Zion: Day 5

Friday, March 23, 2012

We woke up this morning from an exhilarating night in the open canyon air. A few from the group retreated into the tents in the very early morning; this was an understandable notion, as I distinctly remember waking up at about 3:00am and seeing a large flap that had come loose from the tent, with the wind strongly slapping the canvas flap down on the air mattresses at the tent’s base. Those sleeping on that air mattress surely did not appreciate it at that point, but I, safely resting several feet out of the flap’s reach, found it tremendously amusing.

After our warm oatmeal breakfast, Jessica met us for the final time at 9:00am, and we drove to the Zion Nature Center, where fields needed leaves raked, gardens needed weeding, and trails needed pruning. We worked hard, albeit somewhat lethargically after our long week, through the morning, and for a few hours after our PB&H (peanut butter and honey, because we ran out of jelly) lunch. We took a group photo with Jessica before parting ways, and then headed back to camp.

Our plan for the afternoon was the scenic and moderately difficult Canyon Overlook trail. At the trailhead, we spotted a family of long-horned sheep crossing the road, and got some great close-up photos. The rocky trail had many steep drop-offs, but nothing as terrifying as Angel’s Landing. The overlook was stunning, and we could see nearly the entire canyon from this perfect perch. Several large rocks adorned the top of the overlook, and we enjoyed climbing on them for about an hour before heading back down. When we got back to camp, the group decided that showers would be necessary before making the trip home the next day; these would be our first showers of the week. As such, eight of them drove into Springdale and paid $5.00 for a cold shower. Trevor and I, on the other hand, had something else in mind. For a fee of absolutely nothing, the spring water spigot outside the bathroom provided us each, one at a time, a brisk bathing experience. Armed with my swimming trunks, shampoo, and body wash, I braved the cold water, but scrubbed off the week’s dirt while keeping five valuable dollars in my pocket. A fair trade-off, if you ask me.

We reconvened at camp after our showers and cooked the last of the food we had: soup, black beans, garbanzo beans, and mashed potatoes. What a delicious feast. We packed up one of the tents, then most of us drove into town, where we found a seat at a local pizza joint (and a sports grille and bar, after the pizza shop closed) to watch the Kansas basketball game. We cheered our Jayhawks onto a valiant win over North Carolina State, and drove back to camp to spend our last peaceful night under the stars. We set our alarms for 4:00 the next morning, with the goal of being on the road for Kansas at 5:00.