Happy 16th birthday, Maile! After listening to (and singing along with) the Hamilton soundtrack for years, we decided it was time for her to see the play live on Broadway. This was the impetus for a birthday trip to New York. With Maile in charge, we saw things we wouldn’t have ever seen on our own. like The Color Factory.
Skeptical at first, turns out it was actually a lot of fun.
Of course, we had to go to the Statue of Liberty. The last time we brought our kids to New York I had Maile on my shoulders for most of our time at the Statue.
A surprisingly nice weekend in November prompted a last-minute reservation at the Zion Lodge to hike the West Rim. It has been years since I hiked the 16-mile trail from Lava Point to the Grotto in the main canyon, and I couldn’t recall how long it took. The room at the lodge was just to ensure we had a way out of the canyon just in case the shuttle buses were no longer running when we finished. Days are much shorter this far into fall, and the possibility of hiking in the dark was a concern as well. As it turns out, the first day of daylight savings worked out in our favor. We took the 6 am Red Rock Shuttle and had plenty of light when we arrived at the trailhead at 7 am to start the hike without headlights. Making it into the park before the shuttle stopped running also was not a problem. While I read accounts online of the hike taking up to 12 hours, we completed it in just over 7 hours. A month earlier would have been ideal as all of the leaves on top had fallen, but there was still plenty of color in the canyon and a sunny 75-degree day in November was too good to pass up.
For fall break, we decided to return to Atlantis in the Bahamas. Our kids have always loved the place, and it makes a great destination for a long weekend. Now that the kids are older, I thought it would be a good time to take them diving with sharks. They have seen sharks in many places, but this would be different.
Relaxing in The Current.
Here, you can expect dozens of sharks being fed at a site called “the arena”. But first, Atlantis. The waterpark is great! Several exciting waterslides, with a “crazy river” surrounding them. We were joined by the Nyberg’s who arrived a day earlier. The weather was excellent and the resort was just starting to attract visitors after the COVID shut-down. Only two of the Atlantis towers were open, so the waterpark did not have any lines. Perfect!
The Royal Towers, Atlantis
I made my first shark dives nearly 30 years ago in the Bahamas with Stuart Cove. I knew he was still around, as I saw his name on some of the adventure options at Atlantis like “Walking with Sharks” in the Mayan Temple shark pool. Alex did this several years ago when he was too young to SCUBA dive. Diving with sharks in their ocean is much more appealing to me.
All 9 of us made the two-tank dive with Caribbean reef sharks, and for Ashlee Nyberg, it was her very first ocean dive. She was certified in a local lake just prior to this trip just so she could join us on the dive.
Diving with sharks in the Bahamas
Our first dive was free swimming on a wall and through a wreck. There were plenty of sharks around, both reef sharks and nurse sharks. Like Pavlovian dogs, they knew dinner was coming even though they were not being fed on this dive. Our second dive had us fixed on the bottom in a circle, waiting for the divemaster to arrive with dinner. The sharks were well accustomed to the ritual, and they followed him down from the boat to the arena. The divemaster and photographer were both wearing chain mail, not unexpectedly. In addition, Michelle, our photographer, was wearing a helmet! This was a first for me, seeing someone dive in a helmet, but it didn’t take long to see why. While the divemaster was feeding and focusing on the sharks, she was paying more attention to us, capturing some great photos and video and the sharks were inadvertently knocking her around in their struggle against each other to get to the food.
Feeding sharks at the Arena, New Providence Bahamas.
Usually, we reserve our site for international travel. It is easy to forget that we live in a world-class destination in its own right.
Big Springs, in the Zion Narrows
Zion National Park is less than an hour from home, and this year we made a concerted effort to take advantage. Monsoon rains in July and August were problematic, forcing the cancellation of my only Mystery Canyon permit this year. September was beautiful, though, and we were able to backpack the Zion Narrows and hike the Subway.
The Zion Narrows make a great backpacking trip. An early-morning shuttle to Chamberlain’s Ranch puts you 16 miles from the Temple of Sinawava, following the North Fork of the Virgin River from its origin in the ponderosa pines and cow pastures below Cedar Mountain as it slowly cuts a deep canyon into the red sandstone Zion is famous for. Backpacking allows you to break the hike up into two days. I enjoy moving slower through the canyon and enjoying the time there. The lower canyon, accessible from the park proper, has become so crowded that the backcountry is about the only place where you can get a wilderness experience anymore.
Wall Street, in the Zion Narrows
After spending the night at campsite 11, we could enjoy Wall Street–the most picturesque section of the Narrows between Big Spring and Orderville Canyon–with far fewer people than the more crowded section of the hike between Orderville and the Temple of Sinawava. Quite a few day hikers do make it up as far as Big Spring, but nothing like the crowds you encounter as you near the paved Riverwalk trail that takes you out of the river and to the shuttle stop.
The first time the whole family has hiked the Subway together!
One week later we were able to hike the Left Fork of North Creek, better known as the Subway. Probably the most coveted hike in the park, Subway permits are only available on a lottery basis and have become harder and harder to get as more people are discovering Zion. For years, Maile refused to return to the Subway, recalling the cold swims that turned her off when she was 9 years old. Finally, six years later, the whole family hiked the Subway together for the first time.
It takes about an hour and a half to reach the whale sharks, but the ride is worth it. Unfortunately, it’s not a private experience. Even with a 6:30 am hotel pickup, we weren’t the first boat on the scene. By the time we had arrived, there were already a dozen boats in the area. By the time you reach their feeding area, you can no longer see land in any direction. As you get close, though, the boats all converge on a single spot so if you aren’t first it isn’t hard to locate the whale sharks.
Notice the second whale shark swimming away from the camera at the beginning of the video.
It certainly pales in comparison to swimming with wild dolphins as we did in Rangiroa, but even in an enclosure, dolphins are amazing and it is hard not to enjoy the experience. Dolphin enclosures aren’t cheap and are essentially an opportunity to sell you photos that are even more expensive. You can get great photos, though, so plan on running your credit card.
Skeptical at first, turns out it was actually a lot of fun.
