Day 5–Zion and Bryce Canyon
Well, today had some lows, one of them being the hotel room we are currently in (thankfully, just for tonight), but I suppose five days into a road trip with a family of six, those are bound to happen. We saw some amazing (that was for you, Hayden D.) sights and had some laughter, too.
We packed up early this morning and left our lovely hotel for the shuttle to hike the trails to the Emerald Pools in Zion. The views along the trail were more impressive than the actual pools. There was nothing "emerald" about them and nothing special at all really. The kids went further and did more than Greg and I (aka. Mr. & Mrs. Gimpy). They went down to the lower pool, while we watched from above, and then we all went to the middle one together. The kids hiked up to the upper pool, while Greg and I sat and took a break at the middle pool.
*edited--The low I'm not supposed to share on social media (and didn't) was when we lost Aubrey at Zion on the Emerald Pool trails. Kari, Joel, Aubrey, and Grant went on to the Upper Emerald Pool, and Greg and I stayed behind at the middle pool. About a half hour later, Kari, Joel, and Grant ran back down to us. No Aubrey. They left her behind! When Aubrey didn't appear after a few minutes, we started to worry, and Greg took off running up the trail to find her. Kari and Joel realized there was a spot on the trail that forked off in two directions, and she may have gone the wrong way. My phone rang with a call from Aubrey (we'd had no reception, so it was God's grace that her call went through--she'd been trying to reach us), and she was lost and crying. Joel took off to find her, knowing where she likely was. Greg came back, having made it all the way to top with no sign of our 16-year-old, and I explained what had happened. Soon, Joel and a very angry and sad Aubrey came back to where we all were. She was sputteringly mad and crying and so angry that she got left behind. She had followed a different group down the wrong trail and was halfway to Zion Lodge before she realized her error. The kids felt bad for leaving her and that she'd been scared, but they also were trying to keep from laughing, because Aubrey was being pretty funny. Kari went to the stream and cleaned off Aubrey's frogg togg towel that had fallen in the dirt, trying to make amends. It took Aubrey the whole trek back to the trailhead to calm down and recover fully.
Just past the long tunnel is a scenic overlook we really wanted to do on our way out of Zion. I asked God to please give us a parking spot (very limited parking), and he did! This area makes me think of Cars (Disney movie and ride in DCA). Felt like we were on Racers as we drove out of the park. It was HOT, even early this morning, another high of 105 today.
Huge temperature swing down to 80 degrees as we drove into Bryce Canyon. It was raining, which was a bit of a bummer, but it eventually stopped, and we were able to get our first glimpses of the hoodoos and the canyon we’ll be hiking tomorrow. Such a stunning sight! After a small debacle getting into our hotel room and after we ate dinner, we returned to the scenic rim viewpoints, in hopes of a sunset display, but there were too many clouds and a thunderstorm brewing. Still pretty, and we enjoyed our evening on a bench for a while. Hiking down the Queens Garden and up the Navajo trail in the morning!
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