teh fortune cookie

Originally the plan was to explore Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, and the Grand Canyon. We ended up tacking on Death Valley and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks at the end of our trip. We were heading back home and it was kind of along the way anyway. If my aunt and I didn’t commit to Be The Change Day 2009 on October 3rd, we would have hit up Yosemite and hiked Half Dome to top it all off! Below is a brief run through of our vacation and you can check out all my photos at flickr:

Saturday, September 26, 2009

• San Ramon to Coalinga (Harris Ranch for lunch) – Harris Ranch is the quality beef that’s sold in Costco’s, apparently. Smelled the worse cows I have ever smelled! Beautiful lodge and place to stay if you’re ever in the area.
• Coalinga to Las Vegas (Outdoor World and Buffet dinner) – Outdoor World is like an indoor amusement park for all ages, but they sell stuff, and you can’t ride rides. They have a huge floor to ceiling aquarium — the most spectacular I’ve ever seen. Super clean and captivating! Our buffet dinner was excellent and fresh. Usually I dislike buffets because the food is god-awful, but this one hotel/casino connected to Outdoor World was yummy.
• Las Vegas to Springdale, Utah (Cable Mountain Lodge situated in Zion National Park) – It was a long day of driving and we arrived at Cable Mountain Lodge, which had a master bedroom, wall-unit, sleeper sofa, good-sized bathroom, full kitchen, and balcony that was quite the luxury comfort zone for the four of us.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

• About 8am my aunt and I took a morning walk through downtown Springdale. Cute and quaint for a couple of miles.
• We returned about 2 hours later and decided to take a dip in the swimming pool.
• Ate lunch at Sol Cafe and headed to the park entrance to take the shuttle to Temple of Sinawava.
• From Temple of Sinawava, we hiked the trail until we reached the River Walk. The River Walk is 2 miles roundtrip and 70% water. Some parts of the river were above waist deep!
• After the River Walk we headed down to the Emerald Pools trails (upper and lower). This tacked on about another 3 miles roundtrip with an ascent of 350ft to the Upper pools. The pools were not very amazing, but the walls of the canyon were very grandiose, just like the rest of Zion.
• After 6 hours of hiking we went to Pizza and Noodles where we finished our dinners clean! BBQ chicken pizza = enough to eat two days in a row…
• See below for a few photos of Zion National Park’s huuuuuuuge walls/rock formations:
• 

  Beautiful Zion Walls

  

  Moon in Zion

Monday, September 28, 2009

• Drove to Bryce Canyon, but had stopped off for breakfast at Thunderbird. My uncle ordered a ham and got 1lb of it! O_o
• Arrived at Bryce Canyon and had 4 hours of hiking the viewpoints and the Sunrise trail -> Queen’s trail -> Sunset Trail (320 ft elev. desc/asc at 8k ft).
• Most amazing scenery (favorite)! See below for some photos and check out my Flickr for the rest:

• 

  Hoodoos

  

  Canyon Trees

• 

  Bottom of Queen's Trail

• Later that night we ended up going back to Pizza and Noodles and then swam some laps in the pool and hopped into the jacuzzi for some relaxation!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

• 4 hr hike/5 miles Angels Landing at Zion National Park. 1,448ft elevation gain starting at approx 7kft. Second most mentally challenging thing I’ve ever done in my entire life — mostly because I’m afraid of heights. The ascent was scary and I froze a few times as there isn’t anything but a chain and the edge of the cliff. And the climb is only as wide as one person in the final ascent. Here’s where most people either turn back or continue on in the distance to the very top (you can see some people in red near a tree, bottom right corner):

Ascent

• Coming down was no problem. I guess it’s because it’s the “bigger perspective” type of thing. Although, the steepness killed my knees. I think I’m gonna have to be one of those people that carries trekking poles! I felt most accomplished afterward. My photography skills are lacking, but we basically started at the very bottom where all the green is:

Angels Landing

• Late lunch at Oscars Cafe
• Pool & Jacuzzi laps and relaxing
• Time Traveller’s Wife on the huge IMAX!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

• Drove to the Grand Canyon from Zion National Park.
• Tried hiking the Grandview trail but failed because the path is all rubble, unmaintained and steep and slippery like Angels Landing, but worse!
• Hiked 2 miles along the rim and watched the sunset.
• Had dinner at some lodge in the Grand Canyon that took forever to get our food!
• We drove through Hoover Dam at night and ended up at the Rio in Las Vegas where suites were only $55! I had a whole room to myself.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

• Had a nice buffet breakfast in Las Vegas, won $310.36 on Wheel of Fortune within 5-10 minutes (with a $20), then drove to Death Valley National Park!
• Hit up Dantes Point, the badlands, and a surreal 3 mile hike in the desert dunes.
• Desert Dunes were amazing. It’s not everyday you get to say you walk in Death Valley, let alone, climb the dunes! See my Flickr for more dune photos.
• 

  Jumping the dunes

  

  Traversing

• Watched the sunset in Death Valley and then headed off to Visalia for the night.

Friday, October 2, 2009

• Breakfast in Visalia and drove to Sequoia & Kings National Park.

• 

  Sequoia Tree

• Hiked 5 miles to hanging rock and Moro rock.
• Dinner at Fugazzi in Visalia, sipping a refreshing nectarine sangria to end our trip!
• Drove back home and stopped along the way at another Outdoor World!

Overall, the trip was most enjoyable and relaxing and got me in the hiking spirit. The only slow day was Grand Canyon because all of us didn’t get to hike as much as we wanted to. But thereafter, we made sure we worked ourselves!

Next stop — Glaciers and Yosemite!