Zion National Park

Day 46

          Zion is one of the Biggies in the National Park Service. It’s one that everyone has heard about and for good reason. Established way back in 1919, this place is almost 230 square miles, which at #36, puts it almost right in the middle of the list of National Parks ranked by size. What we have discovered so far, is that when it comes to National Parks, size is probably the least of the features of a Park that make it important.

          It’s what a particular area contains.

          And Zion is no slouch in that department.

          Much like Yosemite, a lot of what is here is confined in one central valley that is about 15 miles long and has walls up to 2600 feet high. That awesome reddish color that you see in the photos is Navajo Sandstone, which because of its makeup, allows water and wind to sculpt it as they see fit which is usually pretty grand. Mother Nature does not waste her efforts or talents on puny things when it comes to carving out special places for us to visit.

You may know Navajo Sandstone by another popular name, Red Rock. This name (or marketing term) is used all around the four-Corners Region and is so popular that most of the National Parks in this area have it as a prominent feature. That is a good thing because we never get tired of seeing it on display in all of the canyons and buttes in this vast region. Couple that reddish color with other sedimentary layers with different colors, and we have the recipe for all of the banded layers that contrast with each other so nicely. I guess Mother Nature is an artist too!

          Zion is the first Park that we have visited that has made using a shuttle system mandatory in the most congested parts of the Park, namely that 15-mile-long valley. It is easy to see how horrific the traffic would be if we were all allowed to drive up and down the valley trying to get to the trailheads or other features of the Park. The nightmare is that there is no place to put parking without seriously impacting the area, so this shuttle system was the answer to the growing problem (?) of its popularity.

          And we are here to report that this system works just fine.

          If…… you get there early!

          The first shuttles start at 7AM. There is a limited amount of parking available at the Visitor’s Center inside the Park. After that the overflow parking is in the little town of Springdale, which is located just outside the Entrance. A shuttle system that links these other parking areas with the Visitor’s Center is provided for free. That’s nice, but it means that you need to wait for a shuttle to bring you to another shuttle that eventually gets you to where you want to go in the Park.

          Messy, but if you come here you would also agree that it is necessary.

          Luckily for us, we (well, maybe me) LOVE to get up early! Anyway, we were successful in arriving in time to get on the first set of shuttles along with several hundred of our best friends.

          We have also come to realize that these Parks are so vast that if you do come at the right times of both the day and season, the Park has the capacity, and appetite, to swallow the hordes of us visitors and digest us nicely.

          Just make sure that you arrive at a good time so that you too can be a tasty snack!

          We (Paula) did some homework, and after looking over the available hikes to prominent features, came up with a good one for us.         This process is aided by the descriptions of the trails that the Park Service provides. We have come to understand the adjectives and other descriptives that they use.

          Easy is just that,

          Moderate means that there will be elevation gain and loss, so you may want to bring your Lekki Poles along for assistance.

          Strenuous is one that we stay away from. It is Verboten! One of those trails here is to Angel’s Landing. I’m guessing that it is named this for the spectacular vistas laid out before you if you are successful in navigating your way there. This hike encompasses a traverse of a thin ledge carved into the side of a vertical cliff with no guardrails. They have thoughtfully adhered some chains to the walls along the way for you to hold onto, but there is only one way both in and out so that means two-way traffic which means that someone has to let go of said chains in order to pass the other person. I suspect that it may be named Angel’s Landing because over the past twenty years or so, fourteen people have needed the assistance of their Guardian Angels but even those guys failed to prevent tragedy.

          We picked a nice hike to some safely named destinations of the Emerald Pools. What can go wrong with such a nicely named objective?

          Well, nothing did go wrong, in fact, it went rather nicely! The trails to the Lower, Middle, and Upper Pools were about three miles long and were clearly marked and in some areas, steps had been carved into the famous Navajo Sandstone for us to use. We also happened upon another couple, who for some reason or another, we struck up small conversations with as we passed each other on the trail. We finally ended up hiking with Sherry and Scott the rest of the way. We were of similar abilities and desires of non-scary scenarios which made them perfect travelling companions. In fact, we got along so well that we exchanged contact info at the end because they were on their way to Bryce Canyon the next day (as we were too). We invited them over to our Dining Room on Wheels for dinner and if everything falls into place, that is what will happen.

          Scott likes Chocolate (yay!) so desert is a chinch!

          When you start out hiking at 7 AM in deep canyons the light of the sun does not reach down inside until a little later. This means that it is both chilly and not the best scenario for photographs. It is comforting for both of these situations as the sun creeps down the canyon walls and makes a dramatic difference in a positive way.

          After our hike we drove through a mile-long tunnel to the other side of the Park trying to gain access to an Overlook Trail. Remember that parking issue from before? Well, couple thin roads, windy turns, and all of those best friends from the morning all having same idea and we end up with nowhere to park. We did have a nice ride both ways through this tunnel that was carved out in 1930, but absolutely no chance of that hike.

          We ended up checking with our next Campground at Bryce Canyon and found out that we could get in a day early, so we packed up and headed out over some fairly spectacular (and scary driving) mountains that someone placed in our way.

          See example!

          Today is Bryce Canyon, another fine example of what Utah has to offer. Stay tuned,