

Refrigerator Canyon. Thor’s Hammer. After a week walking through Utah’s national parks, you’ve gotten used to descriptive names. Now it’s Zion’s colorful landscape that’s grabbing your attention. Your snaking climb up the zigzag path known as Walter’s Wiggles has earned you the best view of this Utah hiking trip. That’s saying something. Framed by sheer red-rock faces, the Virgin River winds through the verdant valley below. In a lifetime of walking, you’ve never seen scenery so divine. Bryce’s labyrinth of fiery-hued, wind-sculpted hoodoos. Shocks of slot-canyon greenery contrasting with ruddy streaks of mineral-rich “desert varnish.” The polychrome glow of Zion’s sandstone cliffs at dawn. Returning your gaze to Angel’s Landing, the knife-edged formation now soaring before you, you’ve got to admit—it’s a pretty apt name.
This hiking trip was so perfect from the weather to the guides to the hotels and food. Eric and Heather were so knowledgeable and patient with the group. They kept the conversation going including all 12 guests and brought so much information to the table. Their friend Kenny the cowboy was great story telling and singing a few songs. you know when the trip was great when you start planning the next trip as soon as you get home.. Would sign up for another trip with Eric and Heather in a second. They were so good at what they do.
Utah: Bryce & Zion Canyons
The scenery was stunning, and each day offered a unique experience. Our guides, Eric and Heather, were outstanding -- knowledgeable, well prepared, kind and accommodating. They went out of their way to make the trip a memorable experience for everyone.
Utah: Bryce & Zion Canyons
Experience your destination like an insider with people who call it home.
Heather Harding
Heather Harding has been guiding for decades on both Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, where she lives in the summer, and in the canyons and plateaus of the Southwest, where she earned college degrees in biology and Southwest Studies, and where she continues to explore from her winter residence in Kanab, Utah. Heather brings a world-wide background of whale research and Waldorf teaching to her guiding. When she isn’t guiding, she enjoys life to the fullest with her partner and frequent co-guide Eric Kessler, and she shares her knowledge by training guides and naturalists for the Jefferson Land Trust and the National Association for Interpretation.
Eric Kessler
Eric Kessler studied the natural history of the Olympic Peninsula in college and has explored its jagged peaks and forested valleys as a wilderness traveler ever since. Eric has guided worldwide and pursues his parallel photography career documenting the planet’s native peoples and ecosystems, including a writing/photo project on the Olympic Peninsula’s Elwha River, which was part of the largest dam removal and watershed restoration project in US history. Eric often guides in our National Parks with his partner and co-guide Heather Harding.
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