So day “I lost track”….
We left our campsite around 9 and got back on the road. We got to see everything we had missed during the night….
….and passed Bryce Canyon without much fanfare. We were definitely in tourist territory as we headed into Zion. In fact, it was bumper to bumper traffic through Zion itself.
There are only 2 campsites within the canyons of Zion. Both can hold over 100+ campsites I believe, and they looked mighty full. However, we were about as out of place there as our red rock dust coated expedition vehicle was, so on some advice from a wild outdoorsman friend and a leap of faith on my part, we made our way through Zion, right onto Route 9, and then right again onto Kolob Reservoir Road.
Fun fact, the roads in Zion are made with red asphalt to match the landscape, so even driving on the Kolob Road, it would change from black to red to black as we drove in and out of Zion.
We drove about 18 miles, and our elevation changed from approximately 1500 ft to 7800 feet. Our intended stop, Lava Pointe, is located a few miles off the “red road”. It’s a primitive campsite, only 6 slots, but it’s on BLM land and free. Best of all? We had our choice of campsites. 
I had been sure that since it was “so great” it would be full (only 6 sites after all), but it was apparently too remote and too primitive for the average tourist.
Also a fun fact, BLM isn’t as strict as NPs with fire restrictions, so this was the only campsite we were aware of that allowed open pit fires, or fires of any kind for that matter. Every other campsite/park we had looked at before going on the trip had strict fire restrictions. So this definitely made it the “perfect” campsite.
We did some hiking and had a great view of Zion to the South. It’s behind the grey rock you see in the picture. You can also see the storms to the left, which really cooled the area nicely.
The next morning we were off early. I asked Mike if we could go back through Zion to get some pictures since the traffic had been so bad the day before, and it was early enough that most families would just be waking up.
Zion is really beautiful, and I’m sure some of the hikes are amazing. We’d definitely like to go back and traverse the Subway.
On to our last stop, which was both exciting and bittersweet. A relaxing evening in Zion by the campfire and a long night’s sleep was enough to wash away the stresses of the previous day and create a new thirst for never ending adventure.