When Stephen Mather took up the role of creating and expanding America’s National Parks, he had education and respect in mind as concepts the parks could help to instill in Americans. Our trip to Zion National Park this past weekend certainly held plenty of that, at least for me.

Before leaving I checked on the weather, and things looked to be clear.  Since there were eight of us making the trip, it would going to be necessary to take two cars. We can fit eight in the Tahoe, but it isn’t comfortable for anyone, especially when you factor in packing all of the stuff for those eight people.  Since my Jeep is four doors, there is plenty of room for two adults and two kids comfortably, and since the weather was going to be nice, I decided to leave the doors off.  This was a sticking point for my wife and I.  There was a lot of discussion about whether or not it would be too hot with no doors.  Since the only driving we would be doing was on trips to and from the house and the hotel, and the hotel to the park, I wasn’t worried about it. The roof provided shade, and no doors allowed for ample airflow, especially at 70 mph.  And even though I was right, that it wasn’t toohot, this will be referred to as Mental Note Number 1.

The ride up was fine, and after a brief stop at the hotel, we went straight to Zion National Park. It is amazing.  Rich in history all the way back to the Anasazi,Paiute, and eventually Mormons, the park is full of sacred areas.  We had basically a day and a half there with four children between 5 and 8. Our time and activities were going to be limited, so we had to choose carefully.

We decided that our first activity was going to be driving the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway.  The road runs east-west through the park and has places to pull off for some of the best views of the entire canyon. Halfway through you make a pass through the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel, over a mile long and completed in 1930.  It’s a little snug.  The drive toward the East Gate was amazing, save for the ominous looking dark clouds off to the east, but more about those later.

When we turned around at Checkerboard Mesa, just west of the Zion East Gate, we started to make more stops at places to check things out.  Rylie had been chomping at the bit to go hiking, and we were hoping to make a stop at a trail near the eastern entrance of the tunnel.  But on the way there, we stopped at a large sloping sandstone formation which formed the base of one of the canyon’s peaks.  After taking a couple of pictures, we contemplated hiking up the slope.  After walking up about a third of the way, recognizing it was steep and made of sandstone, making it slightly slippery, the adults decided against making the trip.  

Cue the beginning of Learning Experience One for me.  Without getting into any of the ugly details, the meltdown that ensued from my oldest child at this point was by far the most difficult situation I have ever been in with one of my children.  I am not someone who embarasses easily.  I don’t put up with any sort of tantrum or talking back from my children.  I am the dad who will pick them up, kicking and screaming, and carry them out of a store or any other public place with no shame.  In true “we don’t negotiate with terrorists” fashion, I don’t give in.  But this tested me.  She refused to come down.  At one point she even started walking back up to get away from me.  She was screaming at me and eventually threw herself down.  Normally I would have just picked her up and carried her to the car, but in this situation that was going to be incredibly dangerous.  After having to take away a couple privileges, and threatening to never take her hiking again, she walked down with me, still crying, and slipping.  

The fact was that the decision was made for her safety, but at 8 she doesn’t have the ability to process that.  She has yet to learn that parents don’t want to hurt their children, and that sometimes we have to do things that even we don’t like.  I wanted to hike up the slope.  Given the situation (including the dark clouds) it wasn’t a good idea.  I also wanted to scream at her, pick her up and march her to the car.  But I couldn’t.  I had to negotiate with the terrorist.  The situation posed the problem of having to handle a difficult situation in a way that was way outside my comfort zone.  But I think it sunk in.  She hasgreat manners, and really is a great kid, but if she and I are going to do things like this, she needs to develop a little more understanding.  There are a lot of stresses in her life (new school, new friends, etc.) and she hasn’t been around me much for the last 8 months, so we need to work back into that.  We will get there, but on Friday, we both learned something.

Then came Learning Experience Number Two.  Remember those dark clouds?  Remember the doorless Jeep?  Yup.  It happened.  I have enough experience to know how quickly weather changes, especially in the mountains.  

Apparently my love for my open air Jeep made me blind.  Being wet is an understatement.  We were totally unprepared.  (I left my Gore-Tex rain jacket in the hotel before heading into the park, because why would I need that?)  

At least it was a nice cold rain.  Of course Rylie was moved from the Jeep to the Tahoe once the rain started as the temperature also dropped quickly.  By the time we got down out of the mountain pass, after traversing about a dozen switchbacks, fording some soon-to-be washes across the road, and driving through inches of standing water, there was literally over an inch of standing water inside the Jeep.  I had no wrench with me for the drain plug.  So I bailed the vehicle with the bucket we carry for Chloe in case she gets car sick.  Tim and I couldn’t help but laugh.  If I had a dollar for everytime someone mentioned the doors for the Jeep (“shouldn’t you have had the doors for that?”, “where are your doors?”, etc.)  I’d buy you all an ice cream.  Oh well.  Next time I will probably have doors.  Regardless, it makes a very memorable trip. 

But once we got to Scout Overlook and saw the beginning of Angel’s Landing, I was officially done.  I knew when we started there was a chance of me not doing it, but I had to see it in person to make a final decision.  It didn’t take long.  After seeing the people coming down who had only made it partway, I was totally convinced.  The spine up to the peak runs about a half mile along a very narrow ridge of rock (anywhere from 2 to 6 feet wide), and occasionally very steep.  There are chains in places to hang on to, but not everywhere, and in some places not where it would be too narrow for the chains and people, which is exactly where I would want them.  The idea of hiking up was manageable, but the thought of coming back down, being able to look just off the trail and see 1,800 feet of thin air while people are trying to squeeze past me, was more than I could handle.  Maybe if I could rope in.  Maybe.

For an hour I sat and waited for Tim, and passed the time admiring the amazing views of the canyon in front of me while talking with a guy from London.  He was “on holiday” with two friends who were also trying to finish the trail and had already seen more National Parks than I had. I made a mental note to see more of my own.  I owed it to myself and to everyone who has fought to protect what we have.

While I was sitting and waiting I thought that I might get to the bottom and regret not at least attempting the hike.  I was worried that I’d be mad at myself.  However, as we reached the trailhead on the way down, I realized (Learning Experience Number Three) that I had really changed as I had gotten older and that my decisions were wiser.  That hike would have terrified me.  I would have been uncomfortable and likely to make a mistake, or worse yet, cause an issue would put someone else in danger.  I haven’t regretted my decision to sit it out, and that makes me happy.

On the way home, we recognized that the trip was too short, that Zion had more to offer.  We are already talking about a return trip.  Next time we will definitely stay at the Zion Lodge to minimize travel time and maximize our ability to be active inside the park.

 

The trip was brief, but held so much for us.  The beauty was amazing and I don’t remember the last time I learned so much about myself in such a short period of time.  In summary:

• Outdoor adventures with young kids can be challenging by adding a new dimension.
• Doors should likely be used on vehicles.  (This one might be up for debate.)
• Judge gets better as you get older, and should be trusted.

Our next family weekend trip will likely be to Bryce Canyon, where we will stay at the lodge.  The temperatures are cooler, and there are more family friendly hikes. It should give me time to break the family in slowly.  Who knows, maybe one day one of my girls will want to hike Angel’s Landing.  Being able to start it would be more than I could do, and I would be incredibly proud.