We were up bright and early for a half day canyoneering adventure with Zion Adventure Company. We met them at their shop at 7:30am to get fitted for neoprene socks and waterproof boots. Caitie's feet were too small to fit into them and Peytons feet were too wide to fit in the neoprene socks. Luckily they were both great sports about it!
We had two tour guides for our family. We had about a 30 minute drive to the canyon and learned a lot about Zion on the ride. This is the most rainfall that Zion has ever received, so we were at a different location than their normal half day adventure. Typically we wouldn't need neoprene socks for this adventure but even this canyon had water in it and we needed them for one of the repels. Michael and I both wondered how it compared to their normal location.
We hiked straight up the mountain and then got ready to repel for the first time! The kids were all a little nervous.
They requested that Michael go down first. So he kicked off the adventure.
Conor was next up. He had a tough time figuring out how to repel and it took him a little while.
A group came up behind us so we had to quickly move on and I didn't get pictures of anyone else doing their first repel. They asked if I would go down the first repel next and then immediately go on to the next one. It was a little daunting to go ahead and start the second repel (which was the most steep and into water) in the canyon by myself. This repel dropped into knee deep water. I was glad I had on the waterproof socks!
Conor was up next for the second repel. He still struggled a good bit, but made it down!
Peyton went down the second repel next. He struggled with the first repel, but got the hang of it for the second one. Peyton did not have on waterproof shoes so his shoes and socks were completely filled with water. I think it made the third repel a little more difficult with wet shoes and socks on!
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Patrick was up next. He flew down the canyon. He has done this a few times at the adventure park before, so he knew what to expect more than the other three.
Caitie was too nervous to go down this repel by herself and went with one of the guides. It worked out well because he was able to lift her to me over the water so she didn't have to stand in the knee deep water and get her shoes wet.
The little two were really excited to have made it down the big repel!
The third and final repel. Unfortunately we had to skip one because another really large group jumped in front of us. Caitie was excited to do this one by herself without the guide.
After canyoneering we went home to change and then went to Zion Brewpub for lunch. It's right next to the visitors center and very convenient. We had planned to go on another hike, but it started drizzling and it looked like heavy rain for the afternoon. So we decided to walk over to the visitor center and finish up the junior ranger booklets.
It was raining pretty hard when we got back to the condo, so we decided on a movie/nap time. The kids and I played scrabble too. It was a nice relaxing afternoon after an early and fun morning adventure. Since it was absolutely pouring we decided to walk the few steps next door to eat at Bit and Spur again. I think this might have been everyone's favorite day of vacation! Conor and Caitie were begging to do more canyoneering. I'm so glad they had such a fun experience!
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