Joy in Zion (7/28 - 7/29)

Lauryn Hill, formerly of the Fugees, has a beautiful song in which she proclaims, "now the joy of my world is in Zion."  She is referring to her child coming into her life.  Of course, Zion is a name that has great meaning to many besides Lauryn Hill.  Zion is another name for Jerusalem and represents not only Solomon's Temple and the City of David on Mount Zion, but also the idea of the world to come.  By one account, Zion canyon in Utah was so named to reflect it as a "place a refuge," which Utah was for Mormon pioneers seeking a place in the west to be free to practice their beliefs.  Though far from Jerusalem, the amazing country contained in Zion National Park certainly has a spiritual quality about it and I was blessed to spend two days in late July exploring this amazing place.

From the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Zion was only a few hours north in Utah so Laurel and I headed out early Saturday morning July 28th.  As usual on our weekend adventures, we drove through beautiful desert country and quirky little western towns.  The drive into the park was amazing and of course we stopped at the entrance sign for a photo op!

We had a few hikes in mind for our two days in the park, but wanted to check on whether conditions before heading out so we stopped at the Visitor Center for guidance.  We originally planned to hike the river trail the Narrows early Sunday morning, but learned from the ranger that Saturday had a lower chance of rain making it a better day to hike the Narrows - less chance of flash flood.  Being the combination of adventurous and risk averse that we are, we decided to get ourselves ready for the Narrows hike ASAP and get it conquered Saturday afternoon.  It was a beautiful hike, but definitely challenging because it involved hiking through a creek/river for most of our five-mile round trip.  I definitely used my balancing skills honed in yoga this summer!  Note: Still figuring out how to edit Blogger, so please try to enjoy these photos even though they are sideways!

Yup, that's me attempting a yoga pose on the trail.  Man
am I cool....

It was a rather crowded trail, which made the balancing
act on the rocks even more challenging.  I'm glad
so many park visitors enjoy the Narrows, but it was not
as peaceful an experience as I hoped.

Laurel took the land route and I enjoyed a swim.

After the beautiful, but exhausting Narrows hike it was awesome to have a hot shower in a cute cabin right in the valley.  Camping is fun, but sometimes you just need a hot shower.  When we were all cleaned up, we headed to Springdale, Utah for a hot meal at a pizza/pasta place and checked out some of the local galleries.  There is so much amazing art on the southwest - I expect artists can't help but be inspired by the amazing country around them.  On the way back into the park, there was an amazing sunset.

-       Although I could have gone to bed right away, I managed to keep my eyes open for about another hour to enjoy part of a ranger talk at Zion Lodge.  The ranger shared some of her experiences and gave a slide show with photos of the park in all seasons - I want to come back for fall, winter and spring!  She also shared her journey to the park - she was a school teacher earlier in her career, began volunteering for the park and is now an interpretive ranger.  Her story was a good reminder that we can always try something new - even in our 50's.  I left the talk a little early due to closing eyes and the need to go to bed early to start our morning hike at 5 am!

    Early to bed and early to rise, Laurel and I set off before sunrise to conquer the eight-mile hike via the East Rim Trail to Observation Point.  Next to the Narrows Trail, Angels Landing is the most popular trail at Zion and we considered doing that one and Observation Point.  We landed on Observation Point because Angels Landing includes hiking a narrow ridge to the summit - something neither of us were really interested in.  Additional benefits of Observation Point included an extra 2.6 miles of trail and an extra 660 foot elevation change for an amazing view of Zion canyon.  Though no 5,000 foot change like our Grand Canyon hike, the 1,453 foot change provided a great workout and stellar view. Here is our journey from Weeping Rock through Echo Canyon to Observation Point and back to the valley:

  

After the hike, we arrived at the cabin with just enough time to shower and make late check out. We wanted to spend a little more time in Zion before heading back to Flagstaff, we we explored part of the Emerald Pools Trail in the valley.  Heat got the best of us after about half a mile, so we didn't finish, but did get a new perspective on the park from the valley floor and hiking by the river.

Zion is such a beautiful valley park - it like being in Yosemite Valley in California and looking up at the red rocks of the Grand Canyon.  It was tough to leave, but we knew we had about a six hour drive back to Flagstaff.  We chose a new route back and passed Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, but also retraced our steps through the southern park of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, picked up delicious treats at our old Sonic in Page, Utah and stopped for some more views of Horseshoe Bend.  After that, the drive back was pretty stormy with tornado warnings in north east Arizona - thankfully, we were headed the opposite direction to Flagstaff.

I had so many wonderful experiences this summer and count the five days I spent at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and at Zion National Park among the best of them.