Upon arrival into the town of Springdale, Utah, we saw notices that indicated parking in Zion was full but decided to ignore them, which proved to be a good decision when we found a perfectly decent spot in the Visitor Center parking lot, which was both huge and, admittedly, mostly full. We spoke to a ranger who highlighted the three most popular sites, the Riverside Walk, Weeping Rock Trail, and Lower Emerald Pool Trail. Though she said that all three could take us six hours due to congestion and the speed of the free park shuttle, we asked for a more moderate hike to consider also. We started immediately on the Watchman Trail, a 3.3-mile trek that took us up to see sweeping views of the Towers of the Virgin, lower Zion Canyon, and Springdale. We had the trail mostly to ourselves for a while and then met more and more people on their way down as we experienced our first day of true heat in the 90s. When we reached the top we opted to take the short loop trail to see a bit more before descending. When we reached the bottom, we accidentally veered off the trail and ended up walking for about five minutes in a dried-up creek filled with sand. We eventually reunited with the trail and headed straight onto the bus when we arrived back at the Visitor Center.
We rode about forty minutes all the way to the ninth and last stop, which was the Temple of Sinawava. The Riverside Walk was 2.2 miles roundtrip and listed as a 1.5-hour easy hike with mostly paved (and mostly accessible) trail. It did feel a bit longer than we expected, given how quickly we had done our earlier, certainly more strenuous hike, and it’s possible the crowds also made it feel longer. When we reached the water at the end, we got a peek at what hiking The Narrows would have been like, though we would have required waterproof hiking shoes, walking sticks, and considerably more time to confront this more arduous adventure. There’s always next time! We got back on the shuttle and rode two stops to Weeping Rock, where the 0.4-mile hike was described as short but steep. While it did look intense and formidable, we only had a bit of uphill climbing to do before we reached our destination in about ten minutes. Arielle enjoyed looking at the water falling from this rock and standing under it to get a bit of a shower. The view of the mountains was mesmerizing from behind where the water was falling, and it was difficult to pry Arielle away. We made the next bus and rode to Zion Lodge, where the 1.2-mile hike to the Emerald Pool again proved to be slightly more involved than we had expected for such a crowded and popular hike. The views weren’t quite as worthwhile on this one but it was still decent as our final hike on this trip. Returning to the bus, we rode back to the Visitor Center and departed the park, having checked off everything we were equipped to do that day.
We drove about five minutes to Zion Park Gift and Deli, where we recognized the same ice cream flavors we had seen the last two days in Bryce Canyon City, discovering that their brand was the same as the other despite having a different name. We shared a double scoop of Brownies on the Moon and Mint Chip, which were both delicious.
We got on the road towards Brian Head and stopped at a Smith’s supermarket, where we purchased some canned soup and frozen mac and cheese and fish sticks to heat up for dinner, as well as some quality plums. We stopped in Parowan, right outside Brian Head, for gas, and then returned to the condo to eat and pack, a task that proved difficult for Abe since, somehow, three weeks into the trip, his suitcase was just as full as at the start. Next time you see us, ask us if you’d like to see a hilarious video that we opted not to post here but are happy to share privately. We eventually got everything together and went to bed in preparation for the fateful day when we would finally cross into California.
Approximate number of miles covered: 150
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