Vacation Days 4 and 5, Zion

After Cedar Breaks National Monument, we headed into Cedar City for the night.  We asked at the hotel for a good place to eat and they girl said to try Sonny Boy's Barbeque...hmmm, was it good.  In the morning, we got up and headed to the Kolob Canyons portion of Zion.  There are only three hikes off the scenic road here; and with our time available, we decided upon the Taylor Creek trail.

It was a nice five miles and fairly level.  On the way back we decided to play "count the creek crossings" and I won with 43.  There were more, but we didn't count the dry crossings near the top of the canyon.  I am not exactly a good creek crosser, but I managed all 43 without getting anything wet!

We both really liked the trail.  I didn't have a lot of people, and was very scenic and easy to hike.  With the creek, there was a lot of plant life.

The end of the trail was a "double arch" alcove...impressive.  But, the beauty of this trail was more the entire length.  We also passed two historic homesteads along the way now preserved by the NPS.

We didn't stop too long for we just were not tired...no elevation gain so we could have gone for many more hours!  It made us think maybe we should have done the 14 mile hike to the Kolob arch.  Oh well...next time.  We saw a bit of wildlife with lizards, what we think was a turkey, and a hummingbird. 

After the Talyor Creek trail, we were at the end of the scenic road and did short 1 mile overlook trail - very beautiful.  This part of Zion was not crowded at all!

After lunch, we got to the main portion of Zion.  We stayed at the same hotel we did last time...it was just as fabulous.  We actually both looked forward to this hotel the whole time we were on the trip - and it didn't disappoint!  

We went back and forth about what hike to do.  Angels Landing or Observation Point...Angels Landing or Observation Point...  In the end, I knew we wanted to do Angels Landing as it has been on our list for some time.

I guess going into it, we knew it was a crazy-stupid trail.  Exposed ledges and such.  From the start, I had told Rob that if I wanted to stop - I was going to stop...and he could keep going if he wanted.  Well, I hit that point about 1/4 up after Scout's lookout.  It wasn't so much that I was scared, but I just don't have good footing nor good knees.  I was worried about the time and hardship it would take me on the way down.  So, Rob gave me his pack to watch, and I just enjoyed the view for a while.

He continued up this ledge. 

We went at a good time of day in late afternoon.  Much of the walk up was in the shade, and it wasn't extremely crowded. 

While the views were beautiful, I wish we would have done Observation Point for three reasons:

1)  This path was completely paved the 2 miles up to Scouts Landing...very unnatural.  However, I get why it is done.  There are SO MANY people on the trail if they didn't pave it, it would be an erosion mess.

2)  It was crowded.  It was not a busy day and we saw probably 200+ people.  Not quiet the wilderness experience.  Nonetheless, it was still a thrill to be on the trail.

3)  We saw two snakes...and they were not small.  ICK!  One guy laughed at us for I think we jumped about five feet into the air and both let out a cry of "AGH!".  The second snake we actually walked past, but then someone pointed it out to us from the next switchback up.  ICK!

We went back to the hotel, had a great dinner (same pizza/pasta place we were at last time), enjoyed the pool, and got packed up for we were leaving the next day.  We got up before the sun to catch the first bus into the canyon.  We wanted to get another hike in before heading back to Vegas.

We met another couple doing the Narrows hike on the bus...the hike we did last time.  We picked the easy Emerald Pools knowing it wouldn't be busy (in fact we didn't see anyone!).  The couple on the bus was from Canada and we enjoyed talking with them.  They were on a month or so long journey; they had tried for The Wave permit a few days before and were going to try again.  We were so lucky to get chosen for that hike last year!  It was fun to talk about the places we had both been to compare notes.

Anyhow, the Emerald Pool hike was not all that good.  There are better hikes at Zion if you are able.  But, we still enjoyed it...especially in solitude.

And then there was the bus ride back to the visitor center.  We hopped on in the front cab with the driver.  She chatted with us about the canyon the whole way back!  We got to hear about many of the accidents that have taken place from a rattlesnake bite the week before we were there...to people falling off Angles Landing...to rock climbing accidents...  All very interesting!  The buses and bus drivers are really the eyes and ears of the canyon.

The day we were leaving they were doing controlled burns...so everything was a little hazy.  But it was still beautiful.

I have to mention that on our way back to Vegas driving through Hurricane, there was a food stand on the side of the road.  On the side it said "Sonny Boys Barbeque" mobile station!  We enjoyed our sandwiches so much in Cedar City, we got two lunch specials and took them over to the local park.  Yum!

Well - that's the end of this journey!  We could have used a few more days...but we only had the five.  We enjoyed all the parks so much.  I would really like to go back to Great Basin at a warmer time; I don't feel we got to experience as much as the alpine trails as we had wanted to.

I would normally spend the next month hovering over the map to figure out the next trip...but, it seems that the airlines choose it for us.  We will be heading to LAX in September for Kings Canyon N.P., Sequoia N.P. Channel Islands N.P., Pinnacles National Monument, and Carizzo  Plain National Monument...I CAN'T WAIT!