We woke up to a beautiful sunrise with the tops of the peaks being bathed in the morning light. We decided to sleep in a little and take our time getting ready. In fact, we were just going to lounge around and rest, but we decided to go on a short hike to the Canyon Overlook point.
Remembering what the Rock Stop owner told us, we decided to drive further up the road after the long tunnel and before the short tunnel and look for the desert bighorn sheep, since we had no luck the day before. This was going to be our day to spot them, as we found a family of them just hanging out on the rocks nearby the roadside. B was ecstatic, but she was really hoping to see them and we did. We probably spent a good half hour just following them along the roadside, along with a whole army of other parkgoers, all snapping pics like crazy with their cameras and iPads.
FInally, we left and drove back to the canyon overlook trailhead. It was a little steep in places and there were some spots with some sheer dropoffs and no railing, but generally an easy to moderate short hike. The reward at the end is worth it too, as you can see where the entire canyon including where the tunnel exits and the windy road to the floor of the canyon.
We wrapped it up by heading to the brew pub for food and beer in Spingdale. Springdale has an IMAX theater with a screen about 6 stories tall. They were showing Ironman 3 3D and actually had cheaper tickets than what we pay back home, so we decided to have a date night. We would clean up, do some laundry, and then head for the movie.
We had our 2nd shower at a nearby outfitters store and went to the local laundromat to do our first load of laundry since we started the trip. While the clothes were drying, we headed next door to the Fatali Gallery. The gallery owner, Michael Fatali, was there along with his wife. He still shoots with his large format camera with his giant 8x10 giant Cibachrome film plates which he has on display at the gallery. The camera and tripod setup weighs 100 lbs. It reminded me of something that Ansel Adams would use. Fatali only puts out 4 pictures every year, but they are amazing and the colors are unreal. Since he is doing things the old way, he even does his own darkroom work. We were talking to his wife, who said that she carries about 8 film plates in her backpack weighing about 50 lbs. That's one heck of a photographer's assistant.
Anyway, we picked up our laundry and put it away, caughtba beautiful sunset, and headed to the theater.
It was about that time, my stomach started aching. I wasn't sure why, but I was hoping it would go away, but it didn't. It just got worse, until eventually, I was curled up in my theater seat, in what seemed like never-ending agonizing pain, as if someone was twisting my stomach. That's when I realized, I had food poisoning. It wasn't anyone's fault, but our own. The fridge in Moby just couldn't keep up with the 117 degree weather inside the van that day (outside was more like 105 degrees). With no electricity and the ice bags in the fridge completely melted, I suspect some of the food reached the unsafe zone. I was in for a long night of tossing, turning, and moaning....
The next day I woke up, with only a few hours of sleep from the night. I was in no shape to hike the iconic Angel's Landing hiking. I was feeling weak and tired. Angel's Landing requires you grab onto a chain on the last half mile and go up a steep rocky path with severe dropoffs on boths sides (not recommended for anyone with a fear of heights). The last thing I wanted to do was not have the strength to pull myself up the chain or hold on to it, because here it means you die if you let go. Not worth risking my life over. Instead, we slept in until late morning and just relaxed. We decided to take the shuttle out to Zion Lodge and sit under the big cottonwood tree and nap some more. Relaxing under that cottonwood tree was like the perfect peaceful moment with shade from the hot sun and even a slight breeze. I'm glad we decided to take it easy as I did recover by the end of the day. I guess I've got unfinished business now at Zion NP, so I'll have to come back on a seperate trip to finish Angel's Landing. Maybe I'll even hike Observation Point also...
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