Arrival and Zion National Park

11/10. Once again it was a bitterly cold night and everything is frozen. But we are rewarded with beautiful mists over the lake. We drive to Circleville where we have breakfast in a typical American café. For once, it is typically American: fried eggs, bacon, hash browns with toast - we share a plate, mind you, the portions are just huge here.

We find out that we have won the lottery for the Subway, yippee! We even have double luck because we signed up for two days and now we have been selected for both.

So we continue to Zion National Park. As the weather will be bad on Tuesday (rain and snow), we sign up for Wednesday. In Zion, we then find out that we have to come back on Tuesday, as the permits are only given out one day in advance. That means for us: now drive an hour back, then another hour in and back tomorrow... we are slowly tired of all the driving. We trundle off again and find a place to sleep. The first two campsites are full and it doesn't look good, it's Columbus Day today, whatever that means!? So we drive to Yant Flats, but turn back again because the weather looks so bad and we have to drive on a dirt road, which you don't want to be on when it's raining! Annoyed that nothing is going smoothly today, we drive to Leeds and finally find a campsite. Yacik, a Polish long-term guest for a year at the campsite, calls Janet, the owner (a bundle of irony and sarcasm), and we find a sleeping place next to the bath house with a shower - luxury. After that, we buy ourselves some fine beer and let the rest of the day pass by. Somewhere along the way, we find our sense of humor again and enjoy the evening. We eat in the local Mexican restaurant, where we amuse ourselves about one of the waiters who seems completely unnecessary.

During the night it starts raining and snowing!

12/10. When we wake up, the sky is still overcast and the air is wintry cool. We treat ourselves to an extended, hot shower and then set off to Zion to pick up the permit for the Subway. Today there are definitely fewer people and we quickly find a parking space. The ranger at the counter is strict and "scares you" before the tour. But of course - she doesn't know how experienced or inexperienced the clientele is standing in front of her. And if something were to happen, they would have to go out and rescue the people.

With the permit in hand, we treat ourselves to a reward flight at the park's own brewery. What should we do now with the rest of the day? The clouds clear and it gets a little warmer, so we decide to hike the West Rim of Zion since the Observation Point is closed due to rockfall. Finally, hiking and moving again feels so good! We really come alive and enjoy the deep canyons and the red mountains dusted with snow - fantastic!

Since we are already up there, we also take a detour to Angel's Landing. Six years ago we were up here together for the first time. At that time there were a lot of people and someone scattered the ashes in a ceremony, it was very special. This time there are fewer people and there are still three California condors soaring around. Every time one hovers close above our heads, you can hear a long "swish" of the wings, it is beautiful and very impressive. We meet Ty, a waterfall photographer, and chat with him for a bit.

We only return to the valley at sunset and make our way back to the campsite. Roman cooks dinner for us and I start rearranging the car and cooking eggs for tomorrow's hike. We enjoy the evening together.

13/10. The alarm sounds at 7:00 a.m. We drive straight to the trailhead and have a small breakfast there. Then we descend into the canyon and head towards the Subway. We cross the stream several times, balance on rocks, and scramble along the creek bed - it's so much fun! Finally, the top of the canyon gets narrower and the creek bed widens into a river. However, the water is not deep and we balance from one half-dry spot to the next. The Subway section itself is beautiful when the light shines into the tunnel-like rock, and since we were early, there are only 2 more couples.

You could go further into the canyon, but then you would have to swim! So we prefer to skip that - it would be an adventure for the summer. ;)

On the way back, we find a sunny rock for our lunch break and after 2 hours of "balancing fun", we are back at the car. It was a great 15 kilometers.

On the way back to the campsite, we do some shopping. Then we take care of the laundry, eat freshly made guacamole, and enjoy the autumn sun on our backs. Roman continues writing on the blog and it is very cozy and relaxed. In the evening, we meet Walter, our camper neighbor and retired and passionate pickleball player. The Senior Olympics are taking place in St. George and he is participating! We chat for a while until Walter has to go to his dinner date. We made so much guacamole that we simply skip dinner.

Instead, we go to bed early.