Last week I took a trip out to Vegas for the NAB Show and to visit the magnificent Zion National Park. Heres how it went...
View from within Zion, what a breathtaking place!
Arrival in Vegas
I arrived in Las Vegas on Monday evening tired but excited. I rented a nice Toyota Tacoma TRD 4x4 truck to weather the tough Utah backroads and headed over to the Las Vegas Strip. What a crazy place! So many neon lights, massive luxurious hotels, casinos, and other overstimulating sights and sounds quickly overwhelmed me and I made my way over to the hotel i was staying at, Harrah's. I settled in to my hotel room. Being used to the moist Florida climate my skin was not happy in the dry Nevada climate but I did my best to get comfortable and sleep through the night although with the excitement of the trip and jet-lag i didn't do very well (forehead slap.)
In the morning after checking out and some Starbucks I headed over to the NAB Show which taking place a short distance away at the Las Vegas Convention Center on the Monorail. On the way i met some really cool people who were there on behalf of Z cam, a young and very fast growing Chinese camera manufacturer making some incredibly powerful and affordable cameras for filmmakers.
Can you spot me?
NAB was incredible and i got to see some wonderful companies. After visiting quite a few vendors like Tilta, Aputure, Sony, B&H and Black Magic Design to name a few, i got exhausted from the miles of walking (literally theres MILES of companies displaying their products) and satisfied with what i found I headed out on my adventure.
Drive Up to Zion
It took quite a while to get out of Vegas but once you hit highway 15 its smooth sailing. The drive up featured beautiful mountains on both sides. I passed Valley of Fire State Park and was so tempted to go but i knew i would never get to Zion in time if i stopped there so i kept going. About halfway through my Waze switch from saying arrival time 7:56 to 8:56. I scratched my head wondering how i could've lost so much time, or if i took a wrong turn but quickly realized it was a time change as i was passing the Nevada/Utah border.
After passing through the cozy town of Springdale, located just south of the park, I finally made it up to my AirBnB, hosted by Jake and Julie, wonderful people with a beautiful cabin on the east side of the park. The place was so cozy and i had it all to myself. I kind of wished i had brought somebody with me but i reminded myself that I really needed some time to process and be alone and i certainly benefited from that time.
Jack & Julies place
Zion National Park
I took some time to research my best option for a hike. I wanted something quiet with amazing views. I settled on the Stave Spring Trail. It is a 5.5 mile hike that took me deep into Zion canyon and then way up and out at with an ascent of 1000ft until the summit with the best view in the park, Observation Point.
Observation Point, Zion National Park
Gallery of the Trip!