted to hike up to Scoots Lookout which has a great view of Angles Landing.

The crowds had really dropped off when we finally started up the chains. The climb up Angles Landing is an experience.

Jim and Brooke on the climb of Angles Landing

Jim, Brooke, and Eileen on the climbing of Angles Landing

When we came to the final summit climb, the wind started to blow. There was definitely a storm coming in. For our summit pictures, both Jim and Brooke were careful to hold on to their hats in fear of never seeing them again. We wondered how many hats the park service has found over the years.

Jim and Brooke on the Summit of Angles Landing

Our climb down was so much fun. We were nearly the last people so we didn’t have to stop and wait for anyone. We arrived the shuttle before dark. It was hard to believe that it wasn’t even 6pm.

View from trail descending from Angles Landing

Jim and Brooke heading down from Angles Landing

Once back at camp, we drove over to Zion Rentals. Our plan was to hike the Narrows the next morning. When we arrived the rental shop, we were informed that they would not be renting out any gear for the next day. Zion was expecting a big storm and the Narrows was not a safe place to be.

That night we sat around camp drinking margaritas and wine trying to come up with a new plan for tomorrow. We were in light clothing and Brooke was barefoot. We had no idea this would be the last night of above zero temps.

In the morning, we hiked the Watchman.

Then we headed out toward the east entrance of Zion stopping at nearly every switchback for photos.

Jim and Brooke in Zion headed to the East Gate

Our first priority in Bryce Canyon City was to do laundry. I had learned my lesson from camping in Bryce with Erika… get a Hotel!

This was a good plan since when we were done with laundry there were snow flurries. This didn’t stop us from driving into the park to visit as many view points as possible before dark.

There is nothing like Bryce Canyon.

The next morning, we set an alarm in order to see sunrise. We had also planned a hike through the hoodoos. With a high of 30degrees in the forecast, we put on everything we had brought with us. After my trip with Erika, I not only brought mittens but hand warmers.

Sunrise was nothing special but all the fresh snow on the red rock towers was.

We started our hike which was a figure 8 loop. We figured we would hike out as soon as we were super cold. Like that was going to happen. We all suffer too much from FOMO (fear of missing out).

We passed by structure after structure. Stopping every 5 minutes for more pictures.

The only thing that would keep us moving was the fear of freezing to death. I have to admit the snow flurries made for an extra beautiful hike.

Each part of the figure 8 offered different structures to be photographed.

The end of our hike went up through the thin structures in the amphitheater called Wall Street because the hike has high walls on each side.

Eileen and Jim climbing Wall Street in Bryce Canyon

As we were hiking up, we passed rangers hiking down. They were in the process of closing the trail for the season.

We had timed our trip perfectly.

We spent the afternoon hanging out in the hotel room. This was the first time we had completely stopped on our entire trip. It was nice but after about 3 hours we were all ready to go do something again. Good thing none of us are good at sitting still.

We drove back into the park but found that almost everything had been shutdown either for the season or for the storm coming later tonight. We did run around in the snow for awhile.

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