Tag Archives: Hop Valley

Michael Lanza, the Northwest Editor from Backpacker Magazine, recently gave us the heads-up on his website, TheBigOutside.com, and his family’s recent attempt at the Trans-Zion Trek. You can find the trip report, complete with photos and video, here. The video is especially endearing, as it features the Lanza kids having a blast in the Zion backcountry, working on a makeshift sandstone “workbench”, playing in the river, trucking up the West Rim switchbacks, and finding the infamous Cave of Horrors along the Angel’s Landing section. The Lanza’s Trans-Zion plan doesn’t work out due to unexpected controlled burns, but they still have a great time hiking and camping along the Hop Valley and West Rim trails. I don’t know how old the Lanza kids are, but I’d guess in the 8 – 10 neighborhood. How many parents would take their grade-school age kids backpacking miles from roads and civilization? I’m not sure, but THANK YOU to the Lanza family for reminding us that well-prepared kids can thrive in the backcountry, taking on 2 to 5-day trips with great enthusiasm and success.