St. George Ironman

No we didn’t compete… nor would we want to… right now anyway ;-)

On our way toward Las Vegas, we saw signs for the St. George Ironman that was going on May 5^th.  Of course we had to stop in and marvel at these amazing athletes.  If you aren’t exactly sure of the iron distance, it consists of a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 110 mile bike, then finished off with a 26.2 (marathon!) run.  Pro athletes can finish this in around 8 hours, while “normal” folks finished more in the 10 – 15 hour timeframe.  Many of these athletes train for 20 – 40 hours (a part time to full time job) a week for months leading up to iron distance events, in addition to the $700 price tag to participate in this event, so it takes a real commitment to do one of these race.

The JEM Trail Loop Mountain Biking Outside Zion NP

After visiting the Zion National Park I decided to give Utah's low desert mountain biking a go. I asked around at the local biking shops and heard a unanimous recommendation to bike on the JEM trail, just minutes outside of Springdale, Utah. I did some research, loaded the map onto my IPhone and then set off to explore. Here is my experience:

The Trail Map

Zion National Park

Of the major national parks we have been to so far (Yosemite and Grand Canyon), Zion struck us as having the most scenic beauty. Zion National Park offers gorgeous views no matter which direction you are looking at, and has a serene and quiet quality about it that just puts your mind to rest. The red cliffs, green canyons and blue skies make for a beautiful combination.

The Zion Valley

Another Great CouchSurfing Experience

There are two Couchsurfing hosts in Springdale, UT, the little town right outside of Zion National Park. We had contacted both before we left Grand Canyon, and heard back from one. She apologized that she could not host us because she lives in a condo right off Main St and had no room for us to park our travel trailer. She did give us her cell phone number though, so we could call her to brainstorm on places to park. When we got to Springdale, we tried parking at a local church, but there were signs everywhere about no overnight parking, so we gave her a call. While waiting on her to call us back, we went ahead and booked a night at an RV park. We should have waited 30 more minutes, because she messaged almost immediately back saying she’d called up the other host, and that he definitely had a place for us to stay.

The Scenic Road From Grand Canyon to Zion NP

To get from one amazing park to another we decided to take the scenic route. Basically, there is hwy 89 that crosses into Utah early on, and then cuts west through the Grand Staircase National Monument. If you take that highway to Zion National Park, you need to ensure that you meet the Mount Carmel Tunnel vehicle width requirements; otherwise you need to pay for a $15 escort to help you through. Since Lucy is a wide girl, and we didn't feel like coughing up $15 for a 1 mile tunnel ride, we decided to take the steeper and more scenic way, highway 89A. This route stays in Arizona for most of the drive, cuts through Kaibab National Forest, goes by the West Rim entrance to Grand Canyon, and then crosses into Utah just before you reach the Zion NP vicinity.