Land Beyond Zion at Winter Break

Over winter break, my family spent the Christmas holiday with my sister and her family in southern California. We drove there from Salt Lake City. My husband was only able to take off one of the two weeks from work, so as we headed home from SoCal, we dropped him off at the St George Airport and stayed in the southern Utah area for a couple of days; specifically Land Beyond Zion.

Land Beyond Zion is a fun campground/vanlife spot right on the UT/AZ border. Shanti has built out a beautiful place to camp comfortably with flush toilets, running water, an outdoor shower and claw foot tub, WiFi, and a shared outdoor kitchen. It has multiple sleep options: from BYO tent, RV, or van with full hookups to a canvas platform tent (with heater!), an RV, or a tiny house. There’s a lovely spot with hammocks hung, and a play area for kids. She has plans to continue building more amenities and dogs are welcome!

Kicking myself for not taking photos of the structures she’s built; mostly on her own too!

My oldest with Shanti’s dog, Sunny

It’s 30 minutes from Hurricane and 50 minutes to Zion National Park. It’s 20 minutes from Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. It’s super close to Gooseberry Mesa, about an hour to St George, and 90 minutes to Bryce Canyon National Park. It’s a wonderful basecamp to all kinds of outdoor exploration and adventures.

It actually rained most of the time we were there, so we did no hiking, but it was still fun and relaxing. We had no pressure to actually do anything… and we kind of didn’t. We played a competitive round of Phase 10, we chilled in hammocks, and we slept in; even thru an epic sunrise that Shanti was gracious enough to share a photo of.

One rainy afternoon, I attempted to paint that beautiful sunrise in watercolor and made a video of the process. You can view it here. At the end of the day, I couldn’t get my paints to make that peachy-pink sky (at least not at the vibrance I wanted, so I did another one after I got home in gouache. They’re very different, but I love both for different reasons.

As the rainstorms cleared and we headed home, we stopped at the Cinder Knoll trail in Hurricane to take photos of the Pine Valley Mountains with snow and Red Cliffs Desert Reserve in the foreground. The puddles were serendipitous.

Check out Land Beyond Zion on its own website, but also on AirBnB and HipCamp.

Shanti is hosting two retreats for adults this spring; one at the end of April that is hiking and running focused with Kathy Pugh. Click here for info about that retreat.

She’s hosting another at the end of May with amazing photographer Michelle Craig. Click here for info about the May retreat. If I didn’t have other stuff happening at the end of May, I’d be attending Michelle’s retreat!

Also… I love the logo I designed for Land Beyond Zion. It really turned out awesome. I’ll write a post about that on its own at some point.

Hiking My Way Retreat - 2022

I had the privilege of attending a retreat in 2019 hosted by Shanti Hodges and Mirna Valerio and it was transformative. I had spent almost all of my 30s juggling a long commute, being pregnant, and taking care of babies that I completely neglected my own physical, mental, and emotional health. The year I turned 40, I vowed to make my own health a higher priority and saving up money to attend this retreat was part of that.

I wrote about that specific retreat here and I find it funny how I really only documented the hikes we went on rather than the experience itself. Maybe I couldn’t find the words?

The following year, I saved up even more money and got some help from my mom and my brother-in-law so I could bring my sister with me. It was a wonderful experience to get to share this escape with her. We both needed the time to reconnect with ourselves as women and it was perfect timing too. That retreat took place the last week of February in 2020… literally weeks before everything shut down.

Shanti wasn’t able to host a retreat in 2021, but with the Covid vaccine finally available and the virus seeming to head down a path towards becoming endemic, a retreat happened again back in February. Shanti asked if I’d like to come and be a staff member. So long as I could make things work with my husband and the carpooling of kids to and from school, he made it happen for me.

There’s something magical about coming to the desert and spending time with complete strangers. We all came for a seemingly singular purpose: to move our bodies outside. But within a single day, it became a sacred space where we could be completely vulnerable and naked; both figuratively and literally in some cases. Even with this being my third time attending, with mostly different women each time (there have been a few repeat offenders), it became the same magical space of support and community.

We were all asked one night “why are you here?” For many, that was a loaded question, for others, not as much. Some of us had lost our selves in motherhood or careers and were trying to find us again. Some wanted to connect with women and be part of a new community. Others simple needed a retreat; in every sense of the word.

Tuesday is an Episcopalian rector and she attended the event this past month. She wrote a beautiful blog post about her experience and comparing it to why Jesus went into the desert.

“Being in the desert quickly calls your attention to what is essential. What do you take in your pack each day? Whatever you bring, you carry for many miles. Start with plenty of water and portable foods to sustain you on the trails. Temperatures rise quickly and drop quickly - layers are essential. Sunscreen, hats, gloves, first aid kits, phones to take pictures with, maybe a GPS device. Not much else. Too much and you risk carrying more than you need, wasting valuable energy. Too little and you risk dehydration, hunger, sunburns, and open wounds.”

I am probably one of the least-religious people I know, and I found her words really moving and spot-on with how curative and healing being in the desert has been for me; especially when I’m there with other women.

“We waited on one another. We accommodated one another. We showed each other what we knew. We were good company. At the end of the day, we knew deep down in the marrow of our bones that we were alive, that life is a gift, and that gift is a joy-filled good. What power does the tempter have over such as this?

In the desert, everything is stripped down to what is most essential: water; food; basic supplies; kinship; reverence. The rest just weighs you down.”

With the combined knowledge and skill throughout the group, we took care of each other. We had women who had never visited Utah before and some who were veterans at hiking in the desert. We had women who were ultra-runners and women who were hiking on trails for the very first time. We were all shapes and sizes, and ages that spanned more than a few decades.

Shanti has a magical talent for bringing people together and it was an honor to get to be a part of it; every time.

Hiking My Way Retreat 2019

At the end of March, I had the privilege of attending a retreat in southern Utah with more than a dozen really fantastic women. My friend Shanti is quite literally, a force of nature. She has a natural talent for bringing people together and does it in the most wonderful ways. She’s a writer for REI and Outside Magazine and the founder of Hike it Baby and Family Forest Fest and last year she published Hike it Baby: 100 Awesome Adventures with Babies and Toddlers. One of her recent projects has been her Hiking My Way Retreats. Twice a year she hosts women for a long weekend of hiking, exploration, running, yoga, and reflection. For the last few retreats, she’s had The Mirnavator, Mirna Valerio, as a co-host.

We explored trails around southern Utah, mainly close to Zion National Park. I enjoyed taking lots of photos, but we were lucky to have Arika Bauer with us on a few hikes too. She’s an amazing photographer and if you find yourself in southern Utah, consider reaching out to her for family photos. If anything, check out her website for amazing tips on hiking at Zion National Park and the surrounding areas.

Here are the trails we explored:

Timber Creek Overlook Trail, Kolob Canyons - This trail is north of Zion National Park, just off of I-15. We’ve driven past the exit many times, me wanting to stop and explore, but alas, with my kids, sometimes it’s better to just stay in the car and get home. This trail is short and a climb, but it’s absolutely gorgeous, especially at sunset. The clouds hung low and clung to the steep, red cliffs. The trail was extremely muddy when we hiked because of recent rain, muddy enough that I wished I’d brought my trekking poles. I almost wiped out a couple of times coming back down in the near-dark, my iPhone as my flashlight. It was an absolutely stunning hike and I cannot wait to bring my kids.

Photo by Zion Adventure Photog, Arika Bauer

Image by Zion Adventure Photog, Arika Bauer

West Cinder Knoll - This trail is popular with mountain biking because it’s open and mostly flat. We did climb up to the Cinder Knoll itself and we had a beautiful sunset view of the contrasting red rocks and the snowy mountains in the distance. It was a beautiful end to a really fun day.

What a gorgeous trail!

Beautiful woman and a beautiful landscape.

Red Reef Trail, Red Cliffs National Recreation Area - I was lucky enough to explore this trail with Shanti last year. It’s truly a hidden gem, although it’s not all that hidden anymore and was quite crowded on the Saturday we went. Because of all the snow and rain we’ve had this past winter, there was twice as much water in the creek as there was last year. The trail has lots of space to play in the creek, little waterfalls, and as it narrows into a slot canyon, there’s a fun spot where you can climb up and over a waterfall.

Image by Zion Adventure Photog, Arika Bauer

We climbed up into that big cave to stop and have a snack. We had a lovely view looking out over the creek and there was even a pictograph on the wall!

Snow Canyon State Park - Snow Canyon was a wonderful surprise (I’d never been!) and I cannot wait to bring my family there. It’s a state park just outside of St. George. It features petrified sand dunes that my kids will love to climb. Jenny’s Canyon is a fun and short slot canyon. We practiced yoga on the sand dunes at sunset and it was really beautiful.

Gould’s Wash, aka Molly’s Nipple Trail - This one is another popular mountain biking trail and features a little mountain formation that is called Molly’s Nipple. Some opted to jog on this trail and the rest of us enjoyed a peaceful walk.

Grafton Ghost Town, Grafton Gap Trail - Grafton is a historic Mormon town that resides along the Virgin River, just down the road from the entrance to Zion National Park. It was abandoned in the late 1800s and a few buildings still stand. You can explore inside a couple of the buildings too, but first we hiked a mountain bike trail that climbs up a mesa and it gave us an amazing, panoramic view of the area.

Florence Williams talking about how important smell is when we spend time outside. The trail was lined with wild sage and it smelled lovely. I’m currently reading her book, The Nature Fix and loving it!

Shanti told us that this little cliff is called the Grafton Gap and mountain bikers try to gain enough speed to jump over it.

The town of Grafton from the trail we climbed. I can see our van from here!!

Confluence Trail, Virgin River - This trail was really close to the AirBnB houses where we stayed in La Verkin. The trail meanders past a golf course down to the Virgin River and then you can just explore the area from there. We tried to get there closer to sunrise than later and it was quiet and peaceful with no other hikers. We saw a few desert wildflowers too.

On our last night, we were all gifted this bracelet engraved with “Hiking My Way - Slow AF.”

All in all I had a wonderful time and I really hope I can get the pleasure of attending one of these retreats again some day. It was amazing meeting every one of the wonderful women there. Thank you so much Mirna and Shanti!