It’s another day in the life of three wild western women, and we’re gearing up for a Zion National Park backpacking trip.
I teamed up with my sister, Lindy, and Jeep guide guru Cathy Church in Kanab, Utah, to scout an exit route for Sol’s Redrock Backpacker: Zion Outskirts trip and ended up with one epic day.
With Cathy at the wheel we explored the off-road labrynthe of desert behind the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, harvested a rattle off an 11 year old dead (phew!) rattlesnake, and blazed trail in and out of the East Fork of the Virgin River. After four hours of driving trying to find the right trailhead, Lindy and I converted an already strenuous exit route from the river into a butt-kicking, 2 hour race against the clock. We scrambled our way down the scree slope, virtually ran through poison ivy-lined narrows to the river, and sprinted back up to the top. As we came over the top of the ridge we looked up to see Cathy’s fire waiting to greet us. We made our way back to base camp in time to watch the silouette of Zion monoliths fade into the sunset and followed the brilliant stars of the Milky Way galaxy back home.