ZIONS NATIONAL PARK / BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

It’s been a looooong winter.  For some reason the boys don’t understand why we don’t camp in the winter.  So you could probably understand why they were beside themselves when daddy came home with the camp trailer.  We’ve also kind of forgotten what ‘spring break’ is.  After all, it’s been about 8 years since Matt and I have been graduated from College.  But, having Mason in school now, ‘spring break’ has returned and we wanted to do something fun.  So we loaded up the rigs with some adopted family (friends :)) and headed down south.  When we pulled up to the reserved campsite in Mt. Caramel, Utah, we have to admit we were a little nervous, but it turned out to be an awesome place where the kids could make all the noise they wanted and could ride their bikes around wherever they wanted.   Day one we headed to Zions and first of all drove through the 1 mile tunnel – The kids tried to hold their breath through the whole thing, but didn’t last – it’s a long tunnel.  We caught the shuttle up the canyon and headed for the hike of the Emerald Pools.  We were quite surprised to see how many people had the same idea as us, as it was quite crowded.  We even ran into our good friends the Woodruffs – had no idea they were going to be there but it was a very nice surprise to see them.   Mackay took the easy route and rode on dad’s back in the shade.

 

 

This is the main bridge across the Virgin River to the trail head. 

 

Up the trail we went.  The kids ended up walking a little over 2 miles up and down hill and over rocks – Not one complaint!

 

At the top of the hike we were rewarded with a beautiful waterfall that flows over cliffs.  We’re able to walk right under it and enjoy a refreshing and different perspective.

 

 

 

Parents were nervous because there are plenty of cliffs around, but don’t worry, these chain fences keep them safe…

 

We’re finding that Mackay fits right into our family.  He was a trooper and LOVES to be outside.

The second part of the day we spent biking.  We took the Pa’Rus trail from the visitors center to the lodge.  This was my favorite part of the whole trip.  It was absolutely beautiful, and I very highly recommend it.  The path is about 10 feet wide and it’s paved the whole way.  It weaves up the canyon and the views are breath taking.  Mase and Max even rode up it.  We had to bribe them with a little ice cream, but they made it the whole way – taking turns in the trailer.  The ice cream was worth it.  Mason loved going back because it was all down hill.

 

 

Day 2 we went back to the park, but stayed away from the heavy traffic areas and did some hiking and exploring on our own. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to make a stop at the Zion Ponderosa Ranch just outside the park.  While we were there, Mason noticed a zip line from the top of a 4 story building.  He went to his dad and said, “Dad, I want to do that!”  Daddy wasn’t about to disappoint.  Max was all over it as well.  So the boys set the mold for the rest of the crew as they they were the first to harness up and head to the top.  There was no looking back!

 

 

Here’s Mason zipping down!

Here’s our Maxie!

 

 

 

Our final day consisted of visiting Bryce Canyon National Park.  We really made good use of our National Parks season pass :)  This is actually a Utah NP that we’ve never been to.  We were absolutely amazed by the heavenly vistas.  What a beautiful site.  The southern part of the state has taken the brunt of the winter storms so there was still about 3’ of snow where we were at, but the snow just added to the beauty.