Part 3 of My Trip Out West

So to continue my backwards recap of my trip, I'll end where it began with Zion/Springdale, UT. When I arrived in Vegas, Will picked me up at the airport and we drove down the strip to head out of town. We stopped to walk through the Wynn and Encore hotel/casinos as we had heard they are the newest and we wanted to see them. (The Aria opened the last day of our trip.) We stopped and had lunch at a great little restaurant in The Wynn. It had 'terrace' in the name, but I don't remember the whole name. It was warm enough to sit outside so we enjoyed a nice view of the hotel pool and ate salads among the many birds on the terrace.

We left Vegas and headed East to Utah. There really isn't much in the 2.5 hour drive between Vegas and Springdale. We did drive through St. George, but couldn't see much from the road. It was mostly flat. Mostly desert. Mostly deserted.

We arrived at the Desert Pearl Inn, just off the road while it was still daylight. The hotel was nice and the town was very quaint. It was off season so there were very few tourists in town, but the locals were out and about.

After we settled into the hotel, we went for a short run through Zion National Park, which was about 3 miles from our hotel. I wore shorts, two shirts, a hat, gloves and my trail running shoes. We were in the shade most of the time so it was still pretty cold. We got in a decent run and just took in the sights. It was so beautiful! In Zion you start in the canyon and hike or run up.

Will had to work some while we were there so I had some time to myself to run, take pictures, read and relax. The first morning we were in Springdale, I got up and went for a run. I wore some running pants, two shirts, a hat and gloves. It was 27* or less. I had planned to run for an hour, but after 33 minutes, I headed back to the hotel for a warm shower and hot coffee. I relaxed on a sofa in the gift shop with my coffee and read Nelson DeMille's 'The Gatehouse.'

In the afternoon, we hiked Angel's Landing and the West Rim Trail. Angel's Landing is the most popular attraction at Zion. If you make it to the top (pictured left) you can see the entire canyon.

Will had been telling me about his previous hike up Angel's Landing. He told me that there's two spots where it's really, really scary. He also told me about a conversation with his uncle where he learned that a week before we were there, a woman died in a fall off of Angel's Landing. The second such death this year.

Angel's Landing

Walter's Wiggles - along the path to Angel's Landing

We walked the paths up Angel's Landing and then got to the technical section. We started climbing using the chains available. We didn't get far. I started getting a little dizzy and decided it wasn't a good day for me to go all the way to the top of Angel's Landing. I wasn't 100% and was feeling shaky already. We hadn't even gotten to the scariest part. I have to admit that the stories of the women dying this year got to me. It was humiliating seeing people coming down walking upright past us. But I still feel that day wasn't a good day for me to attempt it. I will have to go back and attempt this again!

We went left and hiked the West Rim Trail from the landing. It was still very gorgeous and a great hike.

The second day we hiked the East Rim Trail. Below are images from that hike:

This hike was gorgeous and longer though not as strenuous. We found a few arches along the way.