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Zion NP
July
22-23
Tue-Wed
 


Photos
 
Usual photo at the entrance

The amazing view at the Upper Emerald Pool

We're on the way to Angels Landing

Magda got to the very end of the Angels Landing Trail

One of the few dry places along the Narrows

Zion's sky and mountains

The Zion Canyon

 

Departure: Las Vegas, NV
Arrival: Zion NP, UT
Lodge: Zion Lodge
Price: 120$+tax
Leg Km: 273 (170 Miles)
Total Km: 1966 (1222 Miles)


Summary
  -Zion NP
   
   

 

 

-click the lens to zoom-

 


Tuesday, 22nd July
(Las Vegas)
We wake up especially good-humored. In fact, today we go to Zion, probably the park we'd most been looking forward to. We leave Las Vegas when it's not yet 8 a.m. The leg takes a couple of hours. On the way we stop at a McDonald's where we take a breakfast menu with pancakes, orange juice and coffee. Not bad.
Zion
We get to Springdale, the nearest town to Zion, when it's about noon. The town is surrounded by the wonderful red and black Zion Mountains. We don't waste time and we enter the park. First, we go to the visitor center. Here we get the usual parks magazine and map and we also take a special pass which allows our car to enter the Zion Canyon. This pass is given just to those people staying at the Zion Lodge. In fact Zion can normally be toured just by its ecological shuttles. At the visitor center a ranger informs us that many trails of the Kolob Canyon are closed due to some little fires. So, we decide to focus our visit just on the main Zion Canyon.
The Zion Lodge is really nice and worth its 120$+tax. It's immersed in the fantastic Zion scenery and offers an excellent position to reach all the most popular trailheads. We decide to start our exploration from the Emerald Pools Trail. The sun is perpendicular and it's really hot. But the views are so striking that it regenerates our energies. Unfortunately, both the Lower and the Middle Pools are pretty dry. The Upper Pool is, conversely, pretty full and the scenery is one of the best of the entire trip. We're among very high rock faces that are extremely flat and colored an unreal dark red. We rest a bit at the pool side admiring this unforgettable view. On the way back we can finally see the Zion valley from above and this is another amazing panorama. It's almost 4 p.m. when we get to the Zion Lodge. We take a fast shower before going out again. We'd like to tour the Zion Canyon to have a better idea of it. So we take a shuttle to tour a bit without any particular destination. Unfortunately, suddenly it starts raining. This is the normal Utah summer weather. There are frequent short showers and thunderstorms in the evening, often after a torrid day. From the shuttle we can see on the top of the mountains some little falls made by the rainwater. We decide to go back to our lodge and we patiently wait for the end of the rain sitting on our patio and listening to the rain's noise and admiring the view.
It's 6 p.m. when the rain finally stops falling and the sky is again open. We move again and we can finally tour the valley without problems. To finish the day, we decide to hike the Weeping Rock Trail. It's very short and pretty rewarding.
We leave Zion for supper and we try the Noah's Pizza in Springdale. The pizza is good and large. Also, we can eat sitting at some tables outside the restaurant while surrounded by Zion Mountains.
In the meantime the sky got again cloudy and it starts again raining. We barely have the time to finish our pizza and we have to escape to our car. When we arrive to the Zion Lodge the rain is already over. We take a walk around our lodge and as soon as our eyes get used to dark, we see lot of animals grazing few meters from the lodge's cabins. We feel deeply immersed in the Zion nature. We just regret that the cloudy sky hides the stars.

Wednesday, 23rd July
Angels Landing
Although the alarm clock is set at 6:45 a.m., we wake at 8 a.m.
Today Angels Landing is waiting for us! It has been months that we're dreaming about this trail. Angels Landing is special for many reasons. Its last part is pretty dangerous for people who, like me, fear heights. Nevertheless, we're looking forward to starting. We eat a big breakfast so we have plenty of strength. The trail leads us through a long, steep and hard terrain, but its views are wonderful. When we get to the trail's final part (where you often proceed holding chains and walking on a few meters wide path below of which there is a hundred meters cliff) I clearly understand that I won't finish this trail. My vertigos tell me clearly that I must be satisfied of the Scout Lookout view. But Magda decides to go on and I'm really happy of that. We separate and while she faces Angels Landing, I explore a bit of the surrounding area. We meet a couple of hours later at the Zion Lodge. Magda is very tired but excited as well. She enjoyed very much Angels Landing and I pretend to be curious about all the details. We rest a bit and eat. It's about 4 p.m. and since I don't feel tired and am willing to move, we go out for another hike.
Riverside Walk & Narrows
We decide to head to the Riverside Walk, an easy walk leading to the beginning of the Narrows trail, where the river is the trail itself. Magda is too tired to fallow me in the Narrows and we decide to separate again. The virgin river is muddy due to the recent rain. Despite that, the view along the Narrows is dramatic. Huge rock faces stand above the river and you must wade sometimes through a pretty high water level. But this is part of the trail's appeal. The whole Narrows trail is longer than 17 miles but I go on not farther than a couple of miles. After two hours inside the water I reach again the Riverside Walk. I get to the lodge completely wet, not only for the walk in the river but also for the rain which had just started.
After a hot shower we go to supper at the Zion Lodge restaurant. It's pretty expensive but the New York Steak is delicious.
Our stomachs are full of food as much as our heads are full of amazing memories from the day. Very satisfied, we go back to our room and, being very tired, we soon fall asleep.

 

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FAQ

How many days should I spend for a visit to Zion NP? (1 answer)

What should absolutely NOT be missed at Zion NP? (2 answers) 
What's Zion's weather in the different seasons? (1 answer)
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(if you have any problem using the above link, you can answer the FAQ by writing a normal email to faq@travellersonline.net mentioning the park you're talking about)

 

 

Links
Zion NP The official NPS site
Joe's Guide to Zion NP A wonderful personal site about Zion
Tom's Utah Another great personal site
Zion Adventures Company Excellent site, full of info to hike in Zion
ZionNationalPark.com It's not the official site but it's anyway full of info
Clim Utah This is another good personal site
Springdale Lodging A site with info to lodge in Springdale
Xanterra Xanterra operates the park's lodges