Utah – Zion National Park

 

Options, options, options…Mark built a few days into our schedule where we have no reservations. We could opt to stay where we were, go to BLM land or a state or national park. Wednesday, 4/23 we decided on Glen Canyon National Recreation Area at Lone Rock, 200 miles from Camp Verde. The park is located on the Arizona/Utah border on Lake Powell and because we have the Lifetime senior pass for National Parks, the fee to stay overnight was $7. It was a wonderful park with beautiful views.

Thursday, we headed 145 miles to Zion National Park. The drive with all the mountains is exquisite and usually I am busy reading, but the views are too beautiful to miss. The other thing that struck me on the drive, is all the stands on the side of the road where they are selling Native American crafts, food and jewelry, (they reminded me of produce stands back home). Most of the ride was through the Navajo Reservation but there are eight federally recognized reservations in Utah.

Zion was very busy, we are wondering if it’s because it’s Easter week or if this is normal for this time of year. The parking lots are full very early, so we were thankful we had a camp site within the park with beautiful views. They do have a free shuttle service that will take you along the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive and drop you off at any one of 9 stops. No private vehicles are allowed beyond Canyon Junction, but you can take an ebike the entire distance from the visitor center to the last stop, Temple of Sinawava and the narrows, 7.7 miles away.

Hiking is the rage here at Zion. The trails are labeled from “easy” to “strenuous”. Being that I am deathly afraid of heights, the “easy” trails were my favorite. We did try a few of the “moderate” trails and Mark managed them very well. Me on the other hand, went up a short way, found a nice rock in the shade and sat and waited and looked at pictures of the magnificent views that Mark captured. He even videoed part of one trail to give me a true taste of what I missed. I was glad I sat on the rock! I did have company on one occasion as another women couldn’t do the heights, so she sat with me and lots of people stopped to talk and rest before completing the climb.

We noticed there were a lot of foreigners visiting the park. Our neighbor in the campground is here in the U.S. for 3 weeks from the Czech Republic, visiting several of the national parks in the southwest. Mark and I had wondered earlier in the day if people from Europe and other countries visited here the way US citizens flock to their countries for vacation. He was a prime example, so the answer is yes. 

On our way to Glen Canyon.

Glen Canyon Dam, Page Arizona, located on

the Colorado River.

710-foot-high, it forms Lake Powell, one of the

largest man-made reservoirs in the U.S.

"Boondocking" or primitive camping at Glen Canyon.

There is no electric or water, you rely on your own

resources on your RV.

The park is first come, first serve for camping. Many

people were down by the water. There were a few up

on the hill by us.

Sunset at Glen Canyon Lone Rock

We were happy the park is located just inside the Utah

border so we could watch the sunrise at 6:46 instead of

5:46 in Arizona, since Arizona doesn't change to daylight savings.

 

One of the first things we did was attend a ranger seminar

on the geology of Zion. The rangers give talks 3 times/day

on various subjects pertaining to the park.

At first, we were saying that we weren't seeing many

animals but that changed as we completed more hikes.

Mark saw the turkeys as he was riding

his ebike on the way to the Kayenta Trail.

Gambel's Quail

There were squirrels everywhere, this one

seemed to be posing for the hikers.

The mule deer just meander around and

co-exist with the hikers very well.

The Virgin River ran behind our campsite,

"Fred" (blue heron) was fishing daily.

The cactus is just starting to bloom.

In another couple of weeks, they will be gorgeous.

The flowers that hang from the rock walls are known as

hanging gardens.

The Riverside Walk Trail

People were stopped and looking up. The red item you see is a jacket,

if you look further up, you'll see a person with a white hat on.

This was considered an easy hike that followed

the Virgin River in the canyon.

There were many people in dry suits so they

could walk through the frigid water to get to

the narrows.

There were so many people on the trail

we opted to walk along the river.

We hiked early in the day to avoid some

of the crowds and it was cooler.

The Kayenta Trail and the Emerald Pools

This is considered a moderate hike with an

elevation change of 150'. They said it had moderate

drop-offs but the trails were narrow with no handrails

so...Mark came back without me.

We took a drive to the east side of the Zion tunnel.

This is the checkerboard mesa, the cliff has distinctive

check lines in cross-bedded white sandstone which gives

the impression of a checkerboard.

Canyon Overlook Trail

Another moderate trail that had an elevation gain of 163' with

minor drop-offs and handrails. There were only a limited

number of handrails. I found a nice rock to sit on.

The Canyon Overlook trail ends at a vantage point a thousand feet 

above the canyon floor, providing a spectacular view of the switchbacks 

in the road we took to get to the trail head.

The Watchman Trail

This hike was listed as moderate with minor drop-offs.

The elevation was incorrect at 368', it was twice that. We

thought I might be able to do this one, but I only made it

a third of the way. This picture is from the top of the hike

looking back down at the trail and me sitting on a rock.

Here I am sitting on the rock, one gentleman

went by and said, "I see you are between a rock and a hard place".

This is the view from my rock, Mark hiked along the top,

to the tip. As Clint Eastwood said in Magnum Force,

"A man has to know his limitations" and I clearly know mine.

Mark said this woman was like a mountain goat,

no fear of the heights or rock structures.

The town of Springdale is at the entrance to the park. 

The restaurants and shops are in walking distance from

the park or you can get a free shuttle that will take you to

a number of stops. The bus or walking is the way to go as

the parking lots fill up early. Grocery prices are very steep,

you want to come fully stocked before you get here.

The town had a chalk festival on Saturday

and Sunday. These are a few of our favorites.

The pictures look 3-dimensional through the camera lenses.

This is a picture of the late painter Bob Ross, but we thought

it looked more like our friend Steve Johnson. Ironically, both 

were taken before their time at the age of 52.