Zion Canyon is actually only a tiny part of Zion National Park and not even the part that I’ve been so enthused to see, but it was the logical starting point for my first foray into this magnificent wilderness. I headed out late this morning after doing a little more work.
The base of the canyon and the park’s welcome centre are right at the end of the tiny touristy town of Springdale, theoretically half an hour from Hurricane, but it took longer due to slow drivers. Don’t do like I do and plan to get gas and water in Springdale if leaving from another community as prices are much, much higher there!
To ease vehicular congestion in the small canyon that has only 450 parking spaces and traffic that once peaked at 5,000 vehicles per day, Springdale and Zion National Park have a free shuttle service. You can park your vehicle on the street in Springdale and get a shuttle to the welcome centre. From there, you take a shuttle that will bring you to each of the stops along the scenic canyon drive.
Some people don’t like this system, but I love it! It saves on gas, it saves on frustration in finding a parking space I can get in and out of easily with my truck, and it allows you to sit back and enjoy the scenery. The shuttle also serves as a tour as there is narration between the stops (and, yes, it is very audible, nice job, NPS!).
I parked at the far end of Springdale and quickly caught the shuttle to the welcome centre. There, you cross a little pedestrian bridge and get to the booth where you have to buy your pass, which is $25 for a week. I bought an interagency (‘America the Beautiful’) pass at Yellowstone, so I presented that instead of paying, as well as my driver’s license, which has a matching signature. BTW, my ID has my legal name, but I sign it all Rae, which actually gives ‘Rae’ some legitimate status when I get a cheque or package mailed to that name, but I digress.
Entrance to the park, using the beautiful sandstone to create the welcome sign.
Even though I’d done some research ahead of time, I really had no idea which hike or hikes I wanted to do today since I would only have a few hours in the canyon. I finally decided on the Emerald Pools, which were a few stops from the welcome centre.
On the way there, the gentleman sitting next to me, who has been to the park many, many times (he lives near Vegas, which is two hours away), told me that I could make the Emerald Pools a much longer hike by combining it with another trail segment, called the Kayenta Trail. That would take me to the Grotto shuttle stop, where I could get back on the shuttle to go up canyon to do the Weeping Rock trail, a very short, but must-do, trail. Thank you, sir!
The Emerald Pools trail really highlighted what this part of Zion National Park is all about — the contrast of the arid sandstone cliffs with lush vegetation. The first part of the hike was very easy and I decided to continue to the upper pools, a slightly technical hike up. I was pleased to discover that, yes, I am out of shape, but not nearly as badly as I thought. I am still very nimble on my feet and as long as I remember to pace myself, I have a lot of endurance.
I enjoyed scrambling over the sandstone and the camaraderie on the trail. On the way back from the upper pools, there was a big drop that I knew my knees could not handle. As I started to drop to my butt to slide over the edge, a strong masculine hand appeared to give me something to brace myself on so I could just step down rather tan slide. Who says chivalry is dead? And, really, I need a walking stick!!!
Not my first experience with cacti, by far, but these were big!
The canyon walls soared high above us.
Water seeping from the walls to form the emerald pools, which get their colour from algae.
The path was slick and you had to go through a curtain of water!
I loved the contrast of the red and green.
Heading to the upper pools, we had to squeeze through here.
Not sure what this landing is officially called. It’s the gateway to the middle pools, which were closed.
It was fun to pick a path!
The upper pool.
On the way down, this little guy was nice enough to pose for me.
The Emerald Pools trail takes two to four hours and I did it in less than two. I met up with the man from the shuttle on the way to the Grotto and he was shocked that I’d not only made it up and down from the upper pool, but had also taken the time to eat lunch!
Beautiful striations!
Such a magnificent location!
Another tight squeeze.
Now that’s a big bunch of cacti!
From the Grotto, I got back on the shuttle and went to Weeping Rock. This is a permanently saturated section of the canyon where it essentially rains all the time and lush vegetation grows along the rock face. It’s a very short walk, but steep.
The shuttle has a little trailer!
More gorgeous views.
Selfie at Weeping Rock. Not sure what the guy in the back is doing, but nice photobomb, sir!
Vegetation growing under the Weeping Rock.
I would have liked to try the Hidden Canyon hike next, but it was a two to three hour hike uphill and I was pretty tired by then. Instead, I got back on the shuttle and went to the very last stop at the Temple of Sinawava. There, I found the River Walk, a fairly easy stroll along the Virgin River, which carved out the canyon. The canyon is very wide open at the Springdale end and narrows here.
The River Walk is the gateway to The Narrows. This is a walk in the river that takes you to a part of the canyon where the walls close in. The water was freezing cold and I didn’t have a walking stick, so I only went a little further than the end of the River Walk before calling it a day. I was very glad to be wearing my Keens; they were perfect on all the terrain today and allowed me to cross the river without slipping. I couldn’t believe the number of people who attempted a river crossing in flip flops!
No risk of flash floods in the Narrows today.
Yes, this is a swamp in the middle of a desert.
The benches really blended in.
Looking up canyon, it really narrows.
Starting my river crossing.
The crossing took at most two minutes and I could barely feel my feet on the other side!
Folks heading into the Narrows.
More narrowing.
It was late afternoon when I returned to the shuttle stop and I was ready to call it a day. I returned to the welcome centre and hopped on the Springdale shuttle.
Interesting rock formation nearing Springdale.
I was famished by this point, so I decided to have dinner in Springdale. I couldn’t find a badly reviewed restaurant in the whole town, so I walked into the saloon and got a table with a great view. There was a reasonably priced pulled pork sandwich on the menu, something I haven’t had in ages, so I ordered that. Unfortunately, I got my first truly disappointing meal of this trip. The coleslaw and sweet potato fries were bland while the pork was drowned in too much over sweet BBQ sauce. I brought half the meal back with me, but I don’t even know if I’ll eat the leftovers. I think the pork might be salvageable with a little cheese, so I’ll try that for breakfast this morning. It didn’t help that I lost leave of my senses and ordered a lemonade, too, which was also way too sweet. I have to keep reminding myself that I can’t order the same things I used to like!
View from the restaurant.
Dinner aside, today was an amazing day! I am nearly recovered from my days slaving away on the computer. 🙂
A change in my work schedule has given me a third day in the park, so tomorrow, I will return to the canyon to attempt the Angels Landing hike, one of the canyon’s most famous adventures, which culminates with a crossing of a narrow isthmus very high up. It’ll be interesting to see if I get across it!
The shuttle system stops running daily tomorrow night, so Monday will be the logical day to drive north to the Kolob Canyons section of the park, which is the part I’ve been so keen to see. Stay tuned for more about this magnificent park!
