Sunday, September 9, 2012

roaming the desert

After our Narrows adventure last weekend, we learned that not far outside of Zion was a ghost town with a few leftover buildings. We knew we had to see it (we kind of fell in love with ghost towns--remember?), so we raced to beat the sunset so we could spend a little time exploring the former town of Grafton. 
There were a few houses scattered around in this little green valley that sat alongside the Virgin River. 
Blue skies, puffy clouds, the sun setting on the red mountains in the not-too-far-distance......we decided we were ready to move in to one of the forgotten homes. 
zion npzion npzion npzion npzion np  

The next day, we wanted to explore Zion some more, but we also wanted to avoid the Holiday weekend crowds......so rather than stick to one of the designated touristy trails, we decide to do a little wandering. 
Find our own trail. 
We parked the car in a pull-out alongside the road, grabbed some snacks and lots of water and headed out. 
We followed the slickrock 
down
down
down 
to a dried up creek bed that took us winding and zig-zagging through slot canyons. 
And we had them all to ourselves!
We saw lizards, jack rabbits, the cutest fox, and seven or eight big horn sheep.
We climbed on the rock walls and made our own small cairns to mark our way.
We wandered and roamed until we eventually looped our way back and climbed back up the slickrock to our car.
zion npzion npzion npzion npzion npzion npzion npzion npzion npzion npzion npzion npzion npzion np
adventure accomplished.


up next: bryce canyon!

7 comments:

whitneyingram said...

at the end of the month, Ethan is catering a wedding in Bryce Canyon. It is sure to be gorgeous.

in dreams said...

a) totally wish my parents had been as awesome as you guys are when i was younger...i would have loved going ghost town hunting + rock climbing (ok, hiking, with lots of rocks)! :)

in dreams said...

oops, and b) i love these photos!! geez. this is what i get for posting so late at night, haha. :)

Ashlae said...

Beautiful photos. I love that you take your children along on adventures - so sweet.

Laura said...

I wish all this was in my backyard...... you are blessed. :)

The Fredy Family said...

Sheena you guys have to go to Bodie!!! It's in California on HWY 395. It's amazing. I am just getting started editing my wedding I shot there in July! A must see for sure!

Anonymous said...

Last year we had taken a road trip to Arches, Zion and Bryce. Your photos and posts brings back memories. Love the photos. We sure did miss the ghost town though!