Emerald Pools

A week ago we woke up at 5 am and went to Zion to hike Emerald Pools.

Why so early? The trick to Southern Utah in the summer is to not be outdoors past 9 am, unless you're in the water. It gets too hot too fast. For us, it worked out perfectly.

Angela, at the beginning of the hike

And Elizabeth

Angela, with the half-smile she learned from...

...Elizabeth

Deer! It was a stag, on the hillside near the trail.

Angela on the rocks

Close up of Angela

Monkey see, monkey do

Hiking on the trail

Lower Emerald Pools. It's summer, so the water level is quite low.

Under the overhang

Catching a drop

Not exactly a waterfall

Water on the rocks

We decided to hike on towards Middle Emerald Pools.

Waterfall

Stopping to play in the sand

Hiking through the rock canyon

Crossing the small stream of Middle Emerald Pools

Sign at the cliff’s edge

Tadpoles! Turns out they aren't as jittery as you'd think, but the kids managed to frighten most of them away eventually.

More wildlife

Crossing the other arm of the pool

Hiking out

“Angela!”
“What?”

The Virgin River

I know it’s not supposed to be funny…

The kids took a few pictures too

Just as we were leaving, it was 9 am and starting to get really, really hot. There was a long line of cars waiting to get in to the park. I hope they had a good time, but they probably mostly thought, "Why does anyone come here in the summer? It's hotter than blazes!"

I was sure the kids would complain and not want to hike the whole way, but they were great. We had a great time. How can you not love Zion?