Zion National Park: A Hiker's Paradise

Excitement, Awe, Wonder. Just three simple words that describe what one feels when entering Zion National Park. Having lived in Utah most of my existence, I have been able to experience several times the inspiration that comes from discovering this national park. The park has been called by many the "sandstone alps". Shear red rock cliffs explode from a desert landscape forming several mountains, slot canyons, monoliths, rivers, and arch ways.

Established officially as a National Park in 1909, Zion opened up a world of "Excitement, Awe, and Wonder" to millions who have traveled through the park for over a century.

Upon arriving in the park, one can truly see why it is a national treasure. The majority of the park snakes through the Zion canyon where visitors can take the shuttle loop through the canyon to see various peaks, mountains, and shear cliff faces. Using the shuttle makes it easy to be able to find certain highlights of the park as well as navigate to places that deserve exploration.

Like many national parks, Zion can only be fully appreciated on foot and this national park has plenty of hikes to choose from that can vary from extremely challenging to extremely relaxing. Though most of the hikes in Zion are awe-strikingly beautiful, here are a few suggestions that are some of my favorites:

Emerald Pools - This hike showcases a medium grade trail through one of Zion's many crevasses withing the canyon. The trail is no longer than 2 miles one way and takes you past pristine waterfalls and a glass like set of emerald colored pools.

Weeping Rock - A good family oriented hike of no more than .5 mile round trip. Along the way you can learn from various posted signs about the plant and wildlife along the path and around the park. The trail ends at Weeping Rock, a dripping, drizzling rock face that directs you to a beautiful lookout of the canyon. Perfect for those hot summer days in the park.

The Narrows - The Narrows explores another sub canyon of Zion. The trail starts off with a mile dirt path that leads you to a fordable one and half foot deep river. This is where the trail gets fun. Pull out your river shoes. You then get to follow the river up through precisely cut ravines and slot canyons. Here you are able to get an up close look at the rust colored sandstone that characterizes the park. Make sure to check weather conditions for this hike. It closes at times because of flash floods.

Observation Point - One of the most beautiful overlooks in the park, Observation point is a rigorous 8 mile round trip hike full of switchbacks, minimal level paths, and breathtaking views. The hike takes you to the peak of one of the mountains where you are able to see most of the Park. The hike can be, well, a hike, but it is completely worth the gorgeous view.

Angel's Landing - Truly the landmark hike of Zion, Angel's landing is a 2.4 mile one way hike that leads you through desert landscape to rigid rock face. The hike doesn't start to become strenuous until the last mile where the switchbacks come into play and you gain elevation quickly. The last half mile can be treacherous for some who have a fear of heights. As you are below the summit, the trail gets down to a single file path where you have to dodge people coming down from the summit all while not looking at the shear 1000 foot dropoff jsut to the side of the path. The park has installed "safety chains" to grab onto while navigating this part of the trail. Once at the summit, you are able to get one of the most picturesque 360

views of the park. Standing on this monolith one truly gets a sense of why they call it Angel's Landing.

Zion National Park is bursting with beauty and a plethora of hiking trails that allow you to explore this jewel in the desert. You will be whisked away by excitement, awe, and wonder as you traverse its paths and scale its mountains. Zion is Zion, go and explore it.

The Unexpected Layover: 5 Survival Tips for Evolving the Airport into a Personal Hotel

A sweat of panic slowly drips down my face as I glance at my watch. 8:37 AM. I quickly glance at my boarding pass. "Easy Jet flight 208.  Edinburgh to Geneva Switzerland. Departure: 9:10 AM. Arrival 11:20 AM." Wearily, i check my surroundings and quickly lose hope. Stuck in traffic in my rental car, i realize that my friend and I might not be making our flight back to Switzerland. To the left, all lanes closed due to construction. To the right, two lanes packed with commuters, bicyclists and pedestrians all trying to navigate the narrow cobblestone streets of Edinburgh. 8:43 AM. Finally a break in the traffic and we are on our way to the airport. Dodging traffic left and right, we carelessly throttle our Volkswagen to the rental station at the airport. 8:54 AM. Tripping over our words, we tell the rental check-in station that we are late for our flight. Empathetically they tell us that they will do all the check-in paper work. In a terror, looking like foolish tourists, we sprint with our luggage through the parking lot and into the airport until we arrived at our check-in desk. 9:05 AM. Wiping gobs of sweat from my face, I present my information to get my boarding pass. The worker looks at the computer, then at us, then at the computer again. "I'm sorry, they stopped boarding for this flight 5 minutes ago." Desperation and hopelessness poured over us like a bucket of ice. The next available flight wasn't for 32 more hours. The realization that we had little money left and that we were going to have to spend the night in the airport struck us like a Double-Decker bus.

I know that this happens to people on a daily basis and most of the time its not their fault. So here are five tips that I learned from my unexpected layover in the Edinburgh airport that can help you make your airport stay as comfortable as your hotel:

1) Make a Plan
Once the shock leaves you that you are going to have to overnight it in the airport, sit down, take a breath and make an hour by hour plan of what you are going to do. Plan out time for things like eating, walking around the airport, looking in shops, checking out different areas of the airport, planning out your laptop battery life. This will help to calm you nerves as well.

2) Scout Out Your Sleeping Quarters
I feel this to be one if not the most important. Try at all costs to stay off the floor if you can. Take a few laps around the airport. Try to get to know it inside out and find those hidden nooks where you can have some privacy or even a comfortable couch for the night. Many airports have a chapel or a quiet room that rarely is occupied that you may be able to bed down in. We were fortunate in Edinburgh to find a small more secluded cafe and lounge area. This was a home run because they had a few leather couches that were as comfortable as our hotel beds.

3) Budget Out What Money You Have Left
This is especially important if you are in another country and you only have a little bit of "Monopoly" money left. 9 times out of 10 ATM's in foreign countries will charge you an exchange fee so try not to pull out more money if you don't need it. We rationed our money out so we had just enough for a loaf of bread and a candy bar which saw us through dinner and breakfast. We also sought out free museums and attractions close by or in the airport.

4) Use Your Luggage

Whether you have found a comfortable couch or a secluded spot on the floor, make it more comfortable by using your luggage and its contents. A standard carry-on case works great as a pillow, seat, or foot ottoman. Jacket, towels and dirty t-shirts work great as pillows, blankets and foot rests. Luggage can also be used to stake out your area. We used our luggage like a wall sectioning off our little couch area. 

5) Plan a Fake Itinerary
Act as though you had an extra few days in the city that you are stuck in. Most airports have a tourist    
information office where you can go gather information and talk to travel workers. This is advantageous in that you might find something to see or do that is close to the airport. While stuck in Edinburgh airport, we visited the travel office and found out that for the cost of a few pounds, we could head back into downtown Edinburgh on the bus and visit several free museums. Even if it sounds like a waste of time, at least it will eat up some of your layover time.

Unexpected delays and layovers happen at airports and train stations all over the world on a daily basis. The key to survival is finding creative ways to spend your time and also to find a good location to bed down for the night. Whether you spend the night in the airport lounge or make hundreds of laps walking around the airport, keep calm and keep occupied.