Zion National Park

Monday - 24 June 2002: Virgin, Utah - We spent a big day hiking in Zion National Park. We hiked three trails for a total of only six miles (3, 2 and 1) - but it was brutal because of the 100+ degree weather. (NOTE ADDED LATER: official weather report had the temperature today at 104.) Zion is one of our country's most popular parks. They have so many visitors (and only 400 parking spaces) that you must take a shuttle up through the canyon. This is actually quite convenient and the buses are powered by natural gas and are very quiet - and slow. No traffic equals no noise - which makes for a very peaceful day in the park. We left the BC2 at the Visitor Center. (You can also park in town and take the shuttle from there.) Our first stop was the Zion Park Lodge, where we did not book a dinner reservation, but walked across the street and began a 3-mile hike into a little "side" canyon - Heaps Canyon. Heaps Canyon holds three "emerald" pools on three different levels and we hiked to each pool. It was a very beautiful hike - straight up for a half-mile, pretty-much level for two miles and then straight down for the last half mile. We walked under a waterfall - just a trickle this time of year. That's the thing with Zion - it has water! The Virgin River (named after the Virgin Mary) flows through the center of the canyon. Water that has seeped through the sandstone springs-out from the canyon walls - years after it has fallen on the top of the canyon rim. Ferns cling to the cliffs. Vines climb up rock walls. It is a very dramatic thing to see in the desert.

Upper pool


Waterfall on Emerald Pool Trail

The hike to the upper pool was a extra third-mile un-shaded, stair-climb spur, but we were rewarded with a beautiful view. There is no swimming allowed in the pools, but I think the cool water was just too much for some people to resist. They had to share the water with hundreds of tadpoles! We walked through a narrow gap - like a tunnel - between two sandstone rocks - very exciting.

At the end of our hike, we were at The Grotto - which is actually the next shuttle stop. The Grotto is a picnic ground with shady trees, picnic tables, water and bathrooms. We had to share our table with a grosbeak, but he didn't eat much. A small deer was grazing just beyond our table. It was cool and quiet in The Grotto and we were rested enough to hop back on the shuttle and get off at the last stop for a hike to The Narrows. The Narrows is a 1-to-16-mile hike. It is a paved one-mile path (and we saw two wheel-chairs and many strollers on the trail) to where the Virgin River widens-out at the end of the canyon. To continue past the one-mile mark - a hiker has to WADE the next 15 miles, through a "narrow", deep, red-rock canyon - 16-feet-wide at one point. Obviously, it is a dangerous hike and can be catastrophic in a flash-flood. (Five hikers died in a flash-flood about twenty years ago.) We met a group of Boy Scouts in Bryce Canyon a few days ago who had just hiked The Narrows in two days.

The Narrows


DT relaxing next to a cool, wet wall at Weeping Rock

Walking back to the shuttle-stop after hiking the out-and-back Narrows trail, we saw a doe having a drink in the middle of the river. So now we were headed back to the Visitors Center on the shuttle, but we made another stop for a very short half-mile "walk" UP to Weeping Rock. It was a very short half-mile and one of the prettiest hikes of the day! The mountain-side of the trail is dripping with water and ferns, grasses and moss are growing on the walls - very, very lush and pretty! It is also very noisy with all the water running down, and also cooler! Several places you can soak your head (or hat, or bandana) in waterfalls. The end of the trail is at a over-hang where water drips off the ledge - very beautiful and very relaxing. There are rocks to sit on under the shelf and little drops of water constantly fall and cool you off.

The Weeping Wall (see the water drops?)


Happy Hiker at the end of the trail

We took the shuttle to the Zion Lodge, where we finished the rest of our lunch on their cool lawn. We talked to hikers who had just walked three days from the north park boundary to reach this spot. They said the second day was in total sun along the top of a mesa. They each had to carry two gallons of water. Back on the shuttle to the Visitors Center and our car - which was disguised as an oven. We purchased our usual stack of postcards and called it a day. We didn't get back to the motor home until after 5 pm! I guess our Parks Pass has paid for itself many times over by now. We were filthy - red dirt again - tired and needed a swim. We had the pinto bean soup I had frozen last week and cornbread. After dinner, we sat on a bench by the river - we are also camped on the Virgin River - and decided "it was a good day".

RV Park: Zion River Resort