Next Camp out: Zion Narrows June 10, 11, 12

Zion National Park is one of the most exotic and spectacular places on Earth. Created by millions years of work of the forces of Nature, Zion Park is a source of amusement and enjoyment for more than 2 million people visiting it each year. Zion Park offers magnificient mountains, breathtaking views, and trails that offer endless possibilities to explore and enjoy Nature.

The Narrows is arguably the most exotic part of the Zion National Park. The best season to explore the Narrows is summer, when the temperature is around 100F outside, yet the bottom of the canyon is almost always under the shade, and air is fresh and cooled by the running stream, which makes it one of most pleasant areas of the park in summer.

The Narrows of Zion National Park is one of the most exciting hiking trails in the world. You can catch a glimps of the Narrows without actually hiking the all the way, however, that lets you enjoy only a small part of the Narrows; to get the whole picture, you need to hike the Narrows all the way downstream from the Chamberlen Ranch to Temple of Sinawava.

First, a few facts. The length of the trail is approximately 16 miles (25 km). Most of the time you will be walking in the water of the stream, about ankle deep, carefully choosing your path between the underwater rocks. As you can imagine, it's not an easy hike. You may want to take the whole trail in two days, staying overnight in one of the campsites on the way.

However, if you are short on time, you can make it in one day, too. You should plan at least 10 hours for the whole hike, plus allow some time for eating, resting, and picture taking.

The most important thing about hiking the Narrows successfully is the hiking shoes. Make sure that the shoes you choose have good support and fit your feet perfectly; because if you feel even minor discomfort in the beginning, it will multiply many times over as you walk along the trail. Find yourself a good walking stick - you would feel much more confident crossing the water with it.
Click here for more information and pictures of Zion National Park.

May Campout / Father & Sons Outing

Since we traditionally have a Father & Son camp out in May, we combined our Scout camp out with the Ward camp out this month. The kids enjoyed playing in the fire and cooking hot dogs over the fire and playing in the fire. As the night wore on we gathered around the fire to visit and the kids played in the fire. They seem to like playing in the fire. Breakfast was fun. After playing in the fire, we had pancakes, sausage, & scrambled eggs.

Now, here is a perfect bonding moment in the remote mountains outside of Wrightwood. Besides, John wouldn't be seen in civilization with his son in those pants!

The chef's at work.

We also had breakfast burritos

And omelets made to order

And strawberry crepes

Not a lot of scouts came, but we had some happy campers

Bro J was happy because his son and grandson came. Crepes are Tyler's favorite breakfast and I think that's the reason he came to our Ward camp out instead of his. Andy is wondering if there are bears out there. And I don't know what those boys are doing by the tree... but it looks suspicious!

After a while everybody went home and back to the grind. And Bro J climbed Mt. Baden-Powell. Just another great day in the mountains!

Next Campout: Blue Ridge

Next Campout is May 14 & 15 at Blue Ridge campground (we hope). Why? Because it's close and free!!! The only issue is whether or not the road is open. Mountain High is advertising that they hope to be open until mid-May... which is real close to May 15th. So we are not sure if the road will be open across the ski runs. I will keep track and let you know. We may need to go to Table Mountain or someplace not still snow-bound. Stay tuned for more info on where.

The campout will be in conjunction with the annual Aaronic Priesthood outing commemorating the restoration of the Priesthood. All fathers and sons are invited. If your father or son can't make it, come anyway. Neither my dad nor my son will be there but I'm going! So go with a friend, or just hang out with the crowd.

The Bishopric is supplying the dinner. That should be fun. I am bringing the big griddle and doing breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, burritos, omelets, crepes, and lots of fillings and stuffing's. Breakfast will be served at 8:00am... if you don't stay over night, then come on up for breakfast!

The scouts hope to hike up the trail to get in a little training. This last weekend I went on up just to see how much snow was still there.

Looks like they did a little repair work on the bridge at the start of the trail. And lots of snow-melt in the stream.

Half way up and not much snow.

A little over a mile up I hit snow and ice. Pretty steep and slick. This time I brought the right equipment!

Only about a quarter mile of this. Pretty quick decent if you slip.

Here's the top. No campers yet. This place is never vacant in the summer.

You can't see the valley floor because it is covered in haze... glad I don't live down there.

You can see Mt. Baldy. Wish I had time to go all the way upside!

Back down following my own tracks. Hard to get lost here. If you lose the trail you just go down hill until you reach the highway. Not real wilderness, but real close.

Just a few patches over the trail down low.

And back to the bottom. This is an easy 4 mile round trip. Not nearly as steep as Baden-Powell. Maybe I'll check that out next Saturday, before going to Grassy Hollow to work on Helping Hands day, of course!