The American Dream Trip - Zion and The Narrows

Moving on to the next leg of our trip: Zion National Park! As the week of nature immersing came to and end, we had one more National Park on our checklist: to conquer Zion! So we left Bryce early morning with a heavy heart and drove for about an hour and a half down one of the most scenic routes I have ever experienced in my lifetime. I specifically wanted to include this driving route in detail because I would want everyone to do this!

So as we pulled out of the South gate of Bryce Canyon, we travelled onto Highway-12 which took us between the Red Rocks of Red Canyon, encountering scenes like this one! We were so mesmerized by the drive that we were not quick enough to turn into the lay-by for a picture so this one on the move will have to do! Scenes like this was pretty much along the whole stretch of highway until we turned south on Highway-89. Stretches of this highway spanned windy roads adjacent to deep gorges and towering mountains of red rock which were terrifyingly beautiful! And my personal favourite would be the stretch approaching Zion, where it merges onto Highway-9, taking us into the East entrance of Zion and through to Springdale, where we were going to camp for the night. 

That drive was so pretty if actually felt silly that we had been missing out on all of this for so long! We met with a group of Brazilian bikers who were riding Harley Davidsons from Las Vegas and were nice enough to allow us to saddle for a bit and join for group photo.

After setting up camp, we had lunch in this little Thai restaurant in the small town of Springdale. I remember feeling really elated to see the little oriental shop that looked a little out of place in a town that resembled very much like a classic cowboy town from the movies. We had been on a forced diet of bread, eggs and instant noodles for about a week and I think I speak for all of us when I say: THANK LORD FOR RICE!! What can I say, we're Asians! Lol

A plate of seafood fried nasi goreng (extra spicy) later, we were energized and ready to go! We had one mission that day: To hike The Narrows! This hike was unique in a way that there arent any marked trails and we basically just hike along The Virgin River that flows to create narrow slots, that are sometimes only 20-30ft wide. The water which sometimes came up to as high as waist-length and very forceful at certain stretches could be slightly intimidating to those who arent strong-willed.

After researching, we decided that we needed to get some gear to prepare us for the hike. We rented our sticks from this company, on the day without making prior reservations. They also had drybags, water shoes and plenty more that you can rent to make your hike more comfortable. We felt that the sticks were sufficient as we were okay with getting our trainers wet. Just to note though, please DO make sure you have shoes with good grip and support as the riverbed is slippery and an accident or a swollen ankle would definitely suck all the fun out of the hike! 

This was the view at the start of The Narrows. There was more to come!

An eerie but beautiful sight.

We rushed through about halfway down into The Narrows but decided to turn back because it was getting late and we did not want to still be in there when in was dark. Safety first! On the way back, we saw the Zion Rescue Team in full force heading the opposite direction and into The Narrows. I shuddered to think about someone getting hurt in here and the difficulty of access for help. Thankfully, alhamdullillah we had an uneventful hike!

Retrospectively, I definitely wished we had been able to allocate more time in Zion. Angel's Landing was something that I really regretted not doing even if was just driving up to the viewpoint. So for those of you thinking of going to Zion, DO NOT miss this one on your itinerary!

When we got back to camp, we were wet and tired but our hearts content! The last night out camping was slightly sentimental as we took one last drive out, the moon on our backs trying to look for a good stargazing spot. As the little ones were setting up the GoPros and posing for a good picture, I remember just watching them from a distance and thinking, "Man, I had so much fun with these lot and I am never going to take nature for granted ever again. I am so lucky." I think I was more thankful that I got to enjoy them with two of my sisters because Family is Everything. I would do it all over again with them and not get tired of it!

One last look back at the campsite.... and we're off to LA! Hello civilization!

Until the next post, 

P xx