Zion National Park

Cedar City, Utah

This week we went to Zion National park. We had planned to do Zion Canyon on Tuesday, even though we were feeling discouraged because we were reading that even though it is September, the park is still busy enough to require the use of shuttles in the most popular areas. And that meant Zion Canyon.

Heading into Kolob Canyon

We had had high hopes that with kids being back in school we would see lots fewer visitors in the parks. Then we left later than planned that morning (always, I know). Then we realized that the park entrance was further from our home in Cedar City than we thought. Basically it all  added up to us feeling generally a little grouchy and negative about the whole endeavor. So we changed our plans en route to the park. Instead of heading to the main entrance we decided to spend our day in the Kolob Canyons section of Zion National Park, and that turned out to be the cure to all our grouchiness.

In Kolob we first stopped at the visitors center to show our pass and officially be allowed in to the park. The truth is, this is totally an honor system since it would be super easy to drive on past the parking lot and into the park. We weren't issued any kind of pass to hang in our window either. But we are honest people (who also have a parks pass and so didn't actually have to pay anything anyway) and also this was our last chance at flushing toilets after all. That's probably how they ensure honesty really, the lure of the flushing toilets.

View from the overlook

First we drove to the end of the canyon road and then walked about a mile to a park overlook. Then we drove back down the same road to a trail head back close to the entrance, the Taylor Creek Trail. The trail followed along the creek the whole way. Eventually Liam and Fionn mostly gave up walking on the trail and just walked down the middle of the creek, which was basically ankle deep the whole way.

First half got a little warm, but as we got further into the canyon there was more shade and more trees. Eventually we arrived at a huge canyon wall with two partial arches. The canyon walls were, I am guessing, the source of the creek, as they were leaking water from above. We ate lunch there, took our pictures and then turned around and hiked right back the way we had come. The whole hike was right about 5 miles and we were all very thirsty by the time we were done. Note: one small bottle of water each for a five mile hike just does not cut it, we've proven that twice now.

The lower arch of the double arch

Thursday was our day for Zion Canyon, and after our relaxing day in Kolob Canyon we were ready! Then we awoke Thursday to a persistent thunderstorm that showed no signs of letting up. And it didn't until about 3 that afternoon. So we did Zion on Friday! We had to park outside of the park and take a shuttle into the park, where we had to catch another shuttle to take us up the canyon to everything we wanted to see and do. It wasn't quite Yosemite, but it was sometimes uncomfortably crowded both on the shuttles and on the trails. The shuttles though were much more dependable than those in Yosemite. We never waited more than 5 minutes for one. Not even when we got on going the wrong way, had to get off at the next stop and wait for another to come along going our way. By the way, there are only two ways the shuttles can be going; up the canyon or down the canyon, there is only the one road. Sometimes we don't read signs well. 

Looking out from under weeping rock

First we stopped at the Three Patriarchs, which was just a quick walk up from our shuttle stop and back to catch the next one going by. Then we hiked the Emerald Pools Trail, which goes up and up and up past emerald pools 1 and 2 and 3, each formed by water falling over the canyon wall and each one harder to get to than the last with the hike to the last pool being really quite challenging for such a well traveled trail. Next we saw weeping rock, where water seeping through the rock falls like raindrops from a cliff overhang and you can actually stand in the alcove and watch it fall in front of you. And finally we walked the mile River Walk at the end of the canyon. The walk leads to The Narrows, where lots of people go ahead and continue their hike right up the river. As in they walk IN the river, there really is no trail anymore. But we did not have shoes for river walking and instead just played by the water and then caught  our bus back to the entrance and then another back to our car and headed home to our crockpot dinner. I love it when the rental houses have a crockpot and I have the foresight to actually use them.