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utah rocks, pt 1

Friday morning, we left Las Vegas and headed to Utah and Zion National Park. We lost an hour heading back into Mountain time and arrived a in the early afternoon. After a quick lunch at our campsite, we headed to the Visitor Center to fill up on water and board the shuttle to the top of the canyon. I appreciate the canyon shuttle- both in that it keeps traffic down and therefore helps preserve the canyon and because of the informational-audio recording that continually runs. And it's nice not to have to drive and just be able to take it all in.

Our first stop was the Narrows, literally, where the canyon narrows, my favorite trail from last year's Utah trip. I'm not quite sure what it is about the Narrows, since it's basically walking on rocks, one of my least favorite things, covered in water, but I love that trail. I really cannot express in words how much... I mean, I revel in it, I cannot stop grinning, and it is sheer pleasure for me. Since it was monsoon season, the current was fairly strong and it was deeper than last year's hike in late June. And more crowded.But still blissful. For me, at least. It was not Laura's favorite thing ever- I'm pretty sure she thought I was crazy. We walked in for about an hour and then turned around so we could see other parts of Zion before it got dark.Of course everyone says, Make sure you hike Angel's Landing. But, given my ridiculous fear of heights, I know that's a bad idea for me. I've learned that when the literature warns, "Not for people afraid of heights," I should heed that warning. We got out first at Weeping Rock to check it out. Yep, water dripping out of the canyon wall. Though word on the street has it that it takes 10,000 years or so for that water to drip out of the rock.

Laura had never been to Zion and even admitted she'd never even heard of it or the other Utah NPs before we started talking about this trip, so she was fine doing things I'd not done before. That meant our next stop was The Grotto where we took the Kayenta Trail to the Emerald Pools. It took us into the Middle Emerald Pool first, which was rather disappointing. Very little water, certainly not emerald water, and full of teenagers smoking. Next we headed to the Upper Pool, following a few rabbit trails to nowhere en route. The Upper Emerald Pool was much better, quiet and peaceful, but still not particularly emerald. And on the way out, stepping over a small rock, I managed to twist my ankle. People keep asking, were you climbing over a boulder? Coming down a hill? Nope. Just walking.
It wasn't bad enough to call in the medics though and I was able to walk it off. We took the trail down to the Lodge- it offers some amazing views of the canyon and the river valley and I could not stop taking pictures. The sun was beginning to set and the changing light made it even more amazing. At Zion Lodge, we browsed around in the gift shop for awhile before heading back to our campsite as it got dark.

Labels: roadtrip '10, travel

posted by CP @ 4:18 PM 0 thoughts