Zion National Park – Meanderings & Mind Munchies

Emerald Pools Trail

My hips are starting to get stiff from all the exercise we’ve been doing. This morning I lost my balance trying to get my leg over the crossbar of my bike and toppled right over. Thankfully, nothing was injured but my dignity!

Today we rode our bikes up to the Zion Lodge to hike the Emerald Pools Trail.

This photo was taken on the Pa’rus Trail.

The views along the walk to the Lower Emerald Pool were beautiful.

Below is a photo taken at the Lower Emerald Pool. The waterfall was difficult to see unless you took the photo directly into the sun. I lucked out with this one.

The trail went on from the Lower Emerald Pool to the Middle and Upper Emerald pools. However, Greg decided at this point that it would not be a good idea for him to continue.

Between the six miles of walking the day before, the 16 miles of biking, and a poor night’s sleep, he decided to err on the side of caution. I decided that I should do the same. (We need to have enough strength and energy left to do Bryce Canyon!)

Before heading back to the campground, we stopped by the Zion Lodge for a snack and a moment of rest in the beautiful lobby.

Once back at the campground, Greg took a nap while I scrolled Blue Sky. Then Greg fixed a leak in our sink (we hope).

Then it was time for our next adventure.

The Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway

No camping trip would be complete without Greg trying to terrify a few years off my life.

This time, that attempt involved a drive along the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway.

The Zion-Mount Carmel Highway is another one of those mountain roads with steep drop-offs and serpentine turns. And no shoulders! It also includes a mile-long narrow tunnel.

Luckily for me, I was so busy taking pictures through the windshield that I didn’t have a lot of time to fear tumbling over the edge of a cliff.

Some of my favorites:

The colors and shapes, oh, my! I was in heaven.

The Night Sky

Once it got dark, we drove the car over to the visitor center and walked to a new campground that is still under construction so that Greg could see if he could get any good pictures of the Milky Way with his new camera.

While he worked on that, I lay on my back in the dirt and admired the starry sky. Sometimes it’s nice to remember how small and insignificant we are to the universe.

Tomorrow we head to Bryce Canyon National Park.

The Riverside Walk Trail

We were up early again this morning. This time, we rode our bikes all the way to the last shuttle bus stop at Zion National Park, the Temple of Sinawava.

There are two trails that are very popular at Zion National Park. The first is called Angels Landing, and it involves a challenging and death-defying climb.

The top left-most corner of this mountain is Angels Landing.

The second popular hike is called The Narrows, which involves hiking through the Virgin River.

Greg and I chose not to do either one of them. However, to get to The Narrows, you have to hike the Riverside Walk Trail. That was our goal for today.

It was a beautiful walk along the Virgin River.

Once we were finished doing the Riverside Walk, we headed back to the campground, stopping along the way to take photos. Here are some of my favorites from today.

Despite only doing one hike, I still managed to get 16,000 steps in today.

Once back at the campground, we did laundry and relaxed for the rest of the day.

The Watchman Trail

We started our adventure in Zion National Park by riding our bikes to the visitor center early in the morning and then hiking the Watchman Trail.

The Watchman Trail is a 3-mile round trip hike to an overlook of Zion Canyon and Watchman Mountain.

Greg did amazingly well with the rocks and sand.

I love the various shades of blue and green in this photo (This is not a photo of the Watchman).

On the way down, we saw two deer.

After stopping in at the visitor center, we hopped on the bikes and rode the Pa’rus Trail to the main road through Zion National Park.

At this time of the year, the only ways to access this road are via park shuttle or bike.

Court of the Patriarchs

We rode as far as Court of the Patriarchs before turning around.

A view of the Virgin River, taken on the way back to the visitor center

Kolob Canyons

After cooling off at the camper, we headed to Kolob Canyons, which is in the northwest part of Zion National Park. It takes about 45 minutes to drive there.

The views were stunning. Better yet, we didn’t have to do any hiking!