This is a short post.
After hiking the narrows the boys and I spent the late evening soaking in the hot tub back at the RV Park. We enjoyed some crock pot dinner. Every passed out shortly after and slept like logs till the next morning.
At about 10 am we went back to Zion. This time we had several small hikes planned. We also had to work on the Jr. Ranger handbooks and get their badges. The Jr. Ranger handbook was the primary drive of the day. It required us to get off at several points in Zion to answer the questions. Kind of like a scavenger hunt. If you are in a hurry skip this program or do your research beforehand. It’s one of the few we have gone to that require you do a ranger talk and hit a bunch of spots within the park. The kids enjoyed it and I’m sure would do it again.
After getting the Jr ranger stuff done we had a little time to explore the lodge and to take a couple of short hikes. We ended up taking the lower emerald pool hike from Lodge and took the path “back” to the artist’s studio. There are actually two trails that lead from the lodge to the artist’s studio. The views from this hike were beautiful and we came across a trio of tarantulas – fun stuff.
We loved Zion. I can see why people have tried to live there for centuries. When Gail and I Go back we are excited to try Angels landing and the hanging gardens not to mention a much longer hike of the narrows. Having to choose between Lake McCaughey and Zion I felt we made the right choice. We will however have to go back to southern Utah a couple of times.
