Day 6: Zion National Park

We started the day later than usual, to give us a chance to sleep in and a leisurely morning, and also because various publications said the best times to visit the canyons were early or later
in the day. We left Cedar City about noon-ish, and began to listen to our first Book on CD - "Citizen of the Galaxy" by Robert Heinlein - one of his "adolescent" sf books, a favorite of Kelley & Scot.

The trip to Springdale took about an hour. We stopped at a Rock Shop that had a wonderful collection petrified wood, shiny glass rocks for the kids, and practically museum quality fossils inside. There were lots of different kinds and qualities of minerals, and we bought lots of cool stuff. We narrowly escaped bringing home a 200lb sandstone boulder for the front yard - Scot was all for it, but cooler heads prevailed.

Next we parked in the town of Springdale (it is right outside the park) and caught a free shuttle bus for the park. Springdale is the smallest town in the US with a free shuttle service, courtesy of Uncle Sam. The shuttle left us at the park entrance, and we walked across a short bridge into Zion NP itself.

We caught the Park Shuttle bus to the Human History Museum and watched a short, interesting orientation film. We learned that since before we hit Grants, New Mexico, we have been traveling through the Colorado Plateau, which covers large portions of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah (centered around the 4 Corners area). This area was lifted to 10,000 feet by geologic activity about 15 million(?) years ago. The rivers began carving their extrodinary canyons during the last 2 million years. During the 20 minute film, Mom & Dad caught a 10 minute nap, while the children watched attentively :-)

After our nap, we caught the shuttle to the Court of the Patriarchs, where we ate lunch and enjoyed the view. Our sarcastic shuttle driver informed us that the Virgin River had carved all of the features we would see in this part of the park, up to the River Walk. The contrast of being at the bottom of the canyon looking up (as opposed to the Grand Canyon where we looked down) was very satisfying. We had remarked at the Grand Canyon that we wished we could see the cliffs from the bottom, and now we could, though, of course, Zion is much shallower than GC. [The 'sarcastic' was because she looked me up and down and thanked me for 'reading the signs' after I asked her if the bus was going 'up' or 'down' trail. Hey, whatever - Scot]

Next stop was Zion Lodge, where we took a hike to see the Lower and Middle Emerald Pools. The hike started out to be only to the Lower Pool, which was near river level, with only a little climbing, and then everyone convinced Mom to climb to the Middle Pool.


It really wasn't that high, only a couple of switchbacks. The lower pool is quite pretty, though very small by Midwestern standards, fed by a trickle of a waterfall from the middle pool above. As you can see, the pools were not emerald. The color is caused by algae, which develops later in the summer. The pools are a rare, consistent source of water, aside from the river.


As it was getting later, and we had another walk planned, we skipped the intervening stops (they didn't look all that fantastic), and went straight to the River Side trail. It's a 1 1/2 mile walk (one way) along the river on a paved path, which then ends and the path continues, literally, in the river. You walk up the river to "the Narrows" where the canyon walls start to close in. As we headed up the walk, we were losing the sun in the steep canyon, and the temperature turned cooler.

As an aside, we have been enjoying near perfect weather. Apart from the slightly windy day at Grand Canyon (where we nearly blew off the cliff), each day has been sunny, with temperatures warm enough for shorts, yet cool enough for pants, with mild breezes to ameliorate the sun. The temperatures vary between the different Parks, (depending on the elevation) and we choose which Park to attend partly based on the weather forecast.

Back to Zion... the River Side trail was amazing, with seeps of water coming from the sandstone, which allowed hanging "gardens" to form on the walls. The path was mostly wooded, and the canyon walls were relatively close together, about 100 feet apart. The river was a constant companion on our left. We saw various wildlife, including turkey, mule deer, and the ever present chipmunks. At the trail's end, Scot and the kids continued on in the river, to see what was "beyond the river bend". The river bed had mostly large river stone that was not slippery, but the water was COLD (which is why Mom didn't want to get her shoes wet). S & the kids met several people from upriver who talked of waterfalls and narrowing canyon walls, but it was getting darker and colder and the intrepid explorers decided to head back. (Actually, Corey wanted to continue, cold feet and all, but fuddy-duddy Dad nixed that idea). After meeting up with Mom, we hurried back toward the shuttle bus, singing campfire songs to the amusement of the other hikers on the path. Corey regretted getting his shoes wet, but did not complain. We caught the shuttle in the nick of time (not the last shuttle, but close) and returned to the park entrance, where we took pictures under the Zion Park sign in the fading twilight.

The driver of the town shuttle was amusing and kept offering to drive on to Las Vegas. Corey was the only one who wanted to take him up on it - I don't think he knows where Las Vegas is. The driver was very friendly and talkative, and he reminded Scot & Kelley of Scot's Uncle Walt, a very gregarious person.

It's by now 9pm, and on the recommendation of the shuttle driver, we ate at the Pizza & Noodle, which had very good food. Bring cash if you go there - no credit cards accepted. They had a wonderful selection of local micro-brewery beers, which Scot & Kelley regretfully declined, as we had a hour drive back to the hotel.

Listening again to "Citizen of the Galaxy", we wearily headed back "home", landing about 11pm.