Zion National Park

Day 1

After leaving Katharine Landing and Arizona behind us we spent the day traveling north through Nevada on I-15. We crossed over the Utah state line and drove through the city of St. George to the small town of Hurricane where we will spend the next several days exploring the nearby national parks.

Wednesday we got out about 9:00 and made the 30 minute drive to Zion National Park. We had to wait in a short line of traffic to enter the park. Upon entry we parked the big Dodge in the over flow parking lot. It makes for a lot easier entry and exit with the dually if we park out away from other traffic.

Zion does not allow vehicles to drive through the park, but offers a free shuttle that takes passengers to all the overlooks, trailheads and the Zion Lodge. Victoria and I have found we really like using the provided transportation in the places we visit. We took advantage of this at the Grand Canyon and in Vegas.

We rode the bus and got off at all the stops to take in the sights, and the sights are unbelievable. They don’t call this place Zion nothing. It is beautiful. We are only 250 mile from Bullhead City and a world away. This is red rock country. The colors are spectacular.

Zion is a canyon and the road travels along the canyon floor following the Virgin River. Red rock cliff walls rise up from the bottom of the canyon with spectacular colors and formations in the rock. I have said this many times, words cannot describe the beauty of this land. The river provides water that allows several species of trees along with shrubs and flowers to grow. This and the colors of the mountains make this a very inviting environment.  There is plenty of green foliage here; we missed that when we were staying  in the low dessert.

Victoria and I made a stop at Canyon Junction where we walked along the river and took in the scenery. I had to be careful as I walked as my eyes kept looking upward to the cliffs towering above. We sat and ate our lunch along the banks of the river.

We also made a stop at The Court of the Patriarchs, a group of towering spires that are grouped together and named after Mormon bible figures. We again walked down by the river where Victoria looked for the perfect river rock to add to her growing collection. I keep telling her “only small rocks we can’t afford the weight in the RV”.

Our next stop was at the Zion Lodge, we walked through admiring the architecture and the trinkets in the gift shop. We decided to do a short hike to the first of three pools on the Emerald Pool Trail. We took the paved path about a half mile to the first pool. The water spills over the cliffs wall above and weeps through the walls to create the pools. We decided to keep going up to the next pool and then the third pool. The paved path turns into a real trail after the first pool and became more and more difficult and steep as we ascended to the top. I was a little concern for Victoria on this strenuous trail but she took her time and did great both up and down the trail.

The pools are small except for the final one which I bet would be a nice place for a dip in the hot summer time. We with a few dozen of our new best friends we admired the mountain colors across the valley from our high peach. After a good rest we headed back down the trail making way for the youngsters that could move down the mountain at a much quicker pace.

After our hike that ended up being much longer than we had planned we were tired and it was getting late. We hopped the shuttle and rode it to the end of the line planning what we would do the following day.

Day 2

For our second day we decided to start at the end of the shuttle line. This area is called the Temple of Sinawava. On the ride up we saw rock climbers scaling the vertical walls above us. Those guys are crazy. There is a paved trail at the end of the shuttle line that leads to The Narrows. Here the paved trail ends and you have to walk in the river and the canyon walls continue to close in on you until they are only twenty feet apart. We concluded our walk at the end of the pavement.

From this path we had access to the river’s edge for more and more spectacular views. Victoria and I went off trail several times to look for the perfect rock for the collection and to seek some distance from the growing crowds. We found a couple of spots where we could enjoy some solitude and listen to the sounds of nature.

We spent most of the day on the path to The Narrows. Victoria and I always seem to take longer on our hikes than the guide book says. The two of us enjoy making frequent stops and spending more than just a few minutes at each stop. As we finished our hike and climbed back on the shuttle for our ride back to the truck the wind really began to pick up.

We decided to make one more stop at Weeping Rock. This was a short hike only a half mile up and back. The path was paved but very steep. We took our time moving to the side of the path for the groups of kids that had to run up and down the path. I bet these trails are worst than the freeway at peak season.

The wind was really blowing now and some of the gusts were blowing dust and dirt from the valley floor into mini tornados. They were something to see but they also blew dust all around getting in our hair and eyes.

This last stop was well worth the time and effort. At the top the trail ended in an area that was covered by a natural rock overhang with water from a falls above coming down in front of us. And again this overlook had yet another fantastic view.  We sat and watched the wind create a couple of mini twisters and marveled at the landscape before hiking back down to catch the shuttle back to the truck.

We climbed into the big Dodge and headed out of the park making a stop in the nearby town of Springdale for Victoria to do a little window shopping before heading home.