A day in Zion NP with the Active Brits Crew - Sept 2006

From the Grand Canyon we headed to Zion National Park. It was a fairly short painless drive given the lack of corners, traffic and length of roads. The roads in the states are truly amazing, just stick the motor into cruise control, sit back, bring out the food and just stare at the scenery. Its almost like being in a mobile cinema. The stateside adventure had only just begun for us, so we were still on on a proper high and enjoying every minute of the place.

On the approach to Zion NP, Psychs decided that he would get some great video footage by leaning out of the Jeeps window while the rest of just slammed around in our seats to some quality house tunage that was banging from the speakers. We think we might have shocked a few locals and tourists alike with our music choice, but we were so psyched up with the whole experience we just wanted our moods to be continually lifted and for every second to count (plus the fact the radio stations seemed to be playing alot of country and western and 80's rock).

We woke up to a glorious morning in Zion, there was not a cloud in the sky and the sun cast a beautiful warm glow on the cliffs adjacent to the campground. After breakfast we set off on a hike up Zion Valley following the course of the river. The views of the peaks along the way were of total contrast to the Grand Canyon but they were just as epic. It was soon time for a spot of lunch and we found a great secluded spot where we could both chill for half an hour and have a dip in the ice cold water to try and put some feeling back in the legs that had taken a bit of a battering from the hiking in the Grand Canyon.

We just wanted to stay there all day but its not in our nature to relax. We'd pushed ourselves so hard since arriving in the states and we were determined to continue this ritual for the next 2 weeks, non stop, all the time. We decided to continue the hike up the valley without using the shuttle buses provided by the National Park, you can see so much more when you walk as well as giving yourself a fitness boost. We took some fantastic photos along the way and arrived at the famous Zion lodge in the early afternoon were we decided to join the rest of the tourist masses, have an ice cream and and just sit on the grass for 10 minutes looking at the majestic cliffs rising from all corners.



From the lodge, we headed to the trailhead of ‘Angels Landing’ a relatively small peak with an altitude of 5990ft. Weeman and Psychs had done this before on a previous visit to the States so they continued to hike up the valley to check out the climbing scene for a future visit. Rico and I decent to perform a speed ascent to the summit. We started at 16:50 and reached the top at 17:40. On the way we passed fantastic rock formations and layer upon layer of sandstone. The final push to the top involved walking on a ledge with a 1m clearance either side and then using chains to help you get to the top. The chains are there as a hand rail to help prevent you from falling to your death. We couldn’t believe the view from the top. This was truly one of the most amazing scenes on the planet, it was spectacular. After a quick swig of water, we decided to dig deep, tap into our limited energy resources and run down to the bottom in true active brits style. We and made it to the trail head at 18:48, a total of 1 hr 58 mins.


Back at the site, Psychs and Weeman said that they had seen some climbers on a rock face setting up their sleeping bags for the night. It sounded like they were having one hell of a quality experience. While the pasta was on the boil myself and Rico headed to the local village shop to pick up some beers in preparation for a quality night of banter and daily reflection. Thats the great thing with Zion, you a fast flowing refigerator right on your doorstep to chill those beers, not that they lasted very long. As the sun went down Rico was attacked by a low flying Praying Mantis which settled on his leg. It was an absolutely fantastic insect and we think he made a friend for life.



In the very early hours of the morning we were woken up to the clap of thunder, lots and lots of thunder, and it was getting closer by the second. We got to the stage where you saw the flash, counted till 2 and then heard this awesome boom... That could only have been one to two miles away. It was truly absolutely mental. All of a sudden the rains came, not just a bit of rain but full on mentalistic heavy crap which could flatten a tent in seconds. It was outstanding and such a buzz. Would the tents leak? Collapse? Not a chance we were as snug as a bug in a rug.. My only thought was for the climbers who had attached themselves to the rock for the night. I hope that they decided enough was enough and made a rapid decent when they heard the thunder.

By morning it was calm and a level of normality had returned to the site, together with the beautiful warm temperatures, so we packed up the Jeep and prepared to continue our mission to Great Basin NP.

Zion NP is a must for any SW stateside visit. Its only a few hours from Vegas, it has a quality little village where you can stock up on supplies, a really modern visitor centre and awesome campgrounds. Most of all the cliff faces and hikes will blow you away and if you can, just make sure you get off that damn shuttle bus once in a while. If you are disappointed by the place then you seriously need to get a life.. its freakin awesome..