Utah: Zion National Park

Friday, it was off to Zion National Park, where we were very lucky to secure the very last campsite at South Campground, right in the park. After work we took an evening stroll up the Watchman Trail to catch the sunset.

The park has a shuttle that runs up and down the park most of the year, and you’re not allowed to take your own vehicle into the park. We knew it was one of the busiest weekends of the year, Angels Landing was one of the most popular hikes, and not only do we hate crowds, but the route is pretty precarious so we knew we really wanted to beat the crowds. We were up at 5:30 on Saturday morning to catch the first shuttle at  6:00.

The hike was pretty much continuous, tight switchbacks up to Scout Lookout, where the narrow route begins. You have ~1400ft drop offs and both sides, with just a narrow trail and sometimes chains to hold on to. We were exceedingly grateful to be the 3^rd & 4^th people at the top. The view was awesome, the trail exhilarating. Even as we began heading down, the early crowds began to make the narrow route much more dangerous, and by the time we reached the bottom at 9:30 we were beginning to wonder how there were not more fatalities with all the people we saw heading up. Anyways, we had it almost to ourselves and the trail was very cool and unique.

Still being so early we headed into Springdale (town just outside the park) to grab some coffee and check out the shops. We wandered, grabbed lunch, and made our way back to the campground where we dug out the bathing suits and lounged by the river with our books for a few hours. Rough life, right? It was 90+ degress and light til 9, so no hurry. Later in the afternoon we caught the shuttle up-canyon again and did the Emerald Pools/Kayenta Trail Loop. It was pretty, but the crowds were intense, both on the hike and the crowded shuttle – we decided no easy afternoon hikes again. We BBQ’d at the campsite and called it a 

night.

River beach

Sunday we were up early again and hiked Observation Point, which was a nice 8miler with ~2500ft of gain. Full on switchbacks, but lots of variety in the terrain and a much better view at the top than from Angels Landing…you were actually looking down on Angels Landing and the entire valley. After another dip in the river and lunch to cool off, we made the short trek over to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.  Which was neat. Pink sand dunes. Cant go too wrong, right? We had a great time wandering around in the dunes…until the tour bus arrived.

Back at Zion, we decided dinner at the campground was overrated, and instead threw our stove and food into the backpack and made our way out the short .5 mile Canyon Overlook Trail. We set up shop there and watched the sunset before heading back to camp at 9.

Monday Morning was The Narrows.  The Virgin River flows through Zion Canyon and its pretty wide where most of the hiking is, but it narrows up at the top. There’s a ‘hike’ that basically entails walking up the river. In the river. It was very cold. Especially at 6:30am. But beautiful. The light and the colorful canyon walls and the water were awesome and we had it nearly to ourselves that early in the day. We made our way a few miles up the canyon, and then headed back. After that, it was the long journey back to Salt Lake City for our flight home. Yay.  We were ready for real beds and some showers but relished the 10 days of freedom and fresh air. Utah is a pretty neat state. 

1 month til Europe. Stay tuned!