The Thomas Family: hiking the west rim trail

Ben and I (along with our good friends the Ingrams) went on a 14-mile hike in Zion National Park last Monday (did you know it's Zion National Park, not Zions National Park?? I didn't.). Anyway, I'm hoping my legs make a recovery sometime soon. We went to Zion with the intent to hike the Narrows, but a downpour Monday morning and the resulting risk of flash floods crushed that idea. So, we ended up hiking the West Rim Trail instead. There were plenty of uphill climbs ... enough to give my thighs quite a workout. But the real kicker was the drop in elevation (about 3000 feet) ... which gave my knees and shins a thorough beating. The trail begins at an elevation of about 7500 feet and ends around 4200 feet. But man alive, it was totally worth it. The views were spectacular. We saw areas and canyons in Zion that I didn't even know existed.