My friend Kim and I have been planning this trip for a few months. We wanted to do an active vacation plus some night life and maybe a show in Vegas. There is no where in the east coast I particularly wanted to go, The top two destinations on my list were Sedona and Utah. After doing some research we found a cheap flight into Vegas and could drive to Utah, it looked like a win win.
We booked our flights and started planning. I googled ‘Zion’ and spent time researching trip advisor boards. My goal was to plan as much as possible so we can utilize our time to the fullest.
I read tons on the narrows, angels landing, observation trail, Zion guru, Zion lodge, oscars. I had to create a spread sheet, my ideas were flowing it was almost impossible to keep track of everything!
I did as much pre planning as I could and let everything else ride...
Our flight was set to land in Vegas at 1030 Saturday am, and our eta to Zion would be 3 pm. We needed to get our Rental car, pick up some groceries, grab our gear for the narrows + try and get a hike in on Saturday.
All of that went as planned! We landed in Vegas at 10, there was no wait in line for our rental car and made it the Walmart in Hurricane to pick up Hiking groceries. We also stopped at Cafe Rio for lunch. I got a yummy chicken salad. By the time we made it to Zion, it was 3:30 pm. We got our gear for the narrows at Zion Outfitters and walked from there to Pa'rus trial. Which is inside the park, we didn't have to take the shuttle. The trial is paved, and great for bikers - but it wasn't exactly what we were looking for. We turned around and walked to the watchman trial (also right in the park) Watchman trial is about 3 miles, it was rocky and uphill. It was moderate, and the perfect hike for the first day.
We went to check in at the Bumbleberry inn, our rooms were a little dated but very comfortable beds and clean! I made our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Sunday and packed some snacks (carrot sticks, apples, almonds, trial mix.)
Saturday evening we went to check out Oscars, everyone on the trip advisors board talked about Oscars. 3 of us had the mahi fish tacos on a corn tortilla, Jesse got the Burger. We all rated the food there about 5-6. The cuisine is tex mex, they had a cool patio area and the wait at 8 pm to get seated was 30 minutes. We went acorss the street to porter house restaurant to get a drink - Utah bars you can't order a drink without ordering food! They let us order a glass of wine because Oscars is their affiliate restaurant.
After we wrapped up at Oscars, we went back to the bumbleberry and looked forward to a long hiking day at the narrows on Sunday.
Sunday morning we got up around 7:30, Bumbleberry supplied us with breakfast vouchers at the porterhouse. We got breakfast (egg whites with vegetables and wheat toast) and COFFEE!! I was also able to get in a short run. I needed to feel the Zion air against my face!!
We made it over to the park and put on our narrows gear (water proof pants, waterproof boots, and hiking stick. ) and got in line for the shuttle. The shuttle was about 40 minutes to the narrows, the ride was beautiful so much to see!!!
We started our hike at 10:30, we walked through riverhead and then to the narrows. It was not an easy hike! The current was strong and some parts of the hike the water came almost waist high. We stopped and took a lot of pictures and tried to absorb the view! We hiked two miles in and 2 miles back out. I would highly recommend this hike, I have never done anything like it.
We made back to the visitor center at 3:30 and wanted to try and get another hike in. Angels landing was on our list, but nixed because of everyone saying how terrifying it was! Plus I was the only one in our group that wasn't afraid of heights.
The visitor center suggested doing canyon overlook. We drove there, and were lucky enough to find a parking spot! I read about this hike, but dont remeber reading anything about the heights part! It was a hilly hike was some rough terrain and some parts were defintely scary if you are afraid of hikes! The top was well worth it, the view was beyond breath taking!!!
We planned on going to bit and spur for dinner but wanted to try something other than tex mex. We found a place called Moki, it was about .5 mile down the road. We decided to drive since it was freezing! It was a modern restaurant with American Flare, at first we thought it was going to be small plates, but we were oh so wrong! I got a fresh made veggie burger with a side salad with a vinegrette. I omitted the bun and still felt like I had plenty.
We hit up bit and spur afterwards. We ordered a bottle of wine, since the pours there are only 5 ounces :) And we also had to order chips and salsa in order to get drinks!
Monday morning we were up at 7, I went for a quick run down to the Pa'rus trail- it was freezing!!! I took some really cool pics and had a great start to the morning. We got breakfast at porterhouse again, I got mine to go and a large cup of Joe!
Hikes done in Zion!
1. Pa'rus trail - very easy and paved
2. Watchman - moderate and right at the park
3. Riverhead - paved and leads into the narrows
4. Narrows - need to rent gear - worth it!
5. Canyon Overlook - the best views in Zion
Stay
Bumbleberry inn!
Best food with healthy options was Moki
It was time to head to Vegas, we got there around 1230, and walked in and out of casinos for 3-4 hours. We stopped and got a skinny margarita on the strip, it was happy hour and seemed like a good idea! We continued to walk until we could check in. We stayed at the Flamingo. The updated rooms were nice, and the staff was very accommodating! We got ready for the evening and went on the town. Kim and I had plans for a dinner and show, but we ended up at the cosmo and Aria. We tried a few places out and played some slots!
The night ended and my feet were done!!!
Tuesday was check out, we got coffee and I checked out the Flamingo fitness center, its included in your resort fee and had all the basics of a hotel gym. It was bigger then most hotel gyms I have seen! I would recommend checking it out if you are in Vegas. Before we left I got a ahi salad from Yard bird. The salad was topped with rare ahi tuna. It was filling and nice to have something other than chicken!
Place I enjoyed most in Vegas.
Toms urban for a skinny margarita
Ambiance - Beauty and essex
We had a great trip! I LOVE Zion, the clean air, the people, the hiking.
Vegas - welll I have been to vegas multiple times. It was nice that we could fly into Vegas to make it to Zion. People are interesting there, and great if you like going to casinos. I don't gamble, so that part was not appealing to me. I loved glamming it up for one evening!
On to plan the next vacation!!
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