Walking in Zion

Today was devoted to walking the trails to see some beautiful vistas in the park.  We drove into the parking lot before 10:00 am and hopped on the park shuttle.  It took us to the farthest stop, the Temple of Sinawava, so I could walk the Riverside Trail.  It was a 1.1 mile walk down to the Narrows, then I walked back to where Dennis was waiting for me.   With his bad knee, he thought a two mile walk might be too much -- especially since I wanted to walk two other trails.

The trail led through almost-tropical flora, past hanging gardens to a wide, shallow spot in the river, then into the narrows.  We were walking along the bottom of the cliffs and mountains.  It was shady and I was able to maintain a good walking pace.  As I walked, I noted places that I wanted to photograph on the way back.  Many hikers go on into the Narrows and hike through water to the Kayenta Trail.  That sounded like fun, but I just stopped there and turned back.  The path was wide and paved.  It was a great walk.

Beginning of the trail

 Hanging garden - flowers

 Hanging garden - hanging on for dear life

The Narrows

When I got back to Dennis, we boarded the shuttle and got off at stop 7 to walk up to the Weeping Rock.  It was a short trail, but when the trail description said "steep" it was NOT kidding!  We took pictures along the way and Dennis stopped about halfway up because it was so steep -- he was concerned about coming back down.  So we traded cameras and I reached the weeping rock all out of breath, but glad I came to see it.  The water seeps through the rock and it gently rains down inside a shallow cavern.  It was cool and shady and a welcome break after the climb.

Weeping Rock

We reached the shuttle stop just as a bus was pulling in and we rode to stop 5 to take the Lower Emerald Pools Trail -- a half mile trek to another hanging garden and "waterfall."  This walk was a gradual slope up to a vantage point that overlooked some lovely, shady pools.  The waterfall, however, was slightly disappointing.  I did take a video because the sound of water raining down onto a rock shelf was pretty cool.

 Crossing the Virgin River toward Emerald Pools

 Waterfall

Waterfall up Close

At 1:30 we did some souvenir shopping and took a snack and water break.  That was quite enough hiking for Dennis, so we decided to take a scenic drive up Kolob Terrace Road on the far side of the Park.  The drive climbs steeply up through mesas to what looked like the edge of the world.  We climbed from 3500 feet above sea level to 8000 feet above sea level.  It was incredible!

 Lava Point overlook

Cloud shadows approaching Lava Point

Tomorrow we drive to Arizona.  We'll stay in Flagstaff and then go on to Tucson to visit my brother Tom and sister-in-law Betty.  It is always a delight to spend time with them in that amazing city.