Sand Bench with the Hays Family

Hiking in Zion with a new infant during winter can be challenging, but the Hays' family was up from Moab, so we had to give it a try. They were seeking something adventurous, but we just wanted something that would be enjoyable. So we suggested the Sand Bench trail because it has good views, few people, and no steep drop offs in winter. I think everyone else would have been happier with Angel's Landing or something more exciting, but Jacqueline wasn't having it. When they showed up it was Brian, Angela, their daughers Liesel and Hannah, Brian's bro Matt, and Angela's sisters. We were 11 people total which was quite a few people to go hiking with. Zyla and Liesel were around the same age, so it was fun for them to get together. The Sand Bench trail actually turned out to be a great hike. It was frozen rather solid in many spots. Jacqueline brought up the rear while the rest of us chatted away. Jacqueline was concerned about Conrad and the cold, but he mainly just slept. We were happy to use the kids down suits to keep them warm.
I think it was boring for everyone without kids, but the rest of us enjoyed the loop. Zion in the winter is an impressive site and it is nice to look down from above on the scenic areas where the cars do not constantly pass by. We got family pictures and when it was all said and done the kids were tired, wet, and hungry which means that we had to go home to fix that problem. The Hays' family left to go back down to St. George and Brian's family, but it was fun to see them even if it was only for a short time.

Conrad's First Hike

Conrad was almost a month old, so we figured it was high time for him to hit the trail. This was a big undertaking to just get out the door trying to fit a short hike into a newborn's schedule. We chose something simple to make sure that it would happen. We drove up the scenic drive and parked across from the lodge. Our goal, the Lower Emerald Pools. We loaded Conrad into the Baby Bjorn, since he was a bit bigger than Zyla was at this time in her life. She was too small for it until after two months whereas Conrad already fit in there at less than a month.
Hiking up there, we still saw some people even though it was the tail end of fall. There was a bit of ice and running water at the pool. With all of Jacqueline's constant checking to see if Conrad was okay, the whole hike took a bit over a half an hour to do about a mile roundtrip. I carried Zyla and she did manage to fall asleep in this short time. I was hoping that we could do more, but having such a small baby out in the crisp cool air of the late fall, it was tough to push him to do more.
Besides, after an hour, mother and son would need to have a feeding session anyway. I would go back to being Zyla's main parent while Jacqueline tended to the new baby. I would get the tired kid with only a half hour nap, but worth it to get the kids out and about in the park.

Wandering around the East Side

One of my favorite things to do in the winter time is to wander around the East Side. I parked at one of the familiar pull offs and headed into Clear Creek, then up a small drainage. I found a drainage that I thought I had never explored and decided to go explore it. When I started hiking, though, I realized that it just led to another drainage that I had previously explored. This was my quick way into a viewpoint of Parunaweap. It was one of the least exposed section of rock, but with great views along the way.
There were moqui marbles and rocks with circular patterns built in.

This place is still relatively unexplored by the 3 million visitors that tromp the trails of Zion yearly, so they have not stolen all of the interesting parts of this
I could see my route through the Root Canals that Seth and I had taken. We went up the canyon on the left and down the one on the right through Many Pools. A pretty fun trip, but super challenging and brushy.
After climbing up some steep slick rock, it eventually dumped me out on a flat vegetated plateau. From here, many different expeditions to various places could be undertaken.
 I initially started out on a small trip after finding a path that had been made in the sand. It had been made by a snake. I followed it over to a pile of dirt and realized that if I decided to dig that pile of dirt up, I might find myself a large rattlesnake inside. So I decided to leave it alone. Instead, I headed east and stayed near the protruding peaks. I decided that maybe it would be fun to try to climb one of the Triplets that were right there. I was not overly ambitious about it since I was just kind of in a wandering kind of mood. As I climbed up there were interesting slick rock formations and great views of Zion Canyon below.

I got to a saddle between the two peaks and tried to find a safe way to the top. None of it seemed like I would die if I fell, but all of it seemed like there was high potential for injury. Out here, by myself, I could not take any risks. So only a few feet from the top, I decided to turn around.
I had amazing views in every direction of the Parunaweap area and the east side also. I took lots of pictures and got distracted for a bit then continued on down.

 I had to figure out where to go next. I wandered around on the flat plateau until I got on the other side of the Triplets. I found myself separated from continuing east by a large canyon. Instead, I found a nice spot to sit down and have lunch. I looked up and could see Nippletop and the Triplets separated by this canyon.

 In fact, Nippletop actually had people on top. I decided that I would come back. (I actually tried a week later to climb Nippletop with a friend, but we did not make it as he was uncomfortable with the exposure. No blog because my camera ran out of battery.) I decided to go check out this canyon. I stayed close to the high point I was at and traversed over. I found an unused route into the canyon and was nearly immediately turned back by a drop-off. I am sure that this is an unexplored Zion slot canyon, but I don't think that I have a strong desire to make a first descent.

 It looked rather brushy, though there are probably a large supply of good anchors. I ended up popping out of the canyon back onto a flat plateau behind the Triplets once again. Picking a different way to explore and being intentionally vague so that no one can follow my route, I found myself once again in a place that I had been. I looked around and found a panel of pictographs along a wall.
 This was an excellent spot as it provided shade during the summer and full sun during the winter.

I even found a bit of pottery on the ground near the pictographs. I left here returning by my original route to get back to the car having had a day without too many new discoveries, but nonetheless, enjoyable on the east side of Zion National Park