I've just arrived back from a whirlwind four day trip to Utah and Nevada for the annual firm hiking trip. Me and two colleagues, Nikki and John, flew out of London, bound for Las Vegas on Thursday morning. We took in the sites of Wynn hotel, and stocked up on hiking supplies before meeting the rest of our group (another 95 odd lawyers) on Friday morning bound for the Zion National Park in Utah. After a number of delays to our journey (including flight delays, missed flights and a very slow bus driver), we ended up setting off on the hike at around 6pm, which meant hiking in the dark for a good hour and a half. Head torches really only show you so much when you're hiking through a river on an unmarked trail. Progress was slow, and we didn't make camp until around 11pm that night, having made less progress than we hoped.
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| Nikki and John at the start of the hike in |
On Saturday morning, we were up before dawn in an attempt to beat the heat later on. We hiked out through a river and along its banks, over boulders and a waterfall, and through waist deep water. The scenery was sublime and everyone was in good spirits, despite the early start. We made it to the canyon exit before midday, and loaded up on water before the steep upward climb out.
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| 5am start |
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The next 4-5 hours were easily the toughest I have ever experienced. I put my camera away to concentrate on the climb so have no pictures to post. Temperatures soared into the mid 40s, and the assent was precarious. We were bouldering and rock climbing without ropes with 15kg packs on, and then hiking up hill to the exit point. Several people started suffering from the effects of dehydration, and many had difficulty on the assent out of the canyon, slowing us down and spreading the main group out into smaller groups of 6-12. Many of us ended up having to find our way through the park with only the minimal directions. Luckily, there were a few very strong and experienced hikers among the group, and their assistance was invaluable in making sure everyone made it out safely. After about 13 hours on the go, we had all exited and were on the way back to Las Vegas, filthy and exhausted. We arrived back to news that Utah and Nevada were suffering from a record breaking heatwave, and that temperatures in Zion peaked at 113 F/45 C.
Zion National Park was unlike anything I have seen before, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to have seen it.
