This month I went on a week long road/camp trip with my friends to Zion National Park and Havasu Falls. How many emotions did I feel on this trip? Almost all of them interestingly enough. But let's just recount events and enjoy photos.
We started with a lunch and grocery adventure in Las Vegas then headed out to Zion from there. There was plenty of car sleeping. We played Categories, and listened to Jesse's music. When we got there we pitched camp, had dinner, and planned the coming days. Day 2 was a hike to Angel's Landing. It's a 5 mile hike, but the elevation gain is ~1500ft so round trip took us about 5 hours. The last mile of the trip was through a rocky narrow path that required chains and lots of caution. People could fall pretty easily, but there were plenty of hand holds and safety chains to help. The view was excellent. Highlights: Huge ice creams, deer, sleeping in the hammock, and s'mores.
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| Zion |
Day 3 was a hike 3 miles into the Narrows, which is basically a river that flows through a canyon. The canyon closes in which is why you call it the Narrows. The waters were about waste deep so we rented dry suits and went exploring. I've never done anything like it, but wow it was amazing to be surrounded by the canyon. The best part was when we turned around, blew up our dry suits and floated back down the river. Carla got video of us floating around. Can't wait to see it. Highlights: falling in the river, floating, watching Rose and Kian blow up their dry suits.
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| The Narrows |
Day 4 was a driving adventure where we stopped at the Grand Canyon, ate some homemade chicken fried steak and got lost before getting to our lodge. Day 5 we woke early to hike into Havasupai. It was a 10 mile hike downhill, most of us carrying about 30lbs of extra weight into the canyon. I tried to let the weight and momentum carry me down most of the way but the last 3 miles were especially brutal on my feet. I'm impressed that everyone faired so well and had energy the next day to hike. Not to mention Brian who was definitely carrying 60-70lbs of weight. What a boss. Haha. We made camp next to a really beautiful part of the water and all jumped into the chilly stream to celebrate. Highlights: Havasu falls, hanging food in a tree, Cards Against Humanity.
Day 6 we all got up early and went exploring. No one thought we would be gone long, but we ended up finding a trail down to another waterfall that was way more trecherous than Angel's Landing. Then we followed a foot trail 3 miles to Beaver Falls. Luckily I wore my Vibrams so I could wade through the water all I wanted. Others didn't and we had to ferry people across the water from time to time. This one was probably my most favorite hike. I wish we brought food with us so we could have stayed out longer, but no one planned on hiking 6 miles round trip. Oh well. That's why it was an adventure right? Highlights: Jerry carrying Jesse across the river, yoga in the middle of Beaver Falls, chains and the climb down to the bottom of Mooney Falls.
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| Beaver Falls |
Day 7 was also an early morning. We threw 4 packs onto a mule and then shared the rest of the weight between us for the hike uphill. It went fast. I think we finished in about 4 hours. It was not the most fun hike, but not the hardest hike I've ever done either. We were glad to be done though. After we all had lunch at the lodge then sped all the way to Las Vegas for showers. Well I was definitely interested in the shower, not sure about everyone else. I think food and fun were a big motivation. Haha. When we got clean and unpacked we all had dinner at the Buffet in the Bellagio. YUM. It's crazy how much you can get done in a day. Highlights: Pushing each other up the canyon with one finger, showering and moisturizing, and macaroons.
Day 8 was Diego's corn beef hash breakfast and then a drive back to LA. When we got to Jesse's his parents made us lunch. There's nothing like a homemade meal and it made me happy to know I was going to Houston the next day. Afterwards we braved the traffic to Santa Monica and then hung out and had dinner until traffic subsided.
Overall highlights: Friends you only see once a year but you can pick up where you left off easily and peanut butter on a spoon.
