Zion National Park – a heavenly place
On March 8th, 2010, we were on road around 5:30 AM to Zion National Park. It is Utah’s oldest national park located just 150 miles from Las Vegas. This is only part of the trip where I actually drove, other than that Shahnila was in charge of the wheels. It was easy to lose track of speed driving out there in west. There was a point when I was driving 100 mph and I still found myself being passed by other cars. I mean everyone was speeding; I was just flowing with traffic. So, I started wondering if it is better to flow with traffic rather than driving within the speed limit?
Back to the actual topic, it was another overcast day with fog and drizzle. We had been unlucky in terms of weather so far but that did not stop us from exploring/hiking. As we drove into the park we could see the Virgin River running through beautiful canyons. Most of canyon tops were sprinkled with snow and were hiding behind the fog. We started with a short 6-mile drive on Zion Canyon Scenic Drive along the canyon floors. The park is not open to vehicles during peak months but a shuttle bus runs through the park. As we drove around the scenic drive, we hiked multiple trails. Click here for more photos…
1. Emerald Pools: We hiked all three, the Lower, Middle and Upper Emerald Pool trail and altogether it was about a 3 mile round trip. The hike to the Lower pool was more of a walk and only after the first pool did it become more of hike, but nothing too difficult. The trails to all three pools were connected. The Upper Pool was the prettiest and largest of all; it was another 0.5 miles from Middle Pool.
2. Angel’s Landing: Angel’s Landing was a beautiful and exhilarating 5 mile round trip that offers fantastic view of Zion in all directions. The first two miles were steep and a collection of sets of switchbacks which were paved and grooved. I literally ran up the first 2 miles and reached Scout’s Lookout. There were quite a few people at this point but only a few attempted to climb the remaining half-mile.
As I mentioned earlier, it was drizzling so the lime stone was slippery and also parts of last half mile was covered with snow. This part was almost like ascending straight up. There were chains to hold onto, and plenty of foot holes here and there. I slipped multiple times on the snow and ice but I was thankful to those chains. It took me almost half an hour to finish this half-mile. I took my time as I crawled along the chains. You need to be focused and concentrated during the final part. When I got to the top I was the only one there until later when a local guy named Mike joined me. He was a very interesting guy. According to him this was the best time to hike here, because it was less crowded and you could clearly see the rock formations with even brighter colors in contrast to the white snow.
The top of Angel’s Landing provides spectacular view and solitude. I would not recommend this hike to anybody with a fear of heights. I was also very surprised to see children on this hike; this hike is not for children.
View on my way to Angel's Landing
3. Weeping Rock: This is a short less than a mile hike. The rock formations are very interesting and distinctly colored.
4. Riverside Walk: This 2-mile trail along the Virgin River is the one of the most popular trail in the park that leads to Narrows. It was getting darker so we decided to stop here and start driving to the Grand Canyon.
5. Zion Mt. Carmel Tunnel: On our way to Grand Canyon we drove on Zion Mt. Carmel Highway Drive. This long twisty drive goes through tunnels and offers a great scenic view. We stopped in a few places along the way to get some pictures of the park as we were leaving it and the sun started to peek through some of the clouds. The road literally disappears into the canyon walls for 1.1 miles. The tunnel was completed in 1930.
Carmel Canyons
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Outdoors 