Not too much to update on today. I woke up in Vegas not feeling too well. Not because of the alcohol consumption from the night before but because I think I’m developing a head and chest cold. I was feeling good all night except towards the early morning hours when I noticed my voice starting to go. I thought it was just dehydration but unfortunately I don’t think so anymore.
I left Las Vegas around 11am and jumped on I-15 heading north in the direction of Zion National Park. It was just a little over 160 miles and most of it was on I-15. It took me through Mesquite, NV, quickly in and out of Arizona passing through the north western corner of the state and then back in to Utah and the mountain time zone. I stopped in the town of Washington, UT just for a break since I was feeling rundown. I found a Barnes and Noble that was attached to a mall so I spent a few hours there, just to relax. I had searched what was in Washington and it just so happened that there was an IN-N-Out burger about a mile down the road. For dinner I stopped in for another “double double” with fries and a chocolate shake which I thought would feel good on my throat. It sure did. It started raining shortly after I left the IN-N-OUT and it rained the rest of the way to Zion. I got there after dark and parked in the far corner of the overflow parking lot to call it a night. Even though it was raining, there was enough moonlight to see that I was near the base of some very tall mountains and I knew this visit to Zion was going to be great.
Saturday, October 23nd, 2010
I got almost 11 hours of sleep last night. It was still raining and I still felt like crap. Today was going to be a day to take it easy. I knew I was in for a treat today when the first thing I noticed were these gigantic mountains surrounding me and their tall peaks covered by the storm clouds overhead.
Zion National park covers 229 square miles and is located in the southwestern part of Utah, at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin and Mojave Desert. I made my way over to the visitor’s center where a free shuttle transports people back and forth along the six mile canyon road. There are no cars allowed except for those staying at the lodge. The trail that I really wanted to hike today was called “Angels Landing” but unfortunately it was closed today for repair work, but that was ok because a park ranger advised against hiking that particular trail when it’s raining anyway.
I did a series of three hikes today. The first one was a three mile hike on the Kayenta – Emerald Pool loop. This trail started at The Grotto stop and ended at the Zion Lodge. This trail leads you up to an amazing waterfall that collects in what is called the Upper Emerald pool. The overflow from this pool forms another waterfall that collects in another pool below. Beautiful views!
The second hike was on the Hidden Canyon Trail, starting at the Weeping Rock shuttle stop. It is a 2.2 mile roundtrip hike along steep, sheer cliffs. I added on an additional 2.2 miles by continuing on past where the trail is no longer maintained. This is where the canyon narrowed and some climbing and a lot of bouldering were required. I got as far as I could go before reaching a point where I was risking injury and/or falling into a deep pool of water. Great hike to get to a place where no one is around.
The last hike of the day was an easy, mostly paved trail but offered some fantastic scenery. This was the Riverside Walk located at The Temple of Sinawava stop. It is called the Riverside walk because the path runs parallel to the Virgin River. This was a two mile roundtrip hike with hardly any elevation gain and was an easy hike to finish the day. There were more waterfalls, wildlife and hanging gardens of plants growing on the steep, porous canyon walls.
I was only planning on staying for a day and then moving on to Bryce Canyon. Zion exceeded my expectation so much that I will spend another day or two. The hiking is fantastic. The views are spectacular. The canyon walls are so tall, steep and nearly vertical that you have to look almost straight up to see the tops. Down in the valley, nestled between these incredible walls of sandstone is a forest with lots of wildlife. The river and all of the waterfalls keep everything below green. It definitely does not feel like a desert here.
This was only my first day at Zion National Park but already I feel like I have to add this to the must see category of places.
Tomorrow is Angels Landing. Hopefully I’m feeling better by then.
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