Zion National Park

We ran some errands on the way to Zion National Park like getting a car wash since we weren’t expecting a long drive. The Suburban and Aljo were covered in bugs so it was much needed.

Our campground was outside the park, but we had full hook-ups and Wi-Fi. It’s always nice when we can connect with the outside world through the internet. The campground had 10 RV sites and a few rooms for their motel. We really enjoyed this campground because it was really quiet.

We got set up and then decided to stay in to work on the computer and clean up. Our tiny trailer looks like a tornado hit if a few things aren’t put back in their place.

We had to change some of our plans for the park since there were some trails that were closed indefinitely due to a previous storm. Angel’s Landing was something Jared was really looking forward to but the trail wouldn’t be open until some time in September but with no definite date.

The next morning, we took our time. We are not morning people.

By the time we were actually in the park, it was 11 AM!

It was so cool! The first thing we noticed was the color of the road, which was a reddish brown color. We learned later on one of the shuttles that the color is due to the mixture of natural rocks in the road mixture.

We were stopped right before entering a huge tunnel since an oversized trailer was going through. This tunnel was long and dark. It was the scariest part of going into the park. Engineers had cut and carved through a huge mountain to get to the other side. It took 3 years to get the tunnel completed but it is now an impressive part of the park. There are little windows looking out of the tunnel while we drive through that show us a glimpse of the edge.

We arrived near the visitors center and started to look for parking.

We couldn’t find any spots! The parking lot was packed full with dozens of people driving around looking for openings. We drove around for a bit and decided to go check out the parking situation in Springdale (the town right next to Zion National Park).

There were tons of spots available; the only thing was we would have to pay a parking fee.

One lot wanted $20 for parking. Another lot didn’t even display their prices, they just wanted you to park and blindly slide your credit card.

Another thing about us, we don’t like paying for parking.

We decided to go back into the park and keep circling the parking lot until something became available. Some people got aggressive and started picking people up from the shuttle stops and driving them to their car for their space.

We were getting frustrated in the car together because we had been circling the same parking lot for quite a while. During the busy season, Zion closes access to some of the park’s roads and instead shuttles around. The only thing is, Zion gets 4.6 million people visiting every year. All we get is a small parking lot with limited parking inside the park. If we wanted to make sure we didn’t have to hustle, we would be down $20 dollars. It would be a different story if the park had parking lots in Springdale for free and shuttled everyone in, but unfortunately, this was not the case. We were stuck with stalking a young couple and waiting for their spot.

We were fuming until we got our spot.

But after driving around for more that 30 minutes, we made it work.

We headed into the Visitor Center and looked at some of their exhibits. We didn’t stay too long because we had already wasted enough time driving around. We took the shuttle 45 more minutes deeper into the park to the Temple of Sinawa. That’s where our feautured hike began.

 

The Narrows is an iconic hike following the Virgin River through a 2,000-foot-deep canyon that is narrow. Hikes wade through knee-high water (occasionally deeper) into the canyon.

We first started on a short river walk that takes us to the entrance of the Narrows.

On the shuttle, we had a few words with another couple since I pointed out someone climbing one of the canyon walls. We had a short but delightful conversation and realized we were going to the same place.

I made a small joke that we would just follow them through the canyon before we went our separate ways.

We caught up with the other couple while we were taking a break and then got to talking. They told us a little bit about their lives and why they were there and we shared a bit of our journey with them.

They decided to turn back to the shuttle but we were just getting started.

The canyon walls were incredible. They were so tall and you could see all the scars and dents the water inflicted on them. It gave us a first hand glimpse of how powerful water can be. The temperature inside the canyon was nice and cool, which was a welcomed change. This is a great hike and definitely one of the highlights of our trip. We went two hours into the canyon and decided we needed to get back before Jared’s fantasy football draft started.

 

The next morning, we left earlier than we did yesterday and got to the visitor center right after 10AM and there were a handful of spots left. It was perfect!

We headed to the Zion Human History Museum and caught a ranger talk about cougars. We learned about how marvelous these creatures were and that if there were a cougar attack, we would have to fight. That was the only tip he offered and it didn’t sound promising.

We stopped by the Court of the Patriarchs for a quick picture. Jared said these mountains reminded him of the three Breshears siblings.

 

The Lodge was our next stop and we were excited for our little hike to Lower Emerald Falls. The Middle and Upper Emerald Falls was closed due to damage to the trail too and it was even more apparent when we got the Lower Emerald Pools.

When we headed back to the lodge, we ended up hanging out under a huge tree and ate some snacks.

It was nice and relaxing.

After we were well rested, we headed back on a shuttle to our next little hike – Weeping Rock.

It was a short, but steep climb up to the Weeping Rock. It was definitely worth it. It felt like magic with how the water seeped through these huge rocks and cascaded down.

 

On our way down the trail, we heard a loud rumble. The tremble of the ground felt ominous. We weren’t sure what it was until we looked up and to our left. There was a rockslide!

 

We didn’t overthink it and decided we needed to get down the mountain. I just remember yelling, “run!” and trying to get down the trail.

 

We didn’t realize we were so close to the bottom until we got there a minute later. Once we were on the other side of the little bridge that crossed a small creek, we slowed down and looked back. We saw so much debris where the rocks fell.

 

It was scary.

 

We spoke with some people who saw it go down as well and luckily the trail had already been closed since there was another rockslide a few days ago that trapped some hikers (no one was hurt then either).

After a short break on a bench, we thought we were okay enough to stand up and leave.

The shuttle ride back to the visitor center was sufficient enough for us to feel better.

We headed to our next hike by car because the shuttles don’t go there.

The Canyon overlook trail was fun and a little scary, especially after the rockslide.

 

It was mostly climbing up. I was a little nervous when we came upon the rickety looking wooden planks.

We also saw a family of big horned sheep. They’re a little different looking than the ones we saw at Glacier National Park but they still had horns.

Once we got to the top of the canyon, the views were amazing.

 

It was a beautiful end to our journey through Zion National Park.