Angel’s Landing

I had been looking forward to this hike ever since I won the lottery back in the winter.  I'm not sure how this hike would be when it's overly crowded, but the lottery system really seemed to work in keeping the numbers manageable.  This hike did not disappoint!  Not sure if it's my number one hike ever (I plan a future post where I rank my favorite hikes), but it's definitely up there!  We were blessed to have perfect weather - blue skies, not too hot, and not too cold or windy.  

I find heights to be thrilling and not scary.  Terry finds them both thrilling AND scary.  He was saying some prayers on the way up, but he did fine. This hike is not too long - just 2.5 miles to the summit!  Total elevation gain is just 1640 ft.  It just seems higher!

Zion and Old Friends

We arrived at Zion and could not believe how blessed we were with another iconic campsite.  We actually ended up with two here as we couldn’t reserve three nights in a row at the same site.  Both sites were great.  Fortunately, with a campervan it is almost a non-issue to switch sites.

We arrived late in the day on a Sunday but quickly took a hike up to Canyon Overlook as it was going to be closed the rest of the week.  It was so worth it, and I’m glad we didn’t miss it!

Our first full day in Zion was spent (1) buying a new pair of shoes as one of mine must have fallen out the side of the van door the evening before, 

(2) taking a hike to Watchman Overlook, 

and (3) meeting up with a friend of mine from high school who was working here at Zion.  Haven't seen each other in 40 years!  I took a short hike to Emerald Pools with her.  It was great catching up!  Our big sisters are also long-time friends.  

Valley of Fire

What a strange place!  We enjoyed hiking and exploring here.  It was very windy and dusty at night.  And I don't think I would enjoy being here when it was too hot, but we managed to get out in time!

In-Between Parts - Tahoe to Death Valley

We didn't originally plan to see Lake Tahoe, but we knew it was likely that Tioga Pass would not be open yet and that we would have to navigate around the Sierra Nevadas to head back east.  We had a very enjoyable few days in-between major attractions.  

I think this lake was called Silver Lake.  Still icy.  

Lake Tahoe

A short hike to a waterfall on Lake Tahoe

The east side of the Sierra Nevadas

Beautiful lenticular clouds

Mono Lake - we had planned to camp here but honestly it didn't look that inviting

This bakery had more baked goods that I had ever seen in one place.  Glad we stopped!

Manzanar Japanese Internment Camp

Death Valley - where Terry drove over 100 mph and passed a gang of bikers

A Tale of Two Lakes

We hiked around two lakes at Yosemite (well, one we hiked all around, the other was a bit too large for that).  Mirror Lake is a beautiful placid lake in the floor of Yosemite Valley. We hiked around the perimeter.

Hetch Hetchy Lake is a lake in another area of Yosemite, and it is the water source for all the San Francisco Valley.  It was recommended to us by other hikers. It had several waterfalls that fed into the lake.  The biggest was Wapama Falls where there was a series of bridges where you could walk near the falls and get wet!