An early fall weekend in Zion...

This past weekend Annette and I took the trip to Zion we have been planning for a couple of months. I was last there about four years ago and was very much looking forward to taking one last warm-weather vacation and getting in some outdoor adventure.

The trip didn't disappoint.

We arrived at the park late Friday morning. The main parking lot was full so we found one virtually unmarked lot right outside the main entrance and pulled in there. The plan was to just pay the walk-in fee. Right off the parking lot there was a well-worn trail with a sign directing us to "Proceed to the Park Entrance" and pay. We followed the trail and next thing we new we were standing at the visitors center boarding the shuttle. Apparently Zion isn't exactly Ft. Knox, and we were a bit surprised how easy it was to just walk right in.

We immediately tackled Angels Landing. I had never done that hike before because in 2004 no one else wanted to go and, in all my trips prior to that, I was too young and Mom wouldn't allow me to join Dad and the older kids. I had always quietly thought that this was more paranoia on her part than anything else, but now I can definitely see why she refused to let me go.

It was a great hike. I had heard about the narrow parts with sheer drops and safety chains, but I had always envisioned that as being a relatively short part of the trail. In fact it's quite lengthy. Still, neither of us ever felt like we were in imminent danger of falling, and we made it all the way out to the point and back down. We felt especially cool when we walked by all the people that just stopped at Scouts Lookout (the part before the chains/sheer drops, etc.) and a few people that abandoned hope midway through the chains and turned back. It was a sunny (but not scorching hot) day and the view was well worth it.

Later that afternoon we walked back to the parking lot, planning on just getting in our car, driving into the park (paying the fee we hadn't paid coming in), and seeing some sights before going to dinner. I was there reminded of how tiny my car really is. Upon arriving at the lot, I looked where my car should have been and saw nothing. This didn't concern me since usually my car hides pretty well behind others, so I just took a few more steps over. But, I still couldn't see it. At this point I was starting to get a little incredulous that Zion would have towed my car from a completely unmarked -- and by all indications public -- lot with no warning. It wasn't until I took several more steps clear around the only car I could see that I finally saw my car's trunk. The car next to mine was just some little four door sedan, but my small, sleek Saturn was totally invisible on the other side of it.

We were staying with Jen and David (Annette's best friend and her husband) at David's parents' house in Toquerville. They had elected not to join us for Angels Landing but we all went to a great Mongolian BBQ place in St. George that night.

Saturday we went on a short hike to a lookout point over the Pine Creek part of the canyon, then to a "Watering Hole" along the river where there are some deep pools for swimming and jumping in. We went back to Toquerville to dry off and change clothes, then David's brother Matthew took us rappelling out in the desert. This was another first for me, but it wasn't so bad. The cliff we went off of wasn't very high and Matthew was very good at explaining the proper procedures and safety precautions.

We left Sunday at lunchtime after a brief (but panicky) search for my missing car keys. I thought for a moment I might have lost them rappelling. But, we found them and arrived back home in time for Sunday dinner with the family.

I'll post some pictures soon so you can all look on jealously. Let me just tell you this time of year is the perfect time to go down there. It was much less crowded than in the summer, the weather was perfect, and we got everything done we wanted to do.

I can't wait to go again next year.