Kolob Canyon & Bryce Canyon

As some of you know, Mark, Jonah, and I are on a trip! We are currently in Bryce Canyon, Utah. I am going to try to blog every couple of days on the trip in order to keep record (for myself) of what we've done and also to allow those of you who'd like to read about our adventures!

On Friday morning, we flew out of Newark Airport and 5+ hours later we landed in Las Vegas, NV. Jonah did great on the flight, especially considering he has a horrible ear infection and his Pediatrician was even concerned that his ear drum could rupture on the flight with the increased altitudes. He fussed once or twice about his ear, but really it didn't seem to bother him too much. He was a bit restless towards the end of the flight, but overall he was very well behaved.

After we landed in Las Vegas, we got our rental car, and loaded up to head to Cedar City, UT, which would be our first stop on our travels. Along the way, we made a few stops. The first was at REI to get a couple of items we would need for the hiking we planned to do on the trip. After being in REI and being able to run around for awhile, Jonah fell asleep in the car, which was nice because he slept for a big part of the driving we had to do that afternoon. On our way to Cedar City, UT we were able to stop at Kolob Canyons. It is part of Zion National Park, but an area that is highly visited due to the location. It is on the north end of Zion National Park, and most people that visit Zion, go to the southern part of the park. The Kolob Canyon was BEAUTIFUL! Well worth our little excursion off the interstate. (pictures below). We arrived in Cedar City, UT, checked into the Holiday Inn Express and then headed out to get some dinner (at Chili's) and then to Walmart (a refreshing trip to a large supermarket for this manhattan momma).


Kolob Canyon


Kolob Canyon

Saturday morning, we packed back up and headed out for Bryce Canyon National Park. It was about a 2 hour drive. The drive itself was beautiful! Just being in a car and driving out in the middle of nowhere is so refreshing. Once we arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park, we went to the visitors center to see what hiking trails would be open and what all we could do. Jonah loved the little muesem in the Visitor's Center. It had real stuffed animals that were native to this area and Jonah loved looking at them. They were enclosed in glass cases and he would squat down really close to them and say in his sweet little voice "Hi Bear" or "Hi Squirrel". It was really cute. He didn't want to leave this little muesem, but we finally convinced him there was more fun to be had!

At Bryce Canyon, we were able to do a 3 mile loop hike. It is very possibly the most amazing hike I've ever been on. I've been on a few others that compare, but the beauty that was saw was awe-inspiring! One of my favorite Rebecca St. James songs was running through my head "God of wonders, beyond our galaxy, you are holy, holy... the universe declares your majesty, you are holy, holy." It was truly beautiful and even the pictures I will be posting here will not do it justice, I am sure.
The 3 mile hike we did was actually through snow most of the time. Surprisingly, it was quite warm. We were dressed too warmly and even got hot. We were shedding layers as we went, the problem was we then had to carry them. We even saw one guy hiking with his shirt off and wearing shorts. That tells you how warm it was. The weather was perfect actually. Mark did not heed his wife's advice and ended up getting sunburnt on this hike. Mark carried Jonah in a pack on his back for the whole hike. It was quite impressive. Many of the people made comments about how he was carrying Jonah so far on quite a strenuous hike.

One of the groups of people we passed asked where we were from, to which I replied, NYC. The girl said, "Oh! I love NYC!", so then I asked where they were from and she said they were from Northern Utah, Salt Lake City area, to which Mark replied "We LOVE Utah!".... and that pretty much sums it up!

Enjoy the pictures. Next we are headed to Zion National Park for a day or two... I'll blog more as we go.


On the drive to Bryce Canyon.... they had just a bit of snow this winter... just 40 feet or so.


This archway was over the road before the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park


About to head out on our 3 mile loop hike


Bryce Canyon, the view as we start out on our hike



Mark and Jonah on the hike


Jonah loved getting to walk on his own through one of the 'tunnels'


Jonah thoroughly enjoyed tracing the letters on the sign with his fingers and saying each letter outloud


Mark and Jonah heading up the trail.. if you look above them in the picture, you can see where the trail is headed... it zigzags back and forth as you go up the hill.


The trail we just came up


Beautiful view and our friends from Salt Lake City


Another beautiful view on our hike

A natural bridge or arch in Bryce Canyon National Park