Biking in Zion

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Created on Thursday, 02 July 2009 17:07

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Last week we took a family vacation (sans Bug who worked VBS instead and hates family vacations because something bad always happens) with Eric's best friend and cousin, Scott, to our usual getaway Springdale, Utah. Springdale is the little town that sits just outside of Zion National Park. I've been vacationing in Springdale since I was a kid because my grandparents lived there and my aunt and uncle owned a bit of the town, including the Pioneer Lodge motel. No family lives there anymore, but we still stay at the lodge when we visit. The town has really grown over the years but there are still no fast food eatieries (yay!) and the town basically shuts down around 9PM. The town grocery store closed up last year so when we arrived, we walked down to the store at the entrance to Zion to pick up some milk.

This year, Abe and I brought our bikes and did a bit of cycling while we were there. We had rented bikes once way back when we were first married and rode down the highway to Grafton ghost town (where part of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed) but this was my first time bringing my own bike. We didn't make it to Grafton on this trip, but our first morning in town we rode into the park, along the Parus trail (the only bike trail in Zion) and along the canyon road all the way to The Narrows trail. It was a great ride, all uphill of course. Abe told me it was about 9 miles round trip but he had miscalculated a bit and it was actually 18 miles. haha It wasn't bad in the morning because it was nice and cool out and there was no sun in the canyon yet. We took the same route the next afternoon in 110 degree heat and I opted out of the canyon portion of the trip. Abe came back to the motel dripping sweat and begging for water. lol  Instead, I rode my bike around the town a bit and followed a back road from the Springdale Cemetery to one of the lodges further up the road. It was a nice trail but the soft, red sand was a bit hard to maneuver at times.

The boys didn't bring their bikes but they were up for hiking, so we followed a few of the trails in Zion during the week. The first morning, after we had already biked the canyon, we took a short trail that was entirely exposed to the sun. Scott had used Eric's Bullfrog sunscreen, which I guess does not smooth into the skin and stays white for hours. One of the trail-workers asked if he was wearing sunscreen or if he was Michael Jackson, so we called him MJ for the rest of the day. It was sad when Michael died just a couple of days later. (BTW, my friend Joanna noticed that while we were gone Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson all died and Eva didn't even go on the trip with us. See Eva, it is not just you that causes the bad things to happen!) I only got partway up the Hidden Canyon trail before deciding that this particular trail and vertigo don't mix. So I went back down and up again while waiting for the guys to climb higher into the canyon. While I waited, I could hear some kids "whoop-de-dooing" to hear the echo it made. There's no way I would have brought little kids up into that canyon. There are shear drops off the trail and they provide a chain for you to hang onto while you climb. It was bad enough watching Eric and Scott descend the trail at such a fast pace, barely touching the chain. Abe has a bit of vertigo himself so he is a lot more careful.The boys and I took in a movie during the trip. The park shows IMAX type movies during the day all about Zion or local wildlife, but at night they have a single showing of a new release. While we were there, they were showing Night at the Museum Battle of the Smithsonian. It was entertaining...stupid, but entertaining. haha  

We took a look at some new apartments and homes they have built/are building along the road to the cemetery. I guess at $629,000 or so, the homes are a bit out of our price range for a summer home. Agh! We did buy some art while we were there. We need something for our main wall, over our couch. I've been thinking that it should be something that fits in with our country (aka Amish) decor and also suits our personality as a family. Since most of us love Zion (and let's face it, a picture of Brea Mall would not be a suitable art piece, Eva), I thought we should have something reflecting our love of the place. A few years ago we went into the Fatali Gallery in Springdale and saw some wonderful photographs, but boy howdy, the price tags. haha They were having a 25th anniversary thing while we were there so we were able to get a smaller photo at 25% off. There are a coupld of other canyon photos we might buy later to complement the Light of Zion (the photo above) we purchased.

Overall, it was a great trip. You can tell the boys are getting older as they only spent an hour or two total in the pool while we were there. When they weren't hiking or eating, they were watching YouTube and playing WoW. Abe is talking about going back to Springdale in August, but we're so busy this summer I'm not sure if the rest of us will be able to make the trip. I'm thinking the kids would like to take a trip to Tucson again soon. And of course, at some point we will have to make it to France, Germany and Australia. :D