Zion National Park

10/18/2015

After visiting Bryce Canyon, we drove a short distance to Zion National Park. The two parks could not be more different but each is special. The major feature part of the park is Zion Canyon where the Virgin River flows, and it has several other parts that are also spectacular.

On the first day, after lunch at the Whiptail Grill, we hiked the Emerald Pools trail, then the Kayenta trail. We hiked to the pools, then started down the trail to the main road and to the shuttle bus stop. Shortly after we started down the trail, rain - heavy - began to fall. Then it started to hail. You can see the size and quantity of hail in the photos. It really hurts when you get hit by dime sized hail. The water began gushing over the trail and we were concerned that the trail might be washed away but we made it through the new-flowing streams. We were soaked but were rewarded by a rainbow at the end of the trail.

We went back to camp to get dry clothes and shoes. We settled in for the night, and then there was a knock at the door. The park attendant warned us that more rain was expected and they didn't know if the river would overflow its banks. Since we were camped just above the river, he advised us to move to higher ground. We hitched up the trailer and then it started pouring again. We carefully moved the trailer higher and now had two thoroughly soaked sets of clothes and shoes. We just parked the trailer and did the rest of the hookup and leveling the next morning. Then we visited the camp laundromat as we had no more clothes to get wet.

We hiked up the Riverside Walk to see the narrows where you must wade into the river to continue on, but the trail was closed due to the flash flood danger. We returned downstream. We decided to drive up the switchbacks to the east, and the see the rock formations above the Canyon. Just through the 1 mile tunnel, there is a parking lot leading to the Canyon Overlook Trail so up we went. It was the most difficult trail we had taken. We were rewarded with great views of the canyon and also views of longhorn sheep.

The next day, we decided to take two different paths. Jennifer and I drove to the Kolob Canyons part of the park and hiked to the end of the trail past the view point. These canyons were very different from the main canyon but just as spectacular. We took the Weeping Rock trail, and saw the Court of the Patriarchs. We ended the day and our trip to Zion with a fabulous dinner at Spotted Dog Cafe.

The next morning, we said farewell to Jane and Charlie as they started back to Cleveland and we started back to home.