Zion National Park

States Visited: Colorado, Utah
Distance Traveled: 426 miles
Time: 6 hours, with breaks

It's hard to decide which day was better, yesterday in Colorado or today in Utah. Either or, one thing is definitely for sure, we made the most of both. Upon leaving the hotel in Grand Junction, it was only another 30 miles or so before we crossed the border into Utah and made our way west on I-70 through the Land of the Arches and Castle Valley to I-15 South. That stretch of land is extremely desolate, but gratifyingly beautiful with the landscape changing dramatically at every single turn. I say desolate though, for the sole reason that there is literally nothing out there for well over a hundred miles, so it's a good idea to gas up at the state border if you need it, because if you run out, good luck to you, because you're going to have to hitch your way out of that desert. Luckily, we were well-prepared for this and left Grand Junction on a full tank.

After heading south on I-15 for about an hour and a half, we reached the small town of Hurricane, just outside of Zion, where we settled down in our hotel. We quickly unpacked the car, made a quick change into some hiking gear, and jumped back on the road for 20 more miles towards Zion National Park. Last time I was in the park, it was out of season and we were able to actually drive our cars all the way through the valley to the end. During season however, once in the park you're required to park your car and shuttle your way down through the canyon. This helps save on traffic in the park and reduces the amount of emissions as well. Plus, although it's very touristy, the ride is fairly quick and informative, giving a fairly detailed history of the entire canyon and it's surrounding peaks.

After parking the car at the Visitor's Center, we hopped on the shuttle and rode it down to the Emerald Pools Trail, an easy to moderate path that switchbacks around a few small waterfalls just north of the Court of the Patriarchs. We started off light, making our way to the lower pools, but curiosity got the best of us and before long we were making our way up the side of the gorge to the upper pools. On our way there, we ran into a young couple piling hiker stones that told us to check out a tree full of Dragonflies by the pool. Once there, we did end up finding the tree, a small sapling absolutely covered in mating dragonflies. Pretty cool. Unfortunately, it was right here that Steph's camera battery died, so we ended up using my cell phone until we were able to get back to the car. Plenty more photos will be sure to be added to the Picasa gallery when I get back to Cleveland since I didn't bring the transfer cable for my phone with me here.

We made our way back down the path and back towards Zion Lodge where we spent some time looking around the gift shop (which was filled with very cool Indian jewelery and art) and grabbing a quick bite to eat before we headed back onto the trails. It was getting a little late now, and we knew we didn't have a ton of time, but I needed to check out the Riverwalk Trail, so we jumped back onto the shuttle and took it to the end of the canyon, otherwise known as the Temple of Sinawava. It's named as such because the area is very circular, unlike the rest of the canyon, and two extremely large rocks jut out from the center of the Temple, much like an alter and a pulpit, so adequetly named. The Riverwalk Trail was important to me because it leads into an area called The Narrows, a series of "trails" that run straight up the river to its source, 15 miles north of the park. The river gets as narrow as 10 feet wide in some parts and the sheer walls on each side rise for well over a thousand feet, the bottom of which I've been desperate to explore for years. Unfortunately, it getting late, so we took the trail to the end where it meets the riverbed, walked up into the beginnings of the Narrows for a few hundred yards, and then headed back. I'll have to hike the Narrows in full another time.

While on the trail though, we ran into Dragonfly couple again and ended up hiking out with them back to the shuttle. Interestingly enough, we learned that they were also on a road trip of sorts, starting in Idaho, making their way south through canyon country, then back up north into Colorado where he (Nolan) would drop her (Reagen) off in Denver for her new job, then fly back home to Idaho for awhile until they were able to figure out where they were going to end up. As much as Steph and I marveled at the coincidence, we talked later about how it was extremely promising to meet another couple that's in the same situation as the two of us while remaining confident that everything will work out the way it should, that a simple thing like distance isn't going to let them ruin their long-term plans. A lot of hikers refer to this kind of thing as trail magic, how odd and coincidentally beneficial instances occur in the most unexpected of times, and could only it label it as such. They were an extremely nice couple and we felt lucky to have run into them.

It's late now and we're back at the hotel, about to crash for the night. We arrive in LA tomorrow to move Steph into her new place, so there'll be plenty to talk about then. Only six more hours of driving to go...