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!
