“Go Hike a Canyon” – Zion National Park

Utah rocks rock!! From the world’s largest concentration of natural stone arches to the enchanting and dramatic hoodoos to the magnificient giant Navajo sandstone monoliths, Utah rocks indeed will rock each visitor with fascination and awe. From Bryce Canyon, we drove 80 miles southwest to Zion National Park very early in the morning and was very pleased with what we saw: massive stone formations very different from Arches National Park and Bryce Canyon National park, yet equally stunning.

 

Zion’s Geologic History: (source: Utah’s National Parks)    

     225 million years ago, Zion was part of the floor of a shallow sea, the delta of a great river and the bottom of the lake. Volcanoes erupted leaving ash to form bright layers. The windblown sand from this great desert provided the raw material for the Navajo sandstone. The sand dunes were transformed into sandstones by tremendous compaction and cementing properties of compounds such as calcium carbonate which were brought by groundwater. Beginning 4 million years ago, streams running off of it from the Virgin River with its load of pebbles, sand and boulders carved the canyon that is now present today.

The nearly vertical monoliths and precipitous canyon gorges are evidence that Zion is geologically young. Rain, wind, the pull of gravity and Virgin river are the master sculptors in chiseling out Zion Canyon. Unfortunately, someday, these erosive forces will reduce the magnificient landscape of the canyon to flat plains.

Our first stop after entering the park from the Mt Carmel junction entrance was the visitor’s center parking lot since private cars are not allowed to drive inside the canyon. Inside the visitor’s center, we asked for advise on interesting places to hike. Most of Zion’s beauty are hidden in the trails. After getting advise, our plan was to go first to the Zion Lodge for a hike to the Emerald Pools. After the hike, it would be perfect timing to have brunch at the Red Rock Grille by the Lodge. With a fuller stomach, we would do the easier Riverside Walk first, then, hike the exciting Narrows. After the Narrows, we would proceed to hike to the Weeping Rock, and then, finally, the Angel’s Landing at late in the afternoon which would be dramatic at near sunset. Could we do all these in one day? Won’t our legs get tired? Well, that was we believed, but nature intervened which probably saved us from possible legs exhaustion. We failed to think that we visited the park at August when thunderstorm possibilities were at its peak! 

So excited with our plan, we took the park’s free shuttle to the inside of the canyon. Our first stop was at the Zion Lodge to take the trail to the lower and middle Emerald Pool. The Lower Emerald Pool is about 0.6 mile from the trail head.

 

The trail to the Lower Emerald pool was basically flat with probably only 70 feet ascent making the hike very easy. The trail was lined with trees (who thinks that deserts are treeless?) and along giant sandstone monoliths that made the hike very cool despite the 100+F temperature outside of the canyon directly under the sun. From the Lower Emerald Pool to the Middle Emerald Pool is about another 0.5 mile with probably an additonal 100 ft ascent and a few long drop-offs.

 

The complete round trip hike to the Middle Emerald Pool would have been a short 2 or 2.5 hours if we were not tempted by the inviting rocks along the trail to climb them freely.

 

Notice the holes, slits and cracks on the rock, they provide a good hold for hands and feet when climbing them. 

After completing the 2+ mile round trip hike to the lower and middle emerald pool, it was time for brunch. However, the Red Rock Grille at Zion Lodge does not open until 11:00 am, we settled for cold garden salad, pretzels  and chicken sub at the Castle Dome Cafe. With stomach partially full, we took the park’s free shuttle to the Temple of Sinawava. From the stop, we took the 1 mile paved trail that follows the Virgin River upstream, this is called Riverside walk. After 1 mile, the paved trail ends, but the hike did not. The end of the paved trail is the entry to Zion’s Narrows from bottom up.

 

Hiking the Narrows was probably the most adventure-filled part of our Utah hiking trip. The hike was really fun and can be enjoyed by hikers of any ability level. No wonder why this is the most popular hike in Zion Park. Serious hikers hike from top-bottom, this is a strenuous 16 mile hike and requires a permit. Most people, like us, hike casually from bottom-up, this route does not require a permit. This is not a hike however to be underestimated. More than 60% of the hike is spent wading, walking and sometimes swimming on the river.

We hiked about 4 miles upstream on the Narrows before returning back to Temple of Sinawava.  The walls in the Narrows squeeze to slot canyon dimensions: 1500 ft tall and as narrow as 20 ft to 30 ft wide in some places.

 

The hike was super cool despite the 100+ F temperature outside. The coolness was due to the fact that there was little light entering the canyon floor, water was cold (in the low 60s F) and really nice cool breeze blew steadily. The rocks underfoot were very slippery. It required balancing on an algae-coated rocks in the middle of a siwftly moving river. We started at first walking with barefeet, but learned our lesson from our every fall.

 

Definitely, walking on barefeet, sandals and or river shoes are inappropriate as they often led to twisted ankles. As we found right after wearing back our hiking shoes, wading and walking through the river on hiking boots with very good ankle support are definitely the best for this hike.  Balancing on slippery algae-coated rocks became easier and the hike faster.

 

 On our way back to the temple of Sinawava, heavy rain started to pour. Luckily for us, we were already close to the paved trail when heavy rain poured.

 

There is always a risk of flash flooding in the river during heavy rain. At first, we took shelter under the tree, also to have some Granola bars because the almost 4 hour hike on the river made us hungry. But on hearing thunderstorms and seeing some lightning, not seeing any structure to hide nor an open space to distance from the raging river and tall trees, we decided to walk fast to the park shuttle stop to hopefully get a refuge inside the shuttle. That was about a mile of walking fast or almost at a running pace for us under heavy rain downpour, but being careful enough not to slip on the slippery paved trail. We were dripping wet when we got inside the shuttle, our only consolation was that almost other passengers inside the shuttle were also soaked by the heavy rain. The driver called our attention to a waterfall that suddenly appeared at the Temple of Sinawava because of the rain. Some passengers went out of the shuttle and braved the rain again, enjoying the splendid display of an appearing tall waterfall. I, however, was too conscious of my heavily soaked condition, also afraid to expose my camera from heavy rain, that I did not bother getting off the shuttle at all. It was only when the bus started moving that I remembered to take a picture of the appearing waterfalls. I was however too wet that I decided to put on my waterproof jacket first which I used to wrap my camera when we hiked at the Narrows. Crazy me, right? Putting on the jacket when inside the bus already, but the purpose of putting on the jacket was to protect the camera from touching my very wet clothes. With window glass in between the lens and the waterfalls, and inside a moving shuttle, all I managed to take was a very hazy desert waterfalls that suddely appeared with the heavy pour of rain.

 

Our plan to hike to the Weeping Rock and to the Angels Landing after the Narrows was thwarted by the heavy rain. Our only consolation was that we escaped the raging current in the river. We decided to relax instead at the gift shop, bought some souvenir shirts, and had dinner at the Red Rock Grille. Despite not hiking at Weeping Rock and Angel’s Landing, still, it was such a wonderful and fun-filled experience hiking the canyon of Zion National Park, especially in the Zion’s Narrows, the most fun hike I ever had!

 

 Indeed, nothing can compare to the joy of getting up close to nature. Like what my souvenir T-shirt says, “Go Hike A Canyon – Zion National Park”. You will enjoy it immensely and long for more.