Zion National Park- Pine Creek

Zion National Park is my favorite place ever and the best thing about it is that there are so many more hikes and things to see than just the big ones like Angel's Landing and the Narrows in the main canyon. Here's an example:

I love a good swimming hole. This one you can't see from the main road and have to climb down to it. Drive up towards the tunnel and park at the second switchback- there's a parking area at it, Climb down the barrier across the road from the parking, and follow the clearly defined trail down into the side canyon. It's pretty steep, but manageable.

As with other hikes in narrow canyons be careful of flash flooding! I am such a worrier about flash flooding, and since I love sharing morbid news articles, here's one from last September's heavy rains and flooding here in this very canyon. Always check the weather. The only thing I get super paranoid about down here.

Trekker having to talk me into jumping

View down towards the main canyon

                                     

Hancock Peak

Hancock Peak is more of a knoll at the top of Cedar Mountain. I did this hike back in 2014 with a friend and the entire hike was in a thick forest with limited sunlight. Between October 2014 and September 2015, beetles wreaked havoc on the trees and when I took Trekker to it, the landscape was far different. Dead trees were everywhere, along with fields of chopped trees from the Forest Service trying to stop the spread of the bugs. We didn't get nearly as far in October due to being in direct sunlight the entire time, but we ended at one of the ponds fed by a volcanic spring which is still worth the walk.

On the way up from Cedar City, you do pass Cedar Breaks National Monument on SR14-3. It's a small monument, but worth the 10 minute stop

The Hancock Peak trail head is a few miles past Cedar Breaks, literally on the side of the road. Park on the pull-off and start the climb toward the knoll! 

The trail is clearly cut in the grass but as you get closer to the knoll, you just have to pay attention to the cairns. Since there's really not much of a forest there for a while, the scenery is about the same until you get to the pond. It's a cool little hike if you have a free afternoon. You can also find arrowheads all over the area, so keep an eye out.

It looks like this the whole way :(

:( pt.2

Lake Powell- Antelope Canyon

One of the best trips we've taken was to paddle board Antelope Canyon at Lake Powell.

We started off the adventure by going to the dam:

Looked around the dam and the museum they have there for a while and then went back into Page to get some paddleboards. I pretty much have wanted to paddleboard at Lake Powell since Pinterest combined with disinterested high school teachers were a thing, so believe me I planned this all out. I thought Lake Powell Paddleboards seemed like a good idea after looking it up, and it was. It was about $120 for the both of us all day. They told us where to go and what to expect, and we were off to the Antelope Point Marina. 

It's important to remember that karma is a real thing, so when it's your first time paddleboarding and you're keeping your balance standing up and haven't fallen in yet, even if you're impressing yourself, don't brag to your boyfriend about it. Stay humble. Wait until you have a blog and can tell everyone online. ( I didn't fall in my first time paddleboarding!)

And look at this canyon! I didn't realize how justified the Lake Powell hype is until I went there.

The whole paddleboarding trip was about three and a half hours. After we returned the paddleboards, the owners told us how to get to Horseshoe Bend. It's surprisingly accessible, just a short walk down from the parking lot that's right in Page.

 IT WAS SO COOL. All the red rock. The massive, sheer cliff faces. The river. The size of the bend. Ahh my heart. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. We went home so satisfied with the day.