Greetings from the Oasis that is Zion
May 10th, 2012
Zion National Park, in southwestern Utah, is one of my favorite places in the world. If you haven’t been there, add it to your list. You will thank me.
Greetings from Zion.
I am on my way to Las Vegas to give a presentation that is tomorrow morning. I jump on any opportunity I have to experience Zion. Given Zion is just 2-3 hours from Vegas, I blocked out a short stop in Zion. I hiked all day, including to Angel’s Landing, farther up the West Rim Trail, to Telephone Canyon, through Echo Canyon, to Observation Point, and to Hidden Canyon.
I saw countless flowers, including Indian paintbrush that grows out of the cracks of Zion’s big red walls. Tiny lizards crossed my path throughout the day and hummingbirds “buzzed” regardless of my location.
Flowers grow out of the walls.
Observation Point awards its hikers with views like this one.
The most epic views in Zion will take your breath away — both metaphorically and literally. I highly recommend you hike to Angel’s Landing, as well as to Observation Point. These hikes are not for the faint of heart. (Reasonable — and fit — people will hike one of these per day.) There is 1,500′ of elevation gain to Angel’s Landing and 2,500′ of gain to Observation Point.
Views from Zion's West Rim Trail.
I shared the trails with more than 100 people. I shook hands and shared brief conversations with 28 people. 28 wonderful people. I normally don’t keep track of how many people I meet in a day.
But yesterday was different. By 10 am, I had talked to more than 10 people and all of them were from outside of the U. S. This made me curious. All told, 20 out of 28 of the visitors I conversed with yesterday were from outside the U.S. I met people from France, Switzerland, England, Germany, Japan.
One woman, from Australia, was in the area to run in the first-ever Zion 100. I did not know about this event. If I didn’t have to be in Vegas tomorrow morning, perhaps I would enter that event. Or not.
Last year, I did an almost-50-mile traverse day hike from West to East of Zion National Park and it remains one of the most epic and unforgettable experiences I’ve ever had. I can only imagine what 100 miles of Zion would look, and be, like…
I am happy to report that I have a special use permit so I can guide Epic Life clients on hikes in Zion National Park. If you, or anyone you know, is interested in participating in a guided Epic Adventure with me to Zion, please let me know.
- Categories: Adventure, Fitness, Life and Leadership, Travel
- Tags: Adventure, epic, hiking, zion national park
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