Day 11: Zion National Park

After 2 days of being very lazy and relaxing, it is time to pick up the pace a little and make our first visit to Zion National Park and do a bit of hiking in the mountains.


Zion is about 40 miles from our base in St George Utah and so it takes us about and hour to reach the park gates.

Zion was named by the Mormon settlers who came to this place in 1847. These were Europeans who had come from Salt Lake City about 400 miles north, to farm and also to prospect for minerals in the vast canyons of this area.

They left their mark, giving Zion the name that would eventually stick. The Mormons, awed by the immense beauty of the canyon, referred to it as, "Zion" since its magnificence reminded them of a heavenly city described in the Little Zion from the Old Testament.

And so eventually in 1918 it became a National Park protected for all time by the US Government.

As part of that protection, the National Park Service decided in more recent years that cars would no longer be allowed to drive the full length of the canyon and they now provide regular shuttle buses with several stops so that visitors can get on and off at the various trails and mountain viewpoints.

The Zion Canyon which is 15 miles long and up to half a mile deep at some points is just part of the National Park which covers 228 square miles in total.

The rock which is red Navajo sandstone was cut into this canyon over millions of years by the Virgin River which flows through the valley and onwards to Arizona.

We had decided that we would get off at the Zion Lodge and take one of the "moderate" hikes up into the mountains to a place called Emerald Pools.

It was already in the high 80's when we arrived and so plenty of water would be required to get us there and back.

Interestingly, none of the National Park restaurants sell bottled water and they encourage visitors to fill up their empty bottles with the spring water of Zion canyon which has been filtered through the red rocks - and it tastes pretty good.

The scenery from every vantage point is stunning and the contrast of the red rocks with the cloudless blue sky is amazing.

There are some stark reminders that these trails are not for the faint hearted and as you can see below the National Park Service is not shy to tell you that you are taking your life in your own hands....

This is the Virgin River winding it's way through the canyon.
At this time of year it is not a very big river, but we saw markers elsewhere in the canyon that showed it had risen by 20 feet in the winter of 2010.
However on this July summer's day it was idyllic.

And so our ex-Chief Navigator leads the way along the steep and windy path upwards to Emerald Pools.

She is no longer banished to the boot of the car after "The Mariposa Incident" and has been allowed back in the front to see the views as long as she does not attempt to programme the SatNav.

However as this is a trail with one way up and one way down, we feel its safe to let her lead the way.

Of course humans are not the only inhabitants of Zion Canyon.
There are nearly 300 species of birds, 75 types of mammals and 32 species of reptiles, one of which you can see here sleeping in the hot midday sun.

This is a rattle snake which is perfectly camouflaged in the sandy rock and should have a "Do Not Disturb" sign near him to make sure us hikers don't step on the wrong rock and get a nasty surprise!

Looking back along this trail affords views of the mountains on the other side of the canyon  which are even more impressive when seen from higher elevations.

Emerald Pools is made up of 3 different pools formed by a waterfall high up in the mountain.

Of course at this time of year in the heat, the waterfall is somewhat more of a shower. But in the winter this is a torrent and this trail is usually closed after the Autumn months because it is too dangerous to climb.

However there is still frequent flash flooding in the canyon during the summer months and if thunderstorms build up after hot days, the park buses will be stopped and visitors told to return to the visitor centre as the Virgin River can swell rapidly by feet in the space of just 1 hour.

We reach the Lower Pool - or rather the overhang that it sits on. This is a welcome shaded area with showers of water falling from above giving us some cool relief from the burning heat.

Onwards and upwards we climb over the well trodden path. There are some more tricky areas where the Park Service has made steps in the rock, but there are many more places where the path is much more treacherous.

This next picture is looking back down to the Lower Pool and you can see how little water is flowing at this hot time of year.

The last stretch is the most strenuous, mainly because there is no shade and it is very steep up to the top.

Laura was suffering from heat exhaustion for part of the way and so we held back for a while whilst the others headed for the shade, giving her a chance to re-hydrate.

Climbing in this park is just as tiring as Yosemite was, but back there it was tiredness from the high altitude, but here it is the heat that causes the tiredness. It is now 95°F in the open sun so no wonder we were exhausted.

And finally we reach the top of the trail, the Upper Pool with cool shade and showers of water from the top of the mountain which as you can see here is a sheer cliff straight upwards.

Time for a well earned rest and a sandwich, and lots and lots of water.

But once the batteries are re-charged, its time to make the trip back for more exploring further up the canyon.

The mountains are majestic in the sunlight and in cooler times of the year there are mountain climbers risking their lives to scale these vertical peaks. However even the hardiest climber would not attempt it in this heat.

Going down the trail is marginally less tiring than going up, and there are still some red exhausted faces in this picture taken on the descent.

And so we eventually reach the valley floor again and cross the Virgin River back to the Zion Lodge for a rest.

There is a huge lawn outside the lodge which is perfect to sit in under the shade of the big trees and take in the views all around.

However even the spectacular views of Zion Canyon could not keep the Hunter's from collapsing in exhaustion on the cool shaded grass!

But someone spied ice creams - and so after the girls came back to life we all moved over to the porch, sat on some rocking chairs and took in the lovely views on all sides with ice creams to cool us down.

One of the most famous mountains in Zion is called Angel's Landing.

The hike up this peak which you can see below is expected to take about 4 hours up and 3 hours back.

But there is no way that I will ever attempt to climb this because at the top after an already steep and dangerous hike, the last part requires the climber to hang on to chains that are hooked into the rock as they navigate along the narrow cliff edge to Angels Landing the uppermost viewing area.

This climb has cost many lives and the Park Service are not shy in telling prospective climbers the risk of fatality.

However despite the lack of bravery on the part of The Hunter's of Houston another photographer called Joe Braun has taken many excellent pictures showing the assent and view from the top.

And as this is considered one of the best views in North America by many climbers, it seems a shame to not add them here as part of the Zion experience, so here are some of his pictures of Angel's Landing and the assent to the top.

The drop is vertical on both sides at this point in the hike and only for those with a head for heights.

This is part of the final assent to the top of the mountain. Not for the faint hearted.....

 And finally the view of all the Zion Canyon and beyond.

But for us the trail was to stay firmly on the ground and our next stop was The Temple of Sinawava which is where the valley narrows into a gorge at the top of the Zion Canyon.

It was now late afternoon and the sun was a bit lower which lit up the narrow valley causing he rocks to have an red orange glow to them as the light was reflected into the shadows of the ever narrowing gorge.

This was also a very much easier walk with most of the 2 miles being paved and fairly flat.

It was also very cool in the shadows of the high rocks on either side which was a relief after the hike in bright sunshine earlier in the day.

Eventually the canyon narrows so much that there is no pathway and although many hikers carry on up to Zion Narrows, this requires a few hours more walking, and most of it through the river which requires good shoes so that you can walk on the rocks in the water.

For us a bit of relaxation by the cool waters was more than enough.

The picture here is of Big Bend - so called because the canyon makes only one change of direction over the whole 15 miles - which is here at Big Bend.

The rocks are lit up with the early evening sun and seem to be even more red in colour.

So after waling back down stream we catch one of the shuttle buses which will take us all the way back down the canyon on a 40 minute ride to the visitor centre.

By this time there are some sleepy eyes and being on the bus is a big relief to our sore feet.

From the Visitor Centre it is a short walk back to the Chevy and home for a late dinner - which tonight was made by Fiona.

So after a long day exploring the Zion Canyon, we will be back tomorrow for more but this time on the north side of the National Park.

One last look back at Zion Canyon from our car on the way to St George.