Zion National Park

Emerald Pool–Lower, Middle & Upper trails

Although the park ranger at the visitor’s center told us this was an easy hike, it was pretty traitorous in many places.  There were lots of climbing and walking on narrow paths with sharp drops on one side.  The view was incredible and made the effort worthwhile.

Canyon Overlook Trail

Even more traitorous than the Emerald Pool trail.  Great view at the end.

The Narrows

We rented water hiking boots and walking sticks for this hike at David’s insistence and we were all thankful for his stubbornness!  Water was cloudy from so many people walking in it so we couldn’t really see what we were stepping on most of the time.  Having these shoes with special grip and walking sticks to help our balance made things a little easier.  We started out around 9 AM so it wasn’t terribly crowded going up the river buy by 12 PM, when we were coming back, it was packed.

Grand Canyon North Rim

The north rim the way to go!  We saw maybe 50 other hikers the whole hike up to the Cape Royal Point.  There are trees on the north rim so the views can be a little obscured but we found plenty of clearings where we could view the canyon.