THE GROTTO | ZION NATIONAL PARK (3/3)

These are the last few bits of pictures from Zion I'll be sharing. On our last day we hiked part of the Emerald Pools Trail, then spend the rest of the morning relaxing on the front lawn of Zion Lodge—while Bambi & friends munched on their lunch (Seriously, deers roam around people like it's no one's business. That makes me happy because this is their home and they can eat grass next to my leg if they wanted to). 

Anyway, the pictures below are not of Emerald Pools (oops), but from the short hike, we took the day before—after Angel's Landing. It's called the Grotto Trail. I thought it would lead us to a big pool of water at the end (you know, like Ariel's grotto?), but no. Oh, wells. Glad we ended up taking the scenic route home anyhow :)

There you have it. That's the end of my last trip for a while...sadly. The highlight of this one though? Sleeping through a thunderstorm on our last night, hoping to the stars our tent won't get blown away, or that I would be struck by lightning. I'll miss you, Zion. You and your crazy, ever-changing, abrupt weather—flash flood and all.

THE NARROWS | ZION NATIONAL PARK (1/3)

Zion Sunrise

So good to be back here! This was my second time hiking the Narrows and the experience was extremely different—in a good way.  There was a "mild flash flood" warning and I have to be honest, I was freaked out 80% of the time. Every time I felt the current get stronger, or saw the weather change, or felt debris around my leg I was ready to turn back. We almost did, except my friend Annie didn't want to give up. Luckily, there was no flash flood and we made it out alive. So thank you, Annie, for being a lot more adventurous than we were. There's so much more to say about The Narrows hike, but...these pictures will have to do. 

The last 4 photos are not from the Narrows, but our home at South Campground was too pretty not to share. 

Virgin River

my friend Brandon taking a little dip

Bambi & friends (deers roam around freely; how sweet is that?)

DIXIE NATIONAL FOREST | SUMMER 2015

Red Canyon, Dixie National Park - Utah

BRYCE CANYON | SUMMER 2015

Hoodoos + Navajo loop trail

Zion National Park | Summer 2014

Here are a couple pictures from my trip to the Zion. My goodness, this place was magnificent. It was beautiful. It was amazing. It was breathtaking. I wish I would have been able to spend at least a week here so I could have had enough time to explore the entire park and just take it all in. I have always wanted to explore the world, and I am so blessed to have been able to go to two National Parks this summer. I hope I will be able to visit many more throughout my life. 

View from Weeping Rock

I went with my two older brothers and my brother's friends. We explored Weeping Rock and Narrows Trail. Weeping Rock is the shortest trail at the park. It's only a half mile round trip, which took us about 15 min to hike. Beware it's short, but kind of steep. The view at the top was so nice though. We got wet because there was water dripping from the top of the path. Almost as if the rock was weeping. Hence the name?

Next, we took the shuttle higher up into the mountains and hiked Narrows Trail. I loved Narrows Trail. Narrows Trail was given the name due to it being the most narrow section of the Zion. The hike involved wading, walking, running, and trying to survive literally walking through the river. I'd hate to compare every single hike I've been on, but this has got to be one of my top ones. I really felt like I was being one with nature because it wasn't a walk along a paved road or a mountain trail but an untouched trail made by nature, not man. You can't tell from the pictures but the current was intense. My friend even got knocked over a couple of times. It was pretty funny to watch haha. 

all photos taken with iPhone 5