Zion National Park, Utah

Hey Alexa, play Takeover by Jay-Z from The Blueprint. 

Hi everyone. Audrey decided to hand off this blog post to me, Dom. Big mistake. This will be filled with jokes you probably will not understand and an introduction to how my brain operates. Currently, we are driving somewhere that I cannot tell you yet, so if this becomes hard to read it’s probably because I got extremely car sick from looking down typing. You’re welcome. Thanks, mother for your cursed carsickness genes. Anyway, the whole point of this blog post is to talk about Zion National Park. 

Let me start by saying that the park is one of the most beautiful things in nature. But with nature comes its unrelenting desire to punish us. So we booked this campsite on a big farm called Yellow Farm Dog. Amazing area and facilities. However, it was over 100 degrees for most of the day and even into the night, the dust winds were so bad that it made it nearly impossible for Audrey to cook dinner our first night there. But in clear Audrey fashion, she managed to beat the odds and cook a delicious pasta meal (with a pinch of dust) in preparation for hiking the Narrows the following morning. 

We woke up at 4 am so that we would be sure we could get a parking spot in Zion and make the very first shuttle. We not only succeeded in both, but we were 8th in line and got to experience a majestic Zion sunrise as Audrey sipped on her boujee coffee funded by Aunt Julie (big thank you from Audrey). The Narrows is basically walking in the Virgin (hehe) River through a large canyon, where the water is pretty damn cold, and requires lots of careful foot placement to avoid slipping and having a humiliating fall. We watched an older fellow fall right in front of us so hard he snapped his wooden hiking pole. Poor guy. But then Audrey made up for it by having a pretty brutal fall that left a nasty bruise on her knee. The Narrows is what Audrey was most excited about, and let me say it did not disappoint. It was very challenging due to the constant feeling of face-planting into the river rocks and fighting the water current anytime you were in the river (which was a majority of the hike). In total, it was around 6ish miles and we had very few people around us until the end when everyone decided to show up after their good night's rest. After the Narrows, we had a super yummy BBQ meal at the Hangry Goat. A very fitting name for me at that time. Then we headed back to the depths of hell… our campground. 

You know that saying, “hotter than hell.” Well, that is exactly what we experienced back at our campsite. We had to hop in the Bronco and make haste to literally anywhere else than being directly outside. We got pizza, and cookies, and then sought shelter in a nearby Walmart. Our objective was to wait till sunset, but the sun did not fully set until around 9 pm. How is that even possible? One thing led to another and we ended up back in the car calling my mama. After explaining to her the whole day and our current state (I may or may not have been getting ill from the heat. shameful, I know), she bought us a night in a reputable Quality Inn nearby to hide out the remainder of the night. I could be like 2Pac and create a whole song about my mother and how thankful I am for her but I have to get back on track or most of you will stop reading. Thank you, mama, you are the GOAT.

During those traumatizing heat-filled hours, we learned that we had won the permit lottery to hike Angels Landing the following day. This is Zion’s most famous hike that requires hikers to use chains to climb up the spine of a mountain to an epic overlook of the whole park. The next day we started the famous hike bright and early. We did not anticipate the amount of vertical switchbacks there would be just to get to the start of Angels Landing. For those who are not up to speed on the hiking lingo, vertical switchbacks equal frowny faces ☹️. Ultimately, we made it to the start point and ate a quick lunch before the culminating ascent. We had to fight these chipmunks who kept trying to steal our food. But after this little skirmish, we started Angels Landing, and let me tell you it is really eerie knowing that one trip on a rock can literally send you thousands of feet falling to an imminent death… But we made it to the top and even had to maneuver around a broken pole that was meant to keep you from falling! We did not tell our mothers about that part hehe. Once at the top, we enjoyed the warmth of the sun and beautiful views that only those who complete this hike can enjoy. We grounded ourselves with nature (suggestion by Ms. Diggs) and celebrated that we actually made it. Then, we called our families on FaceTime to show them our view, which was icing on the cake. After it was all done, we realized that it was one of the best hikes that both of us had ever done.

Now, we are headed to the next 🏜️ so see ya later. Alexa, play “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye.