I slept in a little later than the family, trying to salvage a few more minutes of what had been a restless night. When I emerged, breakfast for them was already halfway done so I played catch up. Emma, Derek and Kylie’s three year old, had been too shy to say hello to me last night, but she soon remembered me and we were chatting away. She told me all about how she and Mummy and her baby brother Oliver had travelled on two buses, a plane, then got in Daddy’s car to get here. Her favourite part was the buses, but she didn’t like the plane because it hurt her ears.

For everyone except me, it was their first time in Zion, so we only had a few small hikes planned for the day. We packed snacks for the day and the two kids were positioned in their respective backpacks behind Mummy and Daddy. On the way to the visitor’s centre, I stopped in at the camp entrance to get myself a parking permit so that the camp hosts doing their rounds with their clipboards didn’t hassle me. No worries there. We checked the weather and water levels of the various canyons in the visitors centre before getting on the shuttle bus into Zion canyon.

We didn’t have to wait long, but the bus was pretty full. Derek and Emma found seats while Kylie, Oliver and I remained standing for a few stops. When a couple of seats opened up at the front, Emma insisted she sit up front with me, her getting the window seat. She pointed at the tall mountains and was excited to see water running down canyon. “Maybe we can go to the top of those mountains?” Yes, maybe…

We got off at the grotto, amongst fluttering white stuff all over the sky, like summer snow. Instead of taking the strenuous Angel’s Landing trail, we veered to the left towards the Emerald Pools. The trail was much less of a physical challenge and perfectly suitable for carrying kids on, in fact we weren’t the only ones. There were plenty of people on the trail, which lead to a fair bit of waiting, but it was still a nice trail that went up enough to give us a modest view into the valley. It didn’t really matter, it was D&K’s and my first chance to start catching up properly. We hadn’t seen in each other in over seven months and while they’d kept close tabs on me through my blog and SPOT messages, I hadn’t heard what had changed with them! Derek and Emma went ahead while Kylie and I talked nonstop all the way to the first pool. It was more of a small trickle across flat rock and we stopped for a snack. Emma got our of her pack for a quick explore, then after lunching, we were on our way again.

We went first to Upper Emerald Pool where we saw two climbing ropes tied together extending from the cliffs overhead right to the lake. The ranger based on the beach told us that it had been used for rescue training the day before and left there. He also told everyone to avoid contact with the water of the pool since it contained sensitive microscopic life that shouldn’t be disturbed. It didn’t stop some ignorant people, but we heeded the advice. The small pool reflected the rocks above it perfectly, in a tinge of brown. We all took turns getting photos in front of the pool, Emma yelling out “Cream Cheese” for every photo, because only losers say just “cheese”. Emma and I played on the beach while Oliver, 9 months old, had a crawl around in the sand and tried to find as many things as possible to put into his mouth. Emma and I started by writing everyone’s names in the sand, then we drew circles to jump in and out of, making a path to Daddy from across the beach. After trapping Emma in a few circles, we played a round of hide and seek, me the obvious loser. I’m sure we provided entertainment for most of the crowd, I just hoped that hadn’t come here to enjoy the serenity. All they got was the sound of Emma’s laughter.

Time ot move on, we packed up again and head to the middle and lower pools. These were pretty well empty like the first one, but still nice to see since they both provided views into the valley. After walking along the path underneath a rock that made rain over our heads, we descended down the trail back to the bus stop.

The grass out the front of Zion Lodge was so inviting, we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to play on it. With white fluff everywhere, we had plenty to keep us entertained. Emma asked very nicely if I’d play with her again and I obliged. We chased the white fluff all across the grass, then tried to sneak up on Derek and Oliver who were playing on the grass by the only big tree in the centre of the park. When we tired of the white fluff, we switched to playing hide and seek. It was an easy game since the big tree was the only real hiding place around. It resulted in a lot of running, chasing and shouting with glee. Worn out and ready to go back to camp, we all agreed it was time to head back to the bus.

On the bus back, we got very good news that Derek had been successful in getting a permit to do the Subway Canyon on both Wednesday and Thursday, something me and him would be able to do. Since we had a choice, we decided it would be best to do the hike on Thursday since the rest of the afternoon and tomorrow was supposed to be rainy and cold. Sure enough, when we got back to base, the temperature started dropping. Not only that, the pineapple I’d left as a centrepiece on our picnic table had been partly demolished by squirrels. Cheeky scavenging buggers!

While Derek was away at the visitor’s center to organise our permits with Oliver, Kylie, Emma and I set about putting a tarp up over our table in case of rain. After thinking we’d rig it up to the trees, we decided we’d probably get in trouble for doing so, so found a way to hook it up to my van and D&K’s tent. Two poles, a few bits of cord, pegs and a hammering rock later and we had a robust shelter.

After Derek and Oliver got back, the wind picked up something fierce and the rain started coming down. The shelter wasn’t super robust to wind so I took it down while the wind passed. Thankfully it didn’t stick around long and the gusts were replaced by gentle rain, which was then replaced by heavier rain. The tarp went back up and it was invaluable. It meant that we could all cook and eat dinner outside with relative comfort and be dry. While we waited for dinner, Emma and I played around taking photos of ourselves, her with her Koala beanie on, which I’m super jealous of.

By the time I was ready to eat, the rain had died down so I could cook in my kitchen. Grilled chicken, potatoes and asparagus thanks very much! Thanks to the rain, we all had a pretty early night, the family party hoping they’d make it through the night without any water ingress.