WANDERLUST: Zion National Park

                         Spontaneous Zion National Park Trip? I'm down. Anytime. 

 I have so many fond memories of Zion from back in my days in the youth program of my church.  The enormous mountains filled with amazing colors that showcase thousands of years nature at work leave me speechless whenever I see them in pictures, let alone in person!

I love being surrounded by nature because it makes me feel small. I feel physically small as a girl who is 5'11" with a father that towers over most people at 6'7", and it sure is nice not be the biggest "thing" in the area. I also feel small in a more existential sense when I think about how these mountains and valleys and amazing trees were divinely created, and then continue to think about the rest of the world being created and then how I am just one person in this world of billions of others. And it gets me going on this long tangent of run-on thoughts (and sentences) that leave me with hardly anything to say because I fall into a trance of awe.

Yet at the same time, I feel so empowered being surrounded by such beauty. 

Empowered because I know that the same God who created these gigantuous (sure, that word is real) mountains also created me.

That's a pretty cool thought <3 

But any who. 

We started the day by eating fat, juicy burgers at the local pub that filled our stomachs so well. Afterwards,  I felt inspired to hike through the Narrows quicker, faster, and further in order to burn off the burger and salad. Well, just the burger because salad is healthy for you, or whatever. 

Finally, after stopping at the souvenir shop and  figuring out which stop to get off the bus for the narrows, we started out descend by foot into the beautiful canyon. 

 

...Only to come upon flash flood warning sign which was shortly followed by a notice that said the Narrows were closed due to an overflow of water. (You wouldn't see a sign like that in California right now). I was disappointed because that is what we went there for. Due to our massive lunch, however,  it was already late afternoon which meant the sun was setting quickly and maybe it was a good thing we didn't try to hike way back into the canyon. 

We did not let that get our spirits down! Due to the absence of an itinerary, this was an extremely relaxing mini trip, so we just cruised through what we could of the canyon until the sun was just about to set over the mountains. 

One of my main desires from this little trip was to practice my photography skills, which I admit need some serious improvement. Good thing I have a digital camera! But I would like to take some pictures with a film camera just for the experience or like one of the disposable cameras! Sorry, another tangent. BUT here are some of the shots that I took. 

I put good ol' Betty Bertha on manual focus and played around with some depth of field which was actually quite fun! I was basically laying on the ground to take these pictures while my poor family was ready to move on with the trail. I love how taking a closer look at these rocks really made me see the beauty in them all! I mean, my gosh, they're so small yet so beautiful. I've noticed--especially since watching General Conference that sometimes the small and simple things are the true gems. <3 

   

Ooh! This waterfall was amazing! It looks extremely small, and it was, but still, a waterfall! I stopped to watch the water drop and separate as it descended and I felt so much peace.  

I eventually moved on from the waterfall, much to my family's relief, only to become obsessed with this little cairn that someone created which is pretty rad. 

The remainder of the afternoon consisted of me climbing onto ledges which led to my mom freaking out, but it was still worth it. And I didn't get hurt which is a miracle if you know me. I especially loved this one.

My mom, however,  particularly hated this ledge, and wouldn't let me get on any other ones after this. 

And then here are just some random shots with my Mom, Grandma, and Cousin! 

Thank y'all for reading this post! I hope to do more like it because looking through these pictures and reflecting on the whole experience has really sparked more of a desire to go on more adventures! But I always say that...

Til next time!

Emily Tessa