We left Las Vegas early this morning because we have a lot to see today! We drove by Lake Mead on our way to see the Hoover Dam. Zion’s Virgin River actually dumps into this lake. Once we got to the Dam, we had to drive over it, but found parking so that we could experience it up close! The vast difference in water level between the two sides of the dam is remarkable.
After our minor detour to the Hoover Dam, we started making our way to Zion National Park where we’re staying for the night! We got to Zion around 2 PM and we were pretty hungry…so we had lunch at Zion Brewery (right next to the park’s entrance!). Of course we had to try a flight of their local beers, and we enjoyed all of them!
After lunch we headed into Watchman Campground to set up camp. We were so happy to see that our site had some shade, as Watchman’s peak loomed over us (it was a hot day!). We quickly set up our tent and got in our car to go hike some short trails before dark!
Only the park’s shuttle service could get to the trails that we wanted to hike, so we parked our car at the Visitor’s Center and hopped on the next shuttle! We took the shuttle all the way to the end of the line to hike the Riverside Walk.
We love it when the park provides a shuttle service, because that means we don’t have to drive and we can enjoy the views! The colors of the canyons were absolutely beautiful, giving off different shades of reds, oranges, and white!
When we got off at the Temple of Sinawava stop, we started feeling raindrops…but that didn’t stop us! The Riverside Walk is a 2.2 miles paved trail along the Virgin River, and the thunder and lightning definitely added suspense to the hike! The trail led to the Narrows, which is a continuation into the knee-deep river. We wanted to beat the storm there, especially because there were already flash flood warnings in the area!
We got to the end of the trail and made our way down to the river to walk The Narrows. There’s actually a 16-mile hike through The Narrows, but you need a permit to do the full length…so this was a great opportunity for us to do a part of it!
We started to hear thunder and see lightning, so we decided it was time to turn back! As we’re walking out of the trail, the rain got heavier (which actually felt nice and refreshing), and the lightning got closer…we couldn’t wait to get back on the shuttle!
The shuttle safely drove us back to the Visitor’s Center, and we hopped in our car and headed back to camp. We sat in our car until the storm passed, and when the rain died down a little we headed for our tent. Tomorrow we’re going to Bryce Canyon National Park and then to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, where we’re staying for the next two nights! We just booked a ½ day mule ride into the canyon to Supai Tunnel with our recent Vegas winnings…so stay posted!!