Utah was so overwhelming that I am unable to think where to begin. It is a varied terrain state and a month is not enough to experience the diversity in the terrain here. 

We drove from Las Vegas to Zion NP on May 11th. We had zeroed on this park because our friend @Fred suggested that the park is an absolute must and we were fortunate that @Adhar and @Bernadette visited us right after their trip to Zion. So, we got all the good tips for Dos and Don’t for the Zion Park. 

We booked the Cable mountain lodge located right at the visitor center and bought our Zion shuttle tickets in advance which saved us time. 

Our first hike was the most popular hike and notorious for being among America’s most dangerous (and scary) hikes - Angle’s Landing. The weather in the morning at 7 AM MT was perfect for a 1000+ elevation in 2 miles of this hike. The views from the hike were gorgeous with these huge mountains surrounding the valley. On our way down from the Angels Landing we met this cute couple (Eric & Paige) who were on a road trip in Utah celebrating a birthday. One of the perks of traveling is getting to share your experiences with strangers and making them your friends. We love that and so did Eric & Paige. We connected on National Parks, Dallas and our love for travel along with passion for work. We got some good tips for Grand Teton and we promised to post our Glacier NP pix for them (coming up soon on our insta - @theotroway).

After Angel’s Landing , we got some lunch and went up to Emerald pool which was honestly a disappointment but the view going down from the Emerald pool to the Village lodge was beautiful. We carried our binoculars which I think was the best purchase for this roadtrip ( totally worth it ). 

We had planned to go to Narrows for the next day which unlike Angel landing, is a hike at water level. Walking through river water was the most fun part of the hike. Everyone would go ‘oooooohhh .. water is freaking cold” in sync and right there we all were sharing our feelings for the hike. The sun at the top and water till our waist kept our body temperature just right where we San Franciscans would like it ;). The slot canyons walls with sunlight seeping through it forming a beautiful shapes reminded us of Antelope canyon (which we visited for Adhar’s graduation in 2009).  I want to say this was my favorite hike of the Zion’s national park. 

PS: I chickened out at Angel’s landing and did not go past the second chain link. I believe views were pretty much the same :) and I had the company of a young graduate who was with her boyfriend for a graduation trip before joining Lockheed. Did I already tell you that I love meeting people on our trip?