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Lanell Dike

I fell in love with Zion on our first meeting. I drove through the park with my best friend at the end of summer in 1994. We were celebrating our graduation from college with a long talked about road trip to the Grand Canyon. We stopped in Zion simply because it was on the way and we needed a place to stay.

Who can explain the mystery of love at first sight? Why one person or place draws us more than another? Zion spoke to my heart and everything we saw on the rest of our trip seemed like an afterthought.

We didn’t hike any of the trails; we thought we didn’t have time. We stayed in our car (this was before the shuttles) and stopped on the side of the road to look up and gawk. Then we drove on. I didn’t want to leave but we already had our plan mapped out, a plan that didn’t take into account the power and beauty of Zion Canyon. As we left I made a whispered promise to the red rocks, “I will be back.”

I kept my promise. I returned alone for a week in 1996 and spent every daylight hour on the trails. I wrote in my journal, “I love this place. This place is like no other. I could live here. I belong here. This place feels like home.“

Year after year I came back again for long and shorts visits. I was ecstatic when I learned of Zion Adventure Company in 2002 and took the Three-Day Basic canyoneering course. A whole new world opened up with the first rappel as we left human-made trails to follow the paths carved by water and time.

In September 2010 after years of love from afar, I followed my heart home. Joining the ZAC Team is a dream come true. I look forward to meeting you and exploring together this vast magical landscape where the ever-changing play of light creates each moment new.

“A Country of Much Time

Slow your pace.

Time has always been a part of Zion

and there’s more to the experience than just looking.

What do you hear under this overhang?

Does the air smell any different?

Have you felt the texture of the sandstone?

This is country for all senses.”

 - quote from an old park sign at Weeping Rock

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