Trip to Zion National Park

Sunday, May 13, we headed to Zion National Park.  We had talked for sometime about touring the Southwest, but when Nick and Cassidy stopped by earlier, and raved about Zion, we just had to go. It was about an 8 hour drive to the park in southwestern Utah.

Gail is smiling about the neat job we did packing Blue (a very temporary condition as you will notice later).  Check Gail's jacket with National Park patches - this girl loves her National Parks!

Almost ready for the drive.

The drive became interesting in Arizona as we sliced through The Virgin River Gorge - the same river that runs through Zion Canyon.  We were over the moon when we saw a Bighorn Sheep standing by the water close to this spot.

Just before the park entrance you pass through the charming little town of Springdale.

The park entrance where I was awarded a........

Senior Pass!  Let me tell you, this makes getting older totally worth it.  For $10 I got a lifetime pass for free admission to any national park or monument, and camping fees are half the regular amount. 

Unfortunately, the only two campgrounds were full.  Fortunately, a plucky ranger woman gave us a tip about leaving the park about 7 miles to Rockville, turning left under the second lightbulb over the street, crossing the river, then driving for a ways on a dirt road into BLM land where people can camp (no water or anything).

 

What she didn't mention was that the road was best suited for a 4 wheel drive, high clearance vehicle.  We pressed on for a couple miles up the steep and rocky track.

We found a campsite on the top of a ridge, with views of both sides of Zion Canyon for a backdrop.

This turned out to be one of the several highlights of the trip!  There was no one else around, and we were far from any paved roads.

We walked around the area just before sunset, examining various animal tracks in the soft dust.

The desert has some surprisingly vivid, delicate flowers.

I did one long exposure, about 15 minutes, of the stars.  Polaris, the North Star is the dot in the center.  The turning of the earth on it's axis makes the other stars leave a track - the further from Polaris, the longer the track.  The line across the picture was made by the lights of an airplane passing over.  We saw a "fireball" meteor early in the evening when the sky was still a little blue.  It was very bright!  We also saw satellites, other meteors, and the Milky Way.

The next morning we perched on rocks, taking in the views, while sipping coffee.

We headed back down the sketchy mountain road hoping to find a campsite in the park. 

Success!  We found a site among the cottonwood trees in the South Campground.

The views from the campground, like the rest of the park, were intensely red, green, white, and blue.

The Virgin River ran alongside the campground - great for a dip, as the weather was in the nineties during the day.

The canyon has a road about 7 miles long, but cars are not allowed for most of it.  Instead, there is a great shuttle system.

Our first hike was to Emerald Pools.  Here, you can stand behind a waterfall and get misted.

Orange -  yum!

We then headed up the famous Angels Landing Trail.

This is why Angels Landing is so famous.  People fall from the "trail" and die.  The last half mile, if one decides to do it, follows the knife-like ridge with severe drop-offs.  In places, there are chains at ground level that you can hold onto.  If you let go, you fall hundreds of feet.  I started to go but quickly chickened out.  Gail and I have what I consider to be a healthy fear of heights.  It is surprising to me in this age of litigation that this is allowed.  The park's mantra is, "Your safety is your responsibility."

Gail points up to Angel's Landing from near the bottom.

In this park photo, you can see how the amazing paved trail switchbacks up to the fin - the last half mile along that knife ridge.  When we got to the fin part, we continued, instead, up the mountain to the left for another 2-3 miles.  From the top of Angels landing to the canyon floor directly below, is 1,488 feet. 

Zion will give you a sore neck after awhile!

On the way up to Angels Landing we passed through Refrigerator Canyon.

Sometimes the sandstone looked like giant cow patties.  The huge sandstone cliffs of Zion are the remains of sand dunes that made up the largest desert the world has known.  The sand eventually became compressed and cemented by other minerals into rock over 200 million years ago.

Looking down to the Virgin River below.

Looking down in the area known as Big Bend.  There are California Condors that have been established in this area, but we didn't see any.

These colors are not exaggerated!

Looking back at Angels Landing.

This is the same shot as above but enlarged.  The arrow is pointing to a hiker.  We were amazed by how many people were doing that last half mile - a mix of very average looking people. 

We trudged onward and upward, congratulating ourselves for our good judgment and lack of need to prove something (much loftier sounding than just admitting we're afraid of heights, although we did redeem ourselves a bit the next day).

This is as close to the unprotected edge as I cared to get.

This sandstone was actually this yellow!

Once past Angels Landing, we had the trail almost to ourselves.

More views - it's hard for me to weed out pictures!

Plants and trees seem to grow right out of rock.

Heading back down the trail as the afternoon comes to a close.  The colors and shadows are best early or late in the day.

There is our trail below.  It is an amzing feat of engineering and courage built during the depression from 1927 to 1930.

The cottonwood trees are in danger in Zion due to human influence.  We also noticed that beavers were cutting down quite a few mature cottonwoods.  I'm not sure how they planned to use them!

Time for happy half hour back at the camp.

the next morning we took the shuttle to the road's end up the canyon.  From there, we hiked about a mile to The Narrows.  The Narrows is a 16 mile stretch of the river that slices through the very narrow canyon walls.  Hiking through The Narrows means that you wade or swim most of the way.  There were beautiful columbine flowers along the way, clinging to the shady rock walls.

Columbine

The Narrows.  I don't know what we were thinking, because even though the canyon was hot elsewhere, after about 20 minutes we started getting numb.  The water is cold, and sun seldom reaches the bottom.  The walls, which are thousands of feet high, are as little as 20 feet apart.  Flash floods are a lethal danger here, as well as broken toes, ankles, etc., and hypothermia. 

So, we turned around and headed back, for me in particular, to thaw out.  Coming up the river were two men who explained to us what was needed to be able to go far up the Narrows.  He had a dry suit up to his armpits, and special neoprene shoes that squeezed out the water and were protective.  A 6 foot wooden walking pole and waterproof sacks for extra clothing are also musts.  Some people do the whole 16 miles in one or two days, starting from upstream.  There is no getting out along the way.  Next time we will rent the right gear.

We quickly warmed up out in the sun again.  Here, two deer cross our path.

We never tired of looking up!

Our next hike was the Hidden Canyon Trail.  It, too, had warnings of severe drop offs and exposures. 

After a scary climb of 850 feet, we reached Hidden Canyon, a narrow slot.

Here we are posing under an arch.  After awhile, the scrambling became more serious and we headed back.

I climbed into a hole looking for bats, snakes, and scorpions. 

Sandstone beauty!

Chains to hold onto are provided on some of the narow sections with severe drop-offs.  This picture of Gail doesn't really show how steep and far down the drop-off really is.  As we started back down, two little old ladies from England had just finished coming up, so we told ourselves over and over, "If  two little old ladies from England can do it, we can, too."  Zion and "vertical" are synonymous.

Everyone should have an Adventure Ranger for a guide!

After a day of hiking, we decided to take another hike at night.  We hiked for several miles on a paved trail and then the road.  It was great to hear the sounds, see bats, and stare at the stars.  It was still T-shirt weather, too!

We had a few fun visitors at our campsite such as this Summer Tanager. 

We also saw several different lizzard species, such as this Western Whiptail. 

Before leaving Zion on Wednesday afternoon, we took a drive up to the East Rim.  On the way up, you go through a one mile long tunnel.

At the East Rim, the land takes on a different look.

Blue, looking like he's posing for a car ad.

Checkerboard Mesa

Time to head back down and out of the park. It seems we just scratched the surface here, and there are so many other places in this wonderful West that are calling. 

Oh yeah, and at a pit stop in Barstow, we vowed to be better "housekeepers" in the future.