Zion, UT
Note: This post was written retroactively in 2020
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In the summer of 2016, I spent a few days in one of my favorite places on Earth: Zion National Park, Utah. I’ve since been back multiple times, but this first trip there holds a special place in my heart. This was also the first trip with “The 3 Cabarellos” (Kevin, Isaac, and myself), would would later go on an epic Alaskan road trip.
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We did “The Narrows” hike, an incredibly experience of hiking in the Virgin River. Make sure you bring trekking poles! We had such a fun time climbing up rocks, wading through the river, and chilling.
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We also did the famous “Angel’s Landing” hike as a part of our West Rim backpacking adventure. A must do if you can handle the steep drop-offs, it’s such an amazing experience. We left our backpacking bags at the base as we did Angel’s Landing, and a hungry chipmunk ate through Isaac’s bag and stole his tortillas. Speaking of tortillas…
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This is “The Subway”, a crazy rock formation that formed over many years of “sloshing” water to make the smooth round corridor you see here.
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The backpacking in Zion was a really great experience. I remember being pretty dehydrated and nauseous, however, because we didn’t reach our water source in the first day. And we didn’t bring a tent, we just slept out in our sleeping bags in the cold, windy night. Yet I still remember this trip as overwhelmingly positive. We were still getting our backpacking legs, and making mistakes is a part of the process. I miss this trip, and will always remember it fondly.