Hopkins 4K for Cancer

July 18, 2003

Going to Zion
Day 48

Day off in Cedar City, UT



Cedar City was hands-down one of our best days off. With a portion of the group wanting to hike Zion National Park in the morning, others needing bike repair, and another portion just needing rest, we split up. Meredith, Alice and myself went to the bike shop early in the morning for some repairs, and then on a much-needed trip to the laundromat. For lunch, we met up with some of the other guys at Godfather’s Pizza for their lunch buffet (they had donated a discount). After lunch we all walked to a local thrift shop where we bought some…well….interesting clothing. Since we had brought rain with us wherever we went, as soon as we set foot outside the thrift store, it started pouring. Apparently it hadn’t rained in Cedar City since April. I think the residents have Hopkins 4K to blame for the sudden change.



Later that evening, Lenny (Travis’ friend who had hosted us for dinner the previous night at Southern Utah University) came by and picked up Travis, myself, Sumeet and Alice and took us to Zion, along with two of his friends from SUU. The drive took a bit over an hour, and once we got there we decided to do the Angel’s Landing hike. The hike spanned two peaks, for a total ascent of 1480 feet. Luckily, the rain ceased before we started hiking and we had an amazing time. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking, and at some points the terrain was so steep that we had to use chains to pull ourselves up. Luckily, none of us died (which was quite fortunate considering Sumeet hiked the 5 miles with flip-flops and sometimes barefoot), and we got some great photos (see photo section).



On the drive back home, Lenny pulled over so we could watch a desert electrical storm off in the distance. It was awesome. We had worked up quite an appetite by the time we were done, so Lenny pulled over at Taco Bell and we grabbed some take-out to eat at the gym. Apparently that wasn’t enough for me and Sumeet, so we drove out in the van with Meredith and Dave to pick up tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch at Walmart, and on the way we stopped at Sonic for burgers and lemonade. On the way back, we had stopped at Sonic again for our third dinner. Yes, this really is Hopkins 4K for Eating.



Babak Nazer