Ah, I love summer! I
went down to Zion National Park in Southern Utah with my niece, Katie for three
days. It was a great little road trip
with lots of sights to see.
The trip started on Sunday with a half day trip.
Surprisingly, the line into the park and parking itself was not bad for an end
of June weekend. They indicate that
parking is typically completely full in the park from about 10am-3pm. I didn’t find that to be the case on this day
which was nice. It was a hot one at 100F.
We took the shuttle up the scenic drive and did two short hikes.
Weeping Rock
Ok, this is really more of a short jaunt than a hike. It’s like a 10 minute walk along a paved path
up to the cliff overhang where you can get refreshing water blown on you when
the wind is right – and it makes it a bit tough to take a picture. But, it feels good and the view down the
valley is nice. There happened to be a
deer right below the walking area and people were going crazy, especially these
French individuals (there were a TON of French this weekend for some
reason). It was a small, sickly looking
mule deer and there are a ton of them in the park so we didn’t waste much time
and moved on.
View from Weeping Rock
Emerald Pools
There are three pools.
The lower pool is an easy 1 mile walk.
The middle pools are a little tougher to get to (especially since there
were trail detours going on) and an additional 0.5 mile. The upper pool is yet another 0.5 miles up
and harder to navigate. Now, none of
these are tough trails to follow or do but the first trail is a paved walkway
while the last is more uphill stepping over rocks and a narrow trail. The upper pool was definitely worth it. There were only a couple of people there and
it is right at the base of a sheer cliff so it was much more impressive and
definitely worth the extra walking.
After these two hikes Katie and I were famished so we
grilled some brats before driving east through the tunnel (very neat) and hiked
one last trail. One of the neat things
was that there were a ton of birds and deer out. We saw both brilliant red and striking blue
birds throughout our trip. We saw
scrawny deer (in addition to the one at weeping rock) but we also saw some
healthy looking bucks as well.
Canyon Overlook Trail
I had never hiked this trail but it is one of the neater
trails. I would suggest hiking it in the
morning rather than the evening if you want any decent pictures. We were
staring right at the sun setting which was pretty, but was bad for any sort of
pictures. There is a short steep climb
before leveling out for about a 1 mile walk where you can see into slot canyons
from above and then into the main valley of Zion’s. It was a great easy hike!
See, the sun was in the wrong spot - but you get an idea of how cool the view is.
Narrows
After sleeping on Katie’s floor my body was a bit creaky (maybe I should say creakier) but we headed off to hike the Narrow’s from the Temple of Sinawava. You take the shuttle bus up to the last stop and then walk a mile along a sandy paved path going up and down hills to the starting point.
We started at about 10am and while there were several hikers
you could still find a little space between people. On our way back it was like being in London’s
Tubes during rush hour. Ok, maybe not
that bad but there were a lot of people!
The water was only calf deep typically so walking wasn’t too tough. Maybe I should restate that. It was calf deep for me (I’m rather
tall). Katie is on the shorter side (sorry
Katie, but its true) and at times some of the crossings were pretty deep for
her. Being balance challenged, I was
glad to have my walking sticks along the way as you are continually walking
over rocks. It wasn’t super hot outside
either (the day turned cloudy and a wind storm came through keeping it cool)
but with just wool socks and old tennis shoes my feet were never freezing. I wouldn’t pay for the fancy neoprene socks
and shoes unless the water was colder (they said it was like 60 degrees or
something).
We hiked up to the Orderville Slot Canyon (approx. 2 miles
from the Temple entrance) and walked up that a ways. There is a small 3 foot waterfall (again,
easier for a taller person to navigate) to step over at the entrance and then
it’s easy until you come to a debris area. We stopped at this point and turned
around. This is a great canyon because
only a few people walk up it and the walls are much closer together – about 6
feet apart so you feel much more of that slot sheer canyon experience. Don’t let the small waterfall deter you!
I was impressed by the older folks I saw navigating the
river. I was afraid some of them would
break a hip but they were totally going for it!
We saw another guy puking his guts out about a mile upstream. That didn’t look fun but it was a good
reminder to drink LOTS of water – while at the same time DON’T drink river water–
while it looks clean obviously there are other things in there!
Kolob Canyon
The final day we drove up a 5 mile scenic drive at Kolob
Canyon. At the top is a 1 mile walk to
a canyon overlook where you can see for miles.
I actually think that the viewpoint about 200 yards from the end has a
better viewpoint so we ate our lunches there before heading back.
