Zion National Park left me speechless at every turn.  Angel's Landing and The Narrows were two of the most unique and breathtaking hikes I've ever done. 

The Narrows hike went along the very cold Virgin River, so the whole hike is in the water, on river rocks and sometimes a sandy bank. The further you go upstream, the thinner the crowds get. You can walk upstream for many hours but we turned back about two hours in and barely saw anyone by that point. We went in the morning so the sun poured through the canyons and reflected a rich orange color off the rock. Most people who come to Zion seem to be pretty experienced hikers, but we did see some occasional surprising things at the popular spots. The most absurd hiking attire award in the Narrows went to a man (undoubtedly from Texas) wearing short jean shorts and leather cowboy boots. Crazy, but I guess props to him, ha!

I did Angel's Landing solo. It was a pretty difficult hike, the path was paved up til the very top but was extremely steep most of the time. I was also trying to beat sunset so I didn't have time to make it to the very top of Angel's Landing without risking missing the last bus out and getting stranded. It was actually a great time to go because most people cram in the popular hikes early mornings, but nobody was really on the trail when I went so it was pretty peaceful. The views were absurd, and definitely reminded me of The Land Before Time.

Other than the main two hikes, we went horseback riding through this gorgeous field with prickly pear cactus to the base of the Three Patriarchs, and did several other hikes around the park. We also went on a private canyoneering adventure with a guide which was incredible (outside the park). Every day we put in around 35,000 steps so we were wiped out at the end of the day. Felt so good!

It was crazy to see how abruptly the landscape changed once we headed west outside of the Rocky Mountains.  We started near Vail and before I knew it we were in the desert.  The deeper we got into Utah, the more intense the red rock landscape got.  We were amidst miles of completely fat, dry land, with some red plateau looking mountains in the distance.  It made me want to go to an old-west saloon, drink whisky and eat salsa. Our main objective was to go to Arches National Park, the site of all the famous red rock arches.  T and I sprinted our way through the park, not because of time, but because we felt really free and energized by such a wild and unique atmosphere, and it just feels good to be alive and healthy.  We camped by a river in Moab just outside the park, which was really fun.  A mouse had fun walking on me all night through the other side of the tent, but weirdly I didn't care.  I just shined a light on him and saw a silhouette of his little mouse feet pressing down on the sheer fabric. That's how it is with T; we are both low maintenance and just go with it, however non-glamorous and exhausting it may be.  No complaining, just go with the flow.  I love that.