Zions National Park

Dave decided to do a medical conference in Zions National Park this fall on medical wilderness skills. Of course, I jumped at the chance to come along.  When we arrived we met up with Patty and hiked in Kolob canyon.  One of my favorite places.  It was a nice day, and there was water in the canyon which made for a pretty waterfall that day.

The resort we stayed at had a beautiful view, and I loved sitting there while the kids swam in the pool enjoying the sunsets. 

We did lots of fun hikes, including a few we have down before.  

 The kids especially loved the emerald pools.

I love these goof balls.  Can you tell they are tired of me taking pictures?!?

 Amanda was being a grumpy teenager most of the time and chose to stay back at the resort while we hiked.  But we did talk her into hiking with us the last day.  (It may have had something to do with checkout time and being stranded at a resort).  We saw lots of wildlife that day including bighorn sheep, and some pretty amazing views.

 Spencer made good friends with this little squirrel.

So this bighorn sheep picture could have been really cool, but my hand was shaking so bad it didn't materialize.  The whole story goes like this:  We saw the sheep as we were driving, and the boys were excited because it had those beautiful full horns, and it was close by.  We stopped at the next pull off and got out to explore.  The next stop though was a bit away from where we had seen it, but there was a slick rock rise we could climb to get there, so that is what we did.  Maren and the boys were faster climbers than me, and when they crested the rise, there it was, just a few feet from them.  They crouched down behind a rock and it walked by in front of them...so close.  Maren said she could hear it breathing, and it's footsteps...or maybe that is hoofsteps?!?  I finally got a picture, but not until a few minutes later.  So glad they were not hurt.   

WE hunkered down in the river bed while Dave finished off his classes that last day and the kids played in the sand for a few hours.  Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

And then off we went to spend our last night with Patty in St George.  This time really was bitter sweet, as we knew she was close to listing the house in St George.  We will really miss our times there, lots of fun memories over the last seven years there.

These are all pictures of Zions from different hikes we took.  I wish I was real photographer and could do it justice, but man it is an amazing place.