Today we entered our 25th National Park together. Zion.
Zion referred to the hill in Jerusalem where David built his temple, the holiest spot. It has also come to mean “holy place” or “kingdom of heaven”. When this area was first seen by settlers, it was quickly named Zion due to the incredible beauty. It is a well-deserved name.
Zion has two distinct areas, each with its own visitor’s center and scenic drive. Today we visited the Kolob Canyon region of the park. This area lies about an hour west and north of what a fellow hiker this morning called, “Big Zion” (yes, he made air quotes). It is far less visited and smaller, but is every bit as spectacular as “Big Zion”.
The thing we wanted to do most was a 6 mile out-and-back hike that followed along Taylor Creek. While this section of the park sees fewer visitors, it has correspondingly smaller parking areas. Therefore, we again used our trusty method of getting up and heading out early. It was a VERY good thing we did, for a couple of reasons. And as our campground is only 2 miles from the park entrance, we knew it would be a short drive to the trailhead.
Arriving at the lot, we found another RV about Livvy’s size that had just parked. Other than that, we had the place to ourselves. Exactly how we like it!
The temps were cool, so we opened windows and turned on the ceiling fan vents, knowing that would keep the Needy Bichon safe and comfortable. We laced up our boots and hit the trail.
I said that the trail followed Taylor Creek, which is mostly true. What is unique about it is that the trail repeatedly crosses back and forth across the creek for nearly its entire 3 mile length. In fact, on the hike in I counted 52 times we had to ford the stream. The creek petered out so that the last 10 or so crossings was just dry creek bed. Now, that was 52 crossings on the way up alone, meaning we crossed that darn stream 104 times during the hike.
The creek was not running high, so the crossings were more of a slowdown than a danger. The hiking poles certainly helped to balance on the wet rocks each. We both love a water feature on our hikes and this one filled that cup.
The trail snaked its way up a gradually narrowing canyon, flanked on both sides by sheer granite walls that rose 2,000 feet above the trail. It was fascinating to see the canyon entrance in the distance and gradually watch it come closer and closer until the walls dominated the views left and right. And this is some very red rock, common to the entire Zion region.
As an aside, Karen and I like to refer to the “bang” a trail has to offer. Bang could be an amazing vista overlooking the surrounding landscape. Bang could be a waterfall, or mountain lake. It could be a stand of huge Sequoia trees. Something that has the “wow” factor. The bang on this trail was reaching the beginnings of Taylor Creek in a gigantic amphitheater of high walls, one containing a massive cave where seeping water from between layers of rock gave birth to the steam.
BANG!!
We spent some time having a snack and water break while taking in the enormity of our surroundings. Nothing but stillness and quietness around. And, yes, we still had not seen another hiker the entire time. That truly allowed us to appreciate the environment.
As the hike in was almost entirely uphill, the return trip went much faster. That was a good thing because it was getting hotter as the sun climbed higher in the sky. Plus, we passed a lot of hikers heading up the trail (far too many for our liking) as the morning wore on. Sure enough, arriving at the parking lot we found not a single parking space available. Gotta love getting out early!
We left the lot and continued to the end of the 5-mile scenic drive, marveling at the deep red canyons, and hanging valleys covered in new green growth. The sun was still low enough in the sky that the colors were vibrant, not yet dulled by the bright Utah sun.
At the road’s end we did another short hike to a viewpoint allowing sweeping views of the main Kolob Canyons. Breathtaking! Literally, we were SO hot at that point and running out of steam. It has been quite chilly so far this trip and suddenly exerting ourselves in the heat was a bit nauseating. Had to get out of the sun for a while.
Due to our early morning, it was still only 11:00 at this point. We hit the visitor’s center to get our NPS passport stamped and headed out. It was too early to just head back to the campground (where we’d have to sit inside because of the heat), so we instead drove 35 minutes south to the city of St. George. I had found a city park that had some neat, short hikes, that we could to with Daisy. Thought it might be fun.
On the highway, approaching St. George, we noticed signs displaying messages about event parking. Seemed odd for a Saturday morning. Then we saw that the exit just before the one we intended to use was closed. Hmm. Karen got on the internet and discovered that a very large Ironman Triathlon was happening at the same time. Well, at least our exit wasn’t closed.
The city park was only 1.5 miles from the highway. When we exited, we were directed to use only one of two lanes on the street, the other being reserved for the bike portion of the triathlon. There were many riders still on the course as we drove along.
Then, wouldn’t you know it, we found that the entrance to the park was closed because it was across the bike lane. Are you kidding me? All that way and we couldn’t get in. Guess we’ll just head back.
I open Google Maps to get directions and what do I see just 2 miles from us? In-and-Out Burger (to the rescue!). Heck, it was lunchtime anyway, so…
After a healthy meal which included milkshakes, we made our way back to the camp site. We were both still overheated, so we sat inside listening to the A/C struggling just to keep the temp at 75. I took a nap on the recliner while Karen relaxed and enjoyed the quiet time with Daisy. The exhaustion we felt was tremendous so the rest was needed.
We feel better now. We ate dinner and even got some time outside after the temps dropped. Tomorrow we head to Springdale, the beautiful town just outside the entrance to “Big Zion”. Temps will be even higher the next two days, so we are planning on not doing much hiking. We will fill our cups other ways, I am sure.
Until tomorrow.
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