Heather And Kris Ville: September 2009

That has been a quick 3 weeks since my last post. It's strange because, I've always said that my mom is the busiest retired person I've ever seen. Not that I'm retired, but Heather and I have stayed pretty busy even though we are sans jobs. Little Spanish there. Anyways, after Bryce Canyon, Heather and I headed to Zion National Park, probably our favorite of the parks. Luck was with us on the first night, as we picked a great camping spot with a nice breeze (as it was 105 degrees). Luck was not with us on the second night when a rather wheezy couple from Las Vegas parked upwind from us, and chain smoked Camel Wides for the next 36 hours. Nothing like blue gray cigarette smoke floating though your tent. Notwithstanding, Zion is beautiful. We took 2 incredible hikes - Angel's Landing and the Narrows. I am not a fan of heights, but Heather had no problems. Angel's Landing is all about height. Over the last half mile, you walk a spine with a 1200 foot drop to one side, and a 1900 foot drop on the other. The park has installed a nice chain for hikers to hold onto. After we finished, a ranger told us that some guy had fallen off one of the cliffs the week before. Apparently, it is pretty common. Ugh. The Narrows were created by the Virgin River cutting though sandstone plateaus. In spots, the river is only 20 feet wide, but the cliffs rise up 2000 feet on either side. We were some of the first people in that morning, and got to hike with a well read and well written park ranger. Coming out was strange, though, as we must have passed 1500 people. It was like exiting a rock concert. Ahh, the recession. Allowing millions of Americans to visit their National Parks.