Month: October 2016

5 Trails You Definitely Need to Hike in Zion National Park

Spending one short day in Zion National Park was an absolute tease; I’m already keen to return. I dream of spending a whole week camped out in the canyon, waking each day to wade the Virgin River, scramble precarious ridges and catch golden sunsets. Here are four trails I’m raring to hike and one I’ve already completed. Happy trails x 1. The Narrows – Bottom Up Length: As far as you want to go; up to 8 km (5 miles) one-way. This is an out-and-back trail. How hard is it? Easy – as long as you don’t roll an ankle and don’t mind cold water. Elevation gained/lost: Negligible, mostly flat. How long will it take? Up to 4.5 hours one way. Again, it depends how far you go. Where is the Bottom Up trailhead? Stop 9 – Temple of Sinawava. Follow the paved Riverside Walk one mile to the end. If you are taking the Zion Canyon Shuttle, you should budget 30-60 minutes from park entrance to the trailhead. Equipment: Wear footwear you’re okay fully submerging underwater …

Roadtrippin’ America: Day III Cowboys & Canyons

Wednesday, October 13 This day ended 283 miles away from where it started. In ‘Canadian’, that’s 458 kilometres. Not the longest stretch of driving I had done lately, but somehow this 12-hour haul felt like a year and a day. The last few hours of the drive led us through some of the most rural terrain I had ever travelled. We pressed on through an empty desert, nary a porch light, star or moon to interrupt the inky horizon. The gas tank needle met the quarter tank mark and slowly crept toward empty. There were no towns between us and our destination; an observation that I tried to push to my mind’s periphery. And what would be there when we arrived? Surely, there would be a gas station. Finally…we pulled into a blip on the map called Mexican Hat and checked into what I would nominate as the least remarkable motel in America. Despite the fatigue of driving lonely highways in the dark, I’d struggle to fall asleep, because tomorrow was a day I was very …

Roadtrippin’ America: Day II Zion National Park

Hailing from British Columbia, I’ll admit, I thought I lived in the most beautiful place in the world. That was before I visited southern Utah. Tuesday, October 11 Waking up in Mesquite, Jason and I packed up the truck, crossed into the northwestern tip of Arizona and then pushed onward into Utah. Immediately the land became cragged and dramatic. Grey skies overhead threatened rain but by mid-morning the dullness of the day had burned off. We grabbed coffee in St. George and then followed I-15 north until exiting at Hurricane. From here we drove east along the Virgin River toward Springdale. On the advice of my contact at Visit Utah, Jason and I had settled on hiking The Narrows. The trail isn’t so much a trail, but a shallow river that leads hikers through an increasingly narrow gorge. The Narrows and Angel’s Landing are counted among Zion National Park’s most popular day hikes. In Springdale, we popped into the visitor centre where I picked up an inexpensive but adequate pair of water shoes and a collapsible walking …

Roadtrippin’ America: Day I Desert Drive

Into the Desert Monday, October 10 Following the wrap of Desert Trip festival (October 7-9), Jason and I packed up the truck and left Indio. But not before we fetched the items he had buried in the desert. I know what you’re thinking, but it was just the camping equipment festival organizers didn’t permit on the grounds. Our heading? Simply due north. We first wound around the sun-baked park limits of Joshua Tree National Park, whose trees stood stunted and gnarled. We sailed along lonely byways as 35 degree temperatures radiated from the ashphalt. Winding, weaving, the truck crested a pass to reveal an arrow-straight stretch of highway that pierced the horizon as far as we could see. As we skirted Sheephole Valley Wilderness I was consumed by the emptiness of the terrain, trained on a singular thought: how this might be a miserable place to be stranded. A Desert’s a Desert’s a Desert…Isn’t It? From here we pushed on through Mojave National Preserve, and Jason and I couldn’t help remarking on the diversity of desert landscapes. Pop culture had …