A couple apologies before today's write-up... First, we've been unable to post any pictures so far this year due to a missing camera cable. We know the pictures really bring to life our travels and we hope to find the cable or find a way to post pictures soon. Second, an apology to our devoted readers, both of you (thanks, Mom and L), for not keeping up to date on the blog. It's been awhile since we've had the time and energy to post. On to our first full day in Zion...
This day's story begins last night with a stop at the market inside Zion. We picked up a few breakfast items, figuring our days here would be spent with lazy breakfasts in our room, followed by snacks on the trail for lunch, and a little dinner in town every night. As planned, we woke up late this morning and prepared a little breakfast gourmet style: Eggo waffles and microwaved sausage links. MMMMM...
Feeling full and excited to hit the trail, we left the Desert Pearl around noon and headed toward the same trail head that began yesterday's hike. The destination today was to be "Observation Point," at the end of a four mile hike with a 2,300 foot elevation change. That kind of elevation change over that distance means we were hiking up a snow and ice covered rocky trail with an average 12% grade. Totally exhausting, but once again, incredibly beautiful.
The trail split from yesterday's after about a half-hour and greeted us at that point with some treacherous footing and steep edges. Our fears that the next 3 1/2 miles would be the same were quickly put away as the trail widened and the footing became more secure. We soon came upon "Echo Canyon" which was secluded and cavernous, as well as Greg's favorite portion of the trail. In this portion the red rock walls rose all around us, even leading us through a tunnel at one point. The trail from there continued to meander up and around the rocks with no indication of where the elusive "Observation Point" may be or even where our next turn may lead us. After almost three hours of hiking, we reached our destination, and found its name to be entirely appropriate. We were treated to a view of the entire Zion Valley, spanning many miles and including countless red rock formations frosted with snow and dotted with trees, many of which clung miraculously to the rocks' steep edges. It was a sight to behold, and one that hopefully we'll be able to share a photo of very soon.
The return trip down the mountain was incredibly quick and easy. We were to the bottom in just over an hour and completed what was supposed to be a 5-6 hour hike in about 4 hours. Feeling sore and tired, we headed back to our hotel room to relax for a bit before dinner. Once in the comforts of our room, it proved difficult to remove ourselves from its soft bed and warm temps, but eventually hunger took over and we had to go eat.
We had decided on another night at Oscar's, as this was a place we both liked and we were both craving a burger, something we'd spotted on the menu last night. When we pulled up, we saw a good-sized crowd outside, apparently waiting for a table. Having experienced enough cold for one day, and having no other option than to wait in the cold if we were to stay, we opted to return to our room and return a short while later. This decision would prove to be a bad one.
Earlier in the trip we had agreed we would open one present on Christmas Eve and this unexpected free time seemed the perfect opportunity to do just that. Each of us chose a present for the other to open. Greg gave Salina her's first, which she carefully opened to reveal the game, DJ Hero, for the Wii. Salina then opted for a different gift than what she had originally planned. The reason became obvious as Greg tore open his gift, like the overgrown child he is, and found another Wii game, this one Wii Sports Resort with an extra Motion Plus controller. Translation: this gift was really cool and we played it right away. Which proved to be the second bad decision of the night.
So what happened? Well, we returned to Oscar's at 8:30, only to discover they were closed. Duh! How could we not have checked to see this the first time?! Convinced we were never going to find another place open on Christmas Eve at this time of night, we headed back to our room expecting to satisfy our hunger as best we could with some crackers, Cuties, and maybe some beef jerky. To our surprise, another little restaurant was open just down the street. While the Pioneer Restaurant wasn't our first choice, nor did they have any soup for the soup and salad bar we were both about to order or any mashed potatoes for the meal Greg was about to order, the meal was certainly better than the alternative that awaited us at our room.
We then dragged our aching bodies back to our room where we fell asleep immediately... after playing DJ Hero and Wii Sports Resort for several hours. Finally unable to fight sleep off any longer, we fell asleep with big plans for Christmas in the morning.
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