Spring Break ~ Part III

Part 1 here

Part 2 here

Still on our first full day in Utah we are continuing our hike in Zion to the Emerald Pools.   We decided to keep on to the upper emerald pool because the lower pool was closed and the middle pool was extremely crowded.

I really wish someone would have told me my hair was that crazy before we took this picture because I really like it except for that major detail!  

Obviously I was much more interested in spending my time looking at all of this beauty and not too worried about my hair.

This trail was tough on my knees and I really felt the pain on the way back.  There was a lot of climbing over rock, stairs and uneven ground to trek through

We finally made it to the upper Emerald pool and it was definitely worth the long rigorous hike.

A waterfall from above falling into the pool of water.

We rested, ate a snack, Brooklyn played in the sand and Kayla took pictures and explored before we headed back

 As I said earlier my knees really felt the pain on the way back going down hill through the rocks and stairs.  I fell behind a bit and was honestly in tears a few times because my right knee was hurting so bad.  Kayla was my sweet angel who stayed with me and helped me while I tried to make it down the rocks.  I was so thankful she was there for me to lean on and I'll never forget that.  My knee had never hurt that bad and ended up bothering me for the rest of the trip but I made sure to not let it ruin it because I was not going to miss out on any of this because of some pain.

We finally made it to the even dirt trail and it was much easier from then on.

We took the tram back to the car and looked through the Zion Museum before it closed and then headed back to the campsite.   It was getting close to dinnertime and I was in awe at just how much hiking we had done on our first day and neither of the girls complained at all. 

While we were driving back we saw a few cars pulled over and people running out in the street, we thought how unsafe that was and then noticed what they were looking at...

Of course we got out and joined in with our cameras and watched them eat and wander around in their beautiful environment

and then why not take a picture in front of the tunnel in the middle of the street!  Don't worry we moved quickly.   We had to drive through a few tunnels to get back to our campsite and there is one tunnel that is a mile long and completely dark inside except for a few sections where natural light comes through.  Only a few cars are allowed through and only one direction at a time and both on the way in and way back we were the very last car to go through.  We told the girls that since no one was behind us we were going to stop the car and do a Chinese fire drill, they had no clue what that was so we explained it and they both thought we were crazy and would not do it so instead hubby and I did it on our own and the girls were laughing hysterical in the back.   They both said they thought we were kidding and weren't really going to do it but we did.  It was another fun part of our day that I'm sure we will all remember.

Back at the campsite we made dinner and then relaxed around the fire.  Kayla brought out all the goodies we needed to make s'mores for dessert

and I enjoyed a well earned ice cold beverage to round up an amazing first day!