Zac and I hit a year of being married! WHAT?! It has flown by. To celebrate we headed down to Zion for a bit of an adventure.

We live in Salt Lake so Zion National Park is just a four-hour drive, which makes for a great quick trip.

The first night we were staying in the Wyndham because we got in so late we really just needed a good bed to sleep in. But we drove to the WRONG hotel. We accidentally mapped us to one nearly an hour away. So after being very confused as to why they couldn’t find our reservation we grabbed our bags, & our cake topper (that we were saving for our first anniversary). For 364 days it sat looking perfect in our freezer but then I had the brilliant idea to let it sit in the car while we had our adventure and it SERIOUSLY MELTED. Please appreciate me carrying it into our hotel for night #1.

The next day we slept in and actually watched Pets. When we went on our honeymoon the only English channels were playing children’s movies so at night we would watch part of one (cars, ratatouille, SpongeBob) anyway so we watched that and I was laughing out loud.

Then we headed into Zion National Park to do Pine Creek Trail. You need to get permits but they were only $10 a person (I think) Zac bought them before telling me what we were doing but repelling on your own is so much more of a thrill than having a guide lock you into something!! I was so excited to go for my first time.

Hitchhiking was a pain in the butt (leave your car at the bottom and hike up) we were standing out there FOREVER!! Made me want to pick up more hitchhikers, but also we were only going a 10-15 minute drive up the canyon haha. So a little different if someone wants to go 100 miles.

We took wetsuits (thank goodness you NEED them) even in August the water was freezing. Online they say that it is 7-8 repels but really we jumped 3-4 of them and only used the rope on 4.

 

Funny story – on the second “repel” Zac jumped down and told me to do the same so I did but the impact when I hit the water messed my ear up so by the time we finished the hike out it was really hurting (we think I got a bunch of water stuck in it) after the hike Zac found a grocery store and poured vinegar into my ear while I laid across the car – a great home remedy for it! It bubbled up and then the water released out of my ear.

The slot canyon was so beautiful, we went late enough in the day that we didn’t see anybody else, which was all fun until on the second large repel I dropped down first and I dropped my ATC in the water I really started panicking a bit, I dove down trying to find it but the water was so cold and so murky there was no way I would see it. When Zac got to the bottom I worked on gathering the rope and on his third dive he came up with a victorious smile on his face and the ATC in his hand!

In between repels you hike or swim through the canyon, it is so surreal.

The final repel is 100 feet and is a “free fall” it is one of my favorite things I have ever done & was more of an adrenaline rush than skydiving for me! After that you continue down the river for a while and then hike up to a ridge, follow it back to your car. When we got to our car our cake was bubbling in the back seat!!! Destroyed by the heat. hahaha

 

Our next stop on the trip was our “campsite” for the night which is close to a hotel in my opinion. Under Canvas, is a glamping destination near the park & it was a super cool experience. We dropped our bags off, cleaned up and headed for dinner in town.

 

This was our first time glamping and we both agree that we plan to do it again. It is a perfect mix between being in nature and still having a shower and a nice bed!! I am a big fan.

 

We watched the sun finish setting and “ate” our cake… or at least a bit of it. Even after everything, we could still appreciate how great it tasted in its prime. I love my adventure buddy and couldn’t have imagined a better way to celebrate our first year.

 

 

After our anniversary trip we spent a couple days with Zac’s family in his favorite place, Lake Powell.