The Narrows

Tuesday, for Halloween, we headed to the Zion Narrows.  After breakfast at the hotel, we drove to the Zion National Park visitor center and took the shuttle all the way to the last stop at Temple of Sinawava.  From here, we hiked the one mile Riverside Walk into the canyon.  Along the way, a mule buck was grazing along the trail.

The paved trail ended at an overlook of the river and from here, we waded into the water at the gateway to the Narrows.

Starting out, there were two girls also heading up the Narrows, but we didn't really see anyone else besides the occasional backpacker heading out of the canyon.  There were some beautiful hanging gardens growing out of the sheer cliff walls.

In about a half mile, we came to Mystery Canyon Falls.  The water level was pretty low, but it was still quite scenic, especially with the fall foliage.

Continuing on, there were some dry areas and we got well ahead of the two girls and pretty much had the canyon to ourselves for a while.

As we continued on, there were more nice little cascades in the river and it was always easy to get around.

At some points, there were indentations in the cliff walls.

In a little ways, we came to an area with some huge boulders that we had to climb over.  The fall color in this section was just gorgeous.

I was surprised by how colorful it was here in Zion.  We passed a small canyon as we were getting closer to Wall Street.

It was obvious how this area got its name.

At this point, there was a split and we went right to head up Orderville Canyon.  Almost immediately, we had to climb up a small waterfall to continue.

We could go about a half mile up this canyon without a permit.  The water level was much lower in Orderville than in Zion, but there were several tricky spots.  It was relatively flat after the first little cascade for a bit before we came to a more difficult challenge.  The pool of water was deep and the waterfall too high to climb.  Instead, we had to scale up a rock face.  Fortunately, sandstone is very rough and we had good traction.  A little ways further, we got to a point where we couldn't figure out how to go further without ropes and turned around.

The view from here was just beautiful though and it was a nice spot to turn back.  There was a little cascade right here I spotted on the way back.

Just a little further we came to the top of the difficult falls.

It was quite tricky scrambling down the wet rock, but fortunately the sandstone has good traction.

Once down, it was just a short ways past to return to Virgin River, where we continued upstream in the Narrows.  By this time, a lot more people had entered the canyon, though few ventured up Orderville.  This next section of the Narrows was Wall Street, a section where the river narrowed and the canyon walls went straight up.

The next landmark was Floating Rock, a huge boulder that bisects the river in two streams.  Many people had stopped here.  Sandy and I went a little further until near the end of Wall Street and stopped at a dry spot to eat lunch.  The views from here in Wall Street were just beautiful.

After lunch, we started making our way back.  The going was definitely faster going with the flow of the river.  It was also a lot more crowded on the way back - I was glad we had started early.  At one point, we saw a little mouse scurrying along the canyon floor.

Although the hike was crowded, it was nice seeing the canyon hiking back in the opposite direction.

Back on dry land, we started hiking back on Riverside Walk.  Almost immediately, I spotted a nice cascade on the river and scrambled down from the trail for a picture.

After walking in water all day, the paved trail seemed quite easy and we enjoyed the relaxing stroll back.  I stopped again near the start to get a picture of the river.

Back at the shuttle stop, we used the facilities and waited for the shuttle.  While waiting, I ran across the street for a couple scenic views of the Pulpit, another beautiful rock formation at Temple of Sinawava.

When the shuttle arrived, we headed back down canyon.

We took the shuttle all the way back to the visitor center and headed back to our hotel to change out of the dry suit pants.  Then we went to Zion Adventure Company to return our gear and meet up with our tour guide for the following day.  We chatted with Bill for about thirty minutes, going over gear and getting to know each other.  Since it was just the two of us, we decided to meet up and leave the office at 730 the following morning.  Afterwards, Sandy and I went to Jacks Sports Grill for dinner and drinks and then went to bed early since we had a busy day coming up.

Kolob Arch

Monday, we headed to the Kolob Canyon section of Zion National Park.  Heading west from Springdale, we took I15 north to the Kolob entrance and parked at the Lee Pass Trailhead.  The views looking down the Timber Creek canyon were really nice right from the parking lot.

We walked a short ways up the road to pick up La Verkin Creek Trail, which headed rather steeply down, following Timber Creek downstream.  Up near the headwaters, there was really no creek to speak of and this area was a lot drier than Zion Canyon.  We saw a lot of cacti along the trail.

The views of the mountains and canyons were great from the trail but we knew it would be a steep climb back up at the end of our hike.

In about three miles, we reached campsite 3, where the trail turns left to begin following La Verkin Creek upstream and there was a bit more water in this one than Timber Creek.  This section of trail had more amazing mountain views.

And we found some nice cascades along the creek.

In about 6.5 miles from the trailhead, there was a split where left led to Kolob Arch.  Heading up this trail, we followed a small tributary upstream between some really high canyon walls.  In about a half-mile, the trail basically ended where three small tributaries came together.  Looking to the left, we could see Kolob Arch high above.

It's really huge - I almost missed it because it was much bigger than I expected.  The view wasn't great here, so I found some rocks to climb up on for a better view.  The arch was just amazing.  I guess it's withstood the test of time, because it's so tucked away in this little canyon.

The topo map shows an intermittent stream (the western tributary of the three) flowing down through the arch, though it was completely dry today.  I suspect if you came during a good rain, there might be a waterfall through the arch!  Besides the arch, the views all around of this little canyon were great.

I was glad we had climbed up on the rocks so we could see all around.

We had lunch up here and then started making our way back.  Following Kolob Arch Trail back, we turned right to backtrack on La Verkin Creek Trail.

Hiking in the opposite direction, it seemed almost like hiking another trail.  Heading downstream along La Verkin Creek, we had nice views of Gregory Butte towering above us to the right.

When we got back to campsite 3, we were about half way back and took a short break here.  I spotted some purple prickly pear cacti growing here.

After our break, we started heading back up the last 3.5 miles or so of trail.  There were nice views of Shuntavi Butte high above.

Although it was all uphill, the trail was very scenic and the climb was gradual, so not too bad.

Altogether, the hike was over 14 miles, so it was a long day.  The very last half-mile or so was probably the steepest.

Back at the car, we made the drive back to Springdale.  When we were almost there, I called Zion Adventure Company and we were able to pick up our gear for the Narrows tomorrow.  After getting that squared away, we went to Bamboo and had Chinese for dinner.

Hidden Canyon and Emerald Pools

Sunday morning, we woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel and checked out.  Driving east on I-15, we passed through Arizona in the Virgin River Canyon.  It was a very scenic section of highway and I thought about how this was the major river through Zion that we would be visiting soon.   When we reached Utah, we got off the interstate to head towards Springdale.  Although it was past peak season, Springdale was still very crowded and the construction zone made things even slower.  After paying admission to Zion National Park, we parked at the visitor center and took the shuttle into the canyon.  I was stunned by how beautiful Zion is.

The canyon walls are incredibly steep and high.  The shuttle provided a nice opportunity for us to enjoy the canyon without having to pay attention to the road and learn a little about the park.  We got off at shuttle stop #7 for Weeping Rock.  First, we headed up to the Weeping Rock on the short paved trail.  The fall color along here was just beautiful.

Weeping Rock is an unusual "waterfall" in that it's formed by water penetrating the upper levels of rock.  As it hits an impermeable layer, the water weeps out of the rock face and tumbles over a small cave.

It was very scenic even in low water, but from pictures I've seen, it looks a lot more like a waterfall.  The view of Zion Canyon from here was very nice as well.

When we were finished, we headed back and got on the East Rim Trail towards Hidden Canyon.  The trail was moderately steep, but with switchbacks, it wasn't too bad.  We could see Weeping Rock down below.

And there was plenty of beautiful fall color along the trail.

I was surprised to see so much color here in Zion as it's essentially a desert.  But the reds and yellows of the leaves were just beautiful.

As we got higher, we had nice views of Angels Landing and the horseshoe in the Virgin River.

In about a mile we came to a split and went right to get on Hidden Canyon Trail.  The trail continued switchbacking up to a nice viewpoint.

We stopped and had a snack here.  A couple chipmunks were scurrying around our feet, hoping for a snack.

People had clearly fed them before, but they weren't getting anything from us.  They are mighty cute though.

Past here, the trail became more rocky with steep drop offs.  Soon we came to the first chain section.  Unlike Angels Landing, there was only a drop off on one side, with a steep wall on the other.  Nonetheless, I held tightly on to the chain hiking up.  We had to pass around a woman who froze up with acrophobia and couldn't move.  There was another chain section and then we came to the end of the maintained portion of the trail.  The stream that forms Hidden Canyon comes out here and tumbles down the cliff in what must be a waterfall in periods of high water.  But today, there was no water at all.  The rocks had some great potholes though.

From here, we headed into Hidden Canyon.

The trail is not maintained and had several parts with some fun scrambling over huge boulders.  The fall color in here was just great.

And about half way though, we found a cool arch in the canyon.

At the end of the canyon is a sign indicating the end so we turned around here and started headed back.

Leaving the canyon, we enjoyed the views hiking the other way.  High above, we could see Observation Point that East Rim Trail leads to, but we weren't heading there.

Back at East Rim Trail, we turned left to head back down.  It was easier heading down, but I still stopped for pictures of the fall color.

And the views of Zion Canyon with all the yellow foliage was beautiful.

Back at the bottom, we got on the down-canyon shuttle and since it was still pretty early so we got off at stop #5 for Zion Lodge.  For construction, the park was closing the access to Emerald Pools from here tomorrow, so it was a good time to get that hike in.  We crossed the river on the pedestrian bridge and went right to get on Lower Emerald Pools Trail.  The trail follows Virgin River upstream a short ways then curves left to follow a tributary upstream.  It was just a short ways to the Lower Emerald Pools.  Water falls down over an overhead ledge into the pools forming a wide veil of waterfall.

Unfortunately, it hadn't rained in over a month and the water level was really low.  In high waterfall, there are two waterfalls here, one from each of the Middle Emerald Pools.  Today, one was just a couple drops and the other was just a small ribbon of falling water.

Although very crowded, it was a really scenic spot as the trail went behind both waterfalls.

Even in low water, the overall scene was just spectacular.

The trail then climbed up to the northern Middle Emerald Pool, which is fed by a tributary from Behunin Canyon.  We could see over the top of the small waterfall looking out into Zion Canyon.

Continuing on, we passed the intersection with Kayenta Trail and Upper Emerald Pools Trail.  We took the latter and continued up to the upper pool.

The water level was low, but there was some water in the pool, which is fed by a tributary of Heaps Canyon.  In high water, there's a really tall waterfall here, but it wasn't even a trickle today.  Nevertheless, the sheer cliffs all around were just beautiful and the pool was reflecting the fall foliage.

In low water, we were able to get around the pool to view it from different angles.

After a snack break we started heading back down.  A side trail led to a nice overlook above the lower pools.

The trail continued to the southern Middle Emerald Pool, but was closed due to a rock slide.  We followed the tributary towards Behunin Canyon towards a small cascade.

Even in low water, it was scenic reflecting into the calm pool.  From here, we headed back towards the trailhead.  Crossing the Virgin River, we watched a family of mule deer wade across the river.

There was a little fawn, who was scared of the swift currents and having a little trouble.

Eventually the little guy made it across and we took the shuttle back to the visitor center.

From there, we drove back to Springdale and checked into the La Quinta Inn.  We had a nice 2nd floor room with beautiful views of Zion Canyon.

After unpacking, we headed to Zion Pizza and Noodle for dinner.  It cooled off in the evening, but was still warm enough to enjoy the outdoor hot tub before retiring for the evening.