Zion National Park May 26-27, 2011

At the beginning of summer last year, Dear Wife and I drove across Nevada to southern Utah to visit Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, to do some day-hiking. We visited Zion on a Thursday and Friday.

The first thing we did was to board the park bus. During the summer, personal vehicle travel is restricted on the Zion Canyon road that runs alongside the North Fork of the Virgin River. Since it’s a two-lane, curvy road, the bus is really the least frustrating way to explore the park. It also has other benefits, which I’ll touch on later.

We decided to travel to the farthest point, Temple of Sinawava, which grants access to the Riverside Walk leading to The Narrows, where hikers can (seasonally) go up river into the wilderness. Since the 2010-2011 winter was pretty wet in the West, the river’s volume was yet too high for the trail to be open.

Across the river, the other wall of the canyon was filled with bands of color. This is just a small sampling of it.

One of the benefits of riding the bus is picking up tips from people who know the area well. On our way back down the canyon to the next stop, we met a park ranger who told us about a nice trail up the east wall of the canyon that led to a side canyon, starting at The Grotto bus stop. He also said that we could walk along the river, even though it wasn’t a marked trail, between The Grotto and the Zion Lodge stop.

The next three photos were taken on that eastern trail:

After lunch at Zion Lodge, we walked across the canyon road and a small footbridge to the Emerald Pools trail. The pools themselves were quite crowded, as it’s a fairly short, easy walk from the Lodge. They are nice to visit, but do not really lend themselves to good photos, at least not by me. Nevertheless, the trail provided some beautiful views. This photo is from a spot about 500 yards up the trail.

At one point the trail meanders behind a rock wall and through a fissure toward the river canyon:

The rest of Thursday afternoon was spent around the river and the Lodge, with no really interesting photos resulting. We were staying in St. George, and on the way back we stopped at the Farmer’s Market supermarket in La Verkin for an early evening snack. We found they had a bakery and deli that would provide a healthy, inexpensive breakfast the next morning.

On Friday, we and a few dozen other guests conquered Angels Landing, the highest point on the west rim that has a maintained trail. The trail includes a section known as “Walter’s Wiggles”, a series of steep switchbacks about 20' between turns. It was a tough trail for yours truly (who is not at all athletic), but the view from the top and the sense of accomplishment are well worth it. This photo is looking south from Angels Landing down the river toward Canyon Junction.

This photo is up river to the north from Angels Landing.

This photo is north-westerly from Angels Landing, showing one of the other bits that stick out on the West Rim.

After climbing back down from Angels Landing, as we were crossing the river back to the road, I spotted this tall visitor looking for some lunch.

That afternoon we drove east on Highway 9 on our way to Bryce Canyon. It’s a scenic highway, with a few switchbacks and a tunnel a little over a mile long, between Zion Canyon and Mount Carmel Junction. Here is a sandstone arch being formed; check back in a couple thousand years.

A wide view of one of the bluffs along Zion Canyon.

Here’s a little tighter view of the layers in that bluff, along with some of the local flora.

East of the tunnel, near Mount Carmel Junction, there is an elk ranch. Apparently it was siesta time.

Zion National Park is well worth a visit if you’re anywhere near southern Utah, and that means Grand Canyon, too. In fact, the drive from the Grand Canyon through Page, AZ, and the Lake Powell region is very scenic. I highly recommend visiting the area, especially if you like to hike.

Next stop: Bryce Canyon.