One Wild 48 Hours in Zions

So my new roommate, Jen, and Lindsey and I went to Zions for part of Labor Day weekend. We drove down late Thursday night and headed straight for the Backcountry Office to camp out there so we could get the permits to do Mystery Canyon. As soon as we showed up in line with our arms full of sleeping bags, pads and pillows we discovered there was already a guy in line to get the permit we wanted. Foiled! But not so fast. As soon as we got there the guy, Barney, started mentioning the idea that he might not need all six spots and that he might work out something with us to be able to go. Yes! The stars had started their movement to align themselves to our benefit. So we exchanged phone numbers with him before parting ways for the day (we had to obtain the permit 24 hours in advance of when we wanted to go since this was such a popular canyon). Barney and his family are from Logan, Utah and within 15 or so minutes of meeting him he blurted out that he had a son that needed to get married! Ha! He must have seen us 3 girls and thought we were a possibility. We found out that his son would be down here in Zions, is 27 and teaches a rock-climbing class at USU.

We went mountain biking out on Gooseberry Mesa outside of LaVerkin, Utah and actually had a ton of fun out there! I think I might actually like this mountain biking business . . . :o) Now just to own a bike that will make it more enjoyable. Alas, not until next year.

We drove back into Zions and discovered that we had a message from Barney (drum roll please) and it was good news! He only had 3 people going in his party so he would turn in the the 3 unused spots and then we could get them as soon as he turned them in. So we met him at the Backcountry Office and got our spots! (They only allow 12 people through the canyon each day: 6 by lottery and 6 by walk-on.) It sounded like Barney really wanted to book it through the canyon which was totally fine with us. We planned on doing it alone anyway, but his party offered to give us a ride to the top of mountain so we could miss a grueling 2 mile hike where we would have gained 2100 feet in those 2 miles. Yuck. I would have been dead by the end of the hike - before we even started the canyon. So we planned to meet at their campground at 6 the next morning.

We got to their campground a few minutes late, but we ended up waiting just a bit. No big deal. And then they started talking about the 6 of us doing it together! We were surprised at this new development but not appalled by it either. So we decided to do it all together! And it was so worth it! They were loads of fun! "They" consisted of Barney, his unmarried son, Andrew, and his son-in-law, Dave. The canyon was beautiful! I will let the pics do the telling of the fun we had.

One confession for the day: I dropped some M&Ms in the canyon and didn't pick them up! I actually feel really bad about that now. I should have picked them up - there is a reason why they only allow 12 people through the canyon each day: low impact. But they are biodegradable, right??? :(

After we finished the canyon, we got some dinner and hit the road for home! What a wild weekend!

Click Here to see more Canyon pics.