HollyJollyDaysAndKnights: May 7, 2015-last day to explore around Zion...sniff-sniff

Because we made the decision not to do "The Narrows" today, we sat down last night and looked at all the hikes still left and decided the one that really sounded the most fun was back in Zion's Kolub Canyon called Taylor Creek Hike, which was about 5.4 miles hike.

We got up, had some breakfast and filled our backpack with water, snacks-lunch and headed out. Looks like a chance of rain so we took our rain gear...we sure have gotten a lot of use out of them! But thankfully even on days its rained, its never been miserable and kept us from accomplishing our hikes! And its kept the hikes cool!

What a perfect hiking day!!! It was challenging in a few places but overall a very nice moderate hike that snaked back and forth across the Taylor Creek...in fact we crossed over this creek, which was running nicely a total of 123 times! It was so lovely to hear the trickling of the water almost the entire time.

The other thing that was PERFECT was the fact that when we parked at the trail head and there were only two other cars in the parking lot. We hiked for 2 hours before we came across the first hikers. In total, we only saw about 30 hikers in all and 10 of those were in a group we came across when we were almost back to our Jeep.

The hike leads you to a double arch alcove that was so neat. It was such a peaceful hike. Lots of wildflowers, the quiet time was perfect. It took us about 4 hours, then we stopped by the visitors bureau and picked up a patch for our backpack and a couple of books, plus a few more postcards for the kids.

As we drove back, we went to LaVerkin to buy a few groceries for our next meals in Bryce, which is where we head tomorrow. We are excited about seeing Bryce, but also hard to leave here…its so pretty. We have had a blast.

We got our shower, aaaahhh that felt so good, then did one last load of laundry. Then we cooked out on the grill before taking one last stroll around the campground before heading in for the night. Met a couple from Round Rock, super friendly so we visited for just a bit before calling it a day! We were feeling pretty sore from all the hikes but our days in Zion have been amazing. Zion is so breathtaking, surprises at every turn and the hikes have all been such a treat for the eyes! Its amazing how much more you can see once you get off the pavement! So thankful we were strong enough to do as much as we did as you really do see the park in a whole different light.

Took a lot of pictures today so here are some of my favorites:

Not sure why I am standing on my toes...guess the bottoms of my feet were tired?!?!

You need to always be watchful of falling rocks...you do not want one of those to hit you in the head...it would hurt...a lot.

As you can see, once again...so many different colors in the rocks!

The picture below...its hard to explain how massive all the canyon, mountains, rocks, alcoves were...but if you look close you can see a grown man standing in the bottom of the alcove...we were right at the alcove...its big!!!