We settled in
Zion National Park on 23 April. Just checkout the view we had from our site. Talk about panoramic! Everywhere we looked, majestic rocky mountains were towering over the valley. Sandy's brother Jay and his fiancé Beverly joined us two days later. They stayed in a cabin at the Zion Lodge with deer grazing in their front yard.
So, here's a quick summary of what we did and a couple of photos of each of the trails we walked during our stay in Zion:
Day 1, as soon as Jay and Beverly were settled, we headed out on our first walk to the Emerald Pools and Grotto Trail. There are three Emerald pools. Each one is located almost above the other.
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| Reflection of mountain in the Middle Emerald Pool |
The first two trails were easy, but the Upper Emerald Pool was a little more strenuous.
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Jay, Beverly, Dan, and Sandy
Upper Emerald Pool |
By the time, we were finishing The Grotto Trail, we were pretty sure we would be sore and very stiff from our first day of hiking. We decided to do an easy level walk to work out our sore muscles for the next day.
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| Smile Beverly! |
Oh, the Grotto Trail?...it was very scenic. Great views of the valley with the Virgin River moving through it. Nice!
Day 2, we were all very surprised to find that we were more than ready the next day for another walk. We were feeling our legs, but no one had stiff or sore muscles. How about that? Guess we are not as old as we think we are. But, we decided to stick with our plans and walk the Riverside trail.
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Everywhere I look...I see tourist with lots of food!
They're coming in by the busloads! |
We looked into hiking up the Narrows when we noticed the water's temperature was only 46 degrees. Sandy wasn't quite sure she would like walking for an hour or two in that kind of cold water. The more we looked into the Narrows, we found out that it was advised to rent dry suits from the nearby town's store. On our last day, we were told by rangers the Narrows was closed for the day because the water was running too deep and swift. We were also told the best time to go was in late summer if there were a few days since the last rain or in September. The water is a lot warmer, a lot lower, and better yet, running a lot slower.
Jay and Sandy found quite a few lizards along the trails. Most of them seemed to enjoy the attention of the cameras or maybe they were just protecting their domain from the silly chattering humans....
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| Can you see his blue belly? |
Day 3, we headed East through the other side of the tunnel. We parked just on the other side of the tunnel to walk the Canyon Overlook Trail. The views were spectacular! The trail had some narrow areas, but nothing too scary like on Angel's Landing.
We were told by a ranger that whenever we see an arch forming in the mountain's side, there is usually a water source. The overhang we are in was a little damp and felt very cool after walking in the hot sun. One of the trails we did not make it to this time is the Weeping Rock trail. Maybe next time.
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| Now that's a view! There's a road down there...somewhere.. |
Okay, Day 4, we took on a more strenuous walk. The Watchman Trail starts at the campground and winds its way up the side of a mountain for 368 feet to a lookout loop that overlooks the campground, Visitor's Center and the town outside Zion's gate.
We picked a very hot day for that walk, but it was worth the scenic views. And, how were we holding up? Not too bad considering we did not do as much walking as we had planned during the winter.
We took it nice and easy. Can't see things if you are rushing through the walk, right?
Day 5, we wanted to do the Pa'rus Trail and Zion Human History Museum last because it was all downhill. We met Jay and Beverly at the Canyon Junction. From there, we followed a wide paved trail along the Virgin River to the museum and finished the walk to the Visitor's Center.
The Mule Deer must be losing their winter coat. They are looking a little shaggy. They did not seem to be too skittish of humans.
Lots of desert flowers blooming right now... This is just a sample of photos that Sandy took during our Zion stay. She will try to upload the photos soon to our Flickr albums.
We finally had to say good-bye to Jay and Beverly. We really enjoyed our time with them and wished it had not gone by so fast. But, they need to head for home and we are ready to do some more traveling. We are on our way north to Hill, AFB near Ogden, UT. Maybe by the time we get there we will be ready to do some more hiking.
Happy Trails!
