Where did all these people come from?

After Great Basin we were eager to continue the fun so we headed south in hopes of discovering another National Park wonder. We soon realized as we pulled into Springdale, UT outside of Zion National Park that this might be hard to accomplish seeing as this place is swamped with people. After spending the past several months in a very remote state we remembered how little we like the crowds of the lower 48. Zion was swarming with people and to be honest that kind of took some of the fun out of it for us. It felt more like a theme park than a National Park with the amount of people waiting in lines for everything. We luckily managed to get a campsite at a campground outside the park and soon headed in for some exploration. The park was stunning. Massive columns of red rock sprouted out of the ground, surrounding you on three sides. We took the road to the east and wound our way up the red rock bluffs until it was time to take a mile long tunnel to get through them. The sights were unreal as we continued to drive that our words cannot do it just. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy the sights along with us.

Views of the red rocks

After a beautiful yet hot drive (the Jeep has no A/C) we headed back to the campground to take advantage of the pool. Soon the sun started to set and Ashley got another opportunity to practice some of her night photography. If you couldn't tell she does this every chance she gets.

The full moon really helped bring out the color in the photo

The next morning we decided to get an early start to beat the crowd. Zion National Park has a shuttle bus that takes you further into the park then you can go in your vehicle. We hoped on the shuttle and took it all the way to the end of the road so we could take in the sights and see where we wanted to get out and explore. For those of you that know there is an infamous hike at Zion call Angels Landing Trail which is extremely difficult and includes hiking along a narrow strip of rock with thousand foot cliff edges on both sides of you. Due to Ashley's completely rational fear of cliff edges and our combined laziness we did not attempt this trail. We decided on an easy hike out to some emerald pools and seep springs (water seeping out of the rock to create small waterfalls). We saw several deer and turkeys throughout the mornings festivities as well.

10 Point Buck!

Seep Spring

A beautiful morning over Zion

Virgin River runs through the park

After our hike we returned to the Visitor Center to a mass of people. The shuttle buses that were practically empty before 8:00 am had a line of easily 300 people waiting to board them by 10:00. We figured it was time to head on to another park but not before we became Jr. Rangers. After completing the many grueling activities we were sworn in, received our badges and we were on our way.


Heading south we drove until we hit the pinnacle of all National Parks. The sight that everyone needs to see in their life; the Grand Canyon. We drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and were shocked again to see that it was busy! The campground was full and there was hardly a spot in the entire parking lot. We had no idea where all these people came from! We decided that like Yellowstone we would come back again someday so we decided to take a short hike, soak up the scenery and move on. We decided to take the Bright Angel Trail which stretches out into the Grand Canyon on a thin fin of rock. With the sun shining and the view of the Grand Canyon, it couldn't get much better than that. We even ventured out towards the edge of the canyon to get pictures! It was a wonderful trail and a great way to spend the afternoon.

Ashley got caught on the Panoramic

Making jokes and crackin' wise

Views from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

The Bright Angel Trail

We walked out onto that rock ledge...

Do not panic, we lived to tell the tale.

Although it was very terrifying to get the photo.

After our hike we moved on. We decided to make some headway towards the next park. We ended the night at Red Canyon National Forest Campground and it was awesome. We completely stumbled upon it and they happened to have a few sites available. This was the sight from our camper...

This is a bit different than Alaska and Wisconsin

We did not plan to wear matching red flannels, it just happened.

Stay tuned to see what park we visit next!

-The A-Team