Rounding out the "Mighty 5"

A few years ago Utah's tourism board started running "Mighty 5" ads, referring to the 5 national parks in Utah. As far as slogans go it's not exactly "Pure Michigan," but it was a good campaign. And after visiting all 5 I'd say it was pretty successful. There were crowds everywhere, but we still thoroughly enjoyed them. We ended up doing all 5 in three days, which is definitely not optimal, but that's how it goes. There was a lot we didn't see, but that's just a reason to come back to Utah (right, Aunt Millie?).

Today we went to both Bryce and Zion, which is crazy to do in one day, especially a Saturday in peak season. With an early start we made it into Bryce before the crowds and focused on walking the rim trail in just the Bryce amphitheater area. If you haven't been there, you start at the top of the park, and look down on these amazing rock formations called hoodoos. It was so tempting to take one of the trails down among them, but time was short and we'd have to climb back up and out.

We left the chilly 45 degrees of Bryce and rocketed down the mountain (not too fast, to save the brakes) to the high 70s of Zion. The drive in, winding through gigantic mountains of rock and going through a huge tunnel drilled through one of those mountains, was pretty epic. And then you get down to the valley and see how high the canyon really is.

We checked in to our campsite, a lovely spot right on the Virgin River, and ditched the RV for our bikes. It was a very welcome (and necessary) change. Zion no longer allows you to drive into the main part of the park - you can only use the park shuttles, which have limited tickets available per day, walk, or ride a bike. It seems like bike rental places in town have become very popular (especially E-Assist electric ones). We brought our own in part for this park, and the trailer for Maggie.

Biking the canyon was so much fun! It was nine miles from our campground to the end of the road (about the same as the trip feom our house in Ann Arbor to the Dexter Cider Mill... just no donuts here!). From there we hiked a mile or two along the river. I was wondering why I kept seeing people in waders - the water can't be THAT cold - and then we saw the signs saying the river has cyanobacteria so you can't go in it. Maggie was very disappointed she didn't get to dip her toes in, but she was a good sport about it.

Zion is one of those places that's hard to capture in pictures. It's all about scale, and I'm not a good enough photographer to express it. But I can capture what we wanted after biking the nine miles back:

Then back to our campground where Maggie took a quick dip in the pool (to make up for missing out on the river) and we built a campfire with s'mores for dessert. A long but rich day.