On the morning we traveled to Zion National Park, my yin awoke at 5am to the sound of a hundred fifty Chinese gamblers in the hotel lobby awaiting a Vegas-bound bus. I had seen two behemoth charter buses in the parking lot the night before, but I was too tired to consider what this might signal for the next morning – the last thing we wanted to hear after twelve hours of driving and four hours of sleep were pre-dawn caffeinated ejaculations in Mandarin and/or Cantonese.
But this is beside the point.
The point is that this inauspicious start was inversely related to the day that followed. Accepting a partial refund of our hotel bill and pocketing three bananas from the breakfast bar as reparations, we drove to:
We first heard of the park from Andrew and Allison, who told us that we should skip Death Valley – and even Sequoia – rather than missing out on Zion. This proved to be some of the wisest counsel we received over the course of the trip because both my yin and I (much like Lauryn Hill fifteen years earlier) fell in love with Zion:
The park is in southern Utah and allows in only a limited number of vehicles at any time to cut down on the traffic and pollution within the walls of the canyon:
Which were formed eons ago by the Virgin River:
north fork of the Virgin River
Its landscape is unlike any other place we saw (or have ever seen for that matter) with small groves of cottonwood trees alongside the riverbanks and beautiful wildflowers growing from the scorched earth:
There were also caves in the sheer cliffs:
author, after scaling up the wall
And stunning cactus blooms, which never ceased to grab my attention:
Our friend Francis, whom we met at Yosemite, recommended two trails to us: the Narrows and Angel's Landing. The first of these trails was closed, however, due to the snow melt that rendered portions of the trail impassable. So, we made our way to Angel's Landing, undoubtedly one of the most unique hikes we've ever taken:
approaching the summit
The reason for Angel's Landing popularity is the final half mile, which takes at least an hour to complete and requires that hikers climb across a narrow, spin-like formation that resembles a two-humped camel. On either side are 1500-foot drops, and at times it is necessary to use a chain to haul oneself up the incline:
my yin, mid-climb
We later learned that two people died on Angel's Landing as recently as last winter, but the views from the summit are stunning, affording panoramic vistas of the canyons that stretch in all directions:
view to the south
view to the north
There was even one of my beloved cacti bravely growing on the ledge:
from a distance...
and a closer look
Inspired by the flora flourishing amid such harsh conditions, I did my best impression of the tree behind me:
(after finding a relatively level spot)
And a stranger was kind enough to take this picture of my yin and I:
After a second, easier hike, we headed back to our campsite:
my yin journals into the sunset...
Which stood in the shadow of a giant rock formation known as the Watchman:
We slept well that night and dreamed about the canyons that would follow in the coming days...
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