Hiking North Zion, Kolob Canyons - Taylor Creek Trail

First a couple of responses to comments.  You are right Doug, there is no pool at Red Canyon RV. I must have confused it with some other place I had considered. It is just a two road lot with a few cabins on the side of Utah Highway 12. But it is convenient to Bryce and a few other places we want to visit this week.

And to Judy, yes I do want to do a day trip to Kodachrome Basin this week.

The weather was fine for another hike on Sunday, and we headed over to the North part of Zion that not as many people seem to visit.

There we hiked up the middle fork of Taylor Creek to the Double Arch Alcove. I forgot my camera, so the few pictures included here were taken with Craig's phone.

In one of my books, and in the information from the park, the hike was supposed to be an easy five mile round trip. In part because we went astray at the start, our "Map My Hike" app read just shy of six.  

Easy it was not! The trail was littered with large jagged rocks that were definitely hard on my ankle. 

We crossed Taylor Creek, which was only inches deep in most places, about 120 times (60 each way).

All of the crossings were easy, but I was careful to use my poles so I didn't misstep.

Once again we were treated to impressive views of red rock canyon walls, some with water flowing on them.

When we got back to the Alfa in the late afternoon, I flopped down on the bed for a nice 40 minute rest. Craig took off my hiking boots for me because I really didn't feel like moving. I was very glad we had yummy leftover pulled pork that I had made the day before for dinner. I don't think I would have had the energy to cook a meal.

My entire being was tired. But it was a good tired. The kind you feel after doing a hard job, skiing all day, or running a race. I felt at peace with myself and with the world. That is in part why I hike. I enjoy the scenery, and know the exercise is good for me, but I really like the satisfaction I feel. I could never get this good a workout in a gym.

[From Craig] Merikay didn't like the two pictures below as well as I did.  This first one is inside the inner of the two arches at the end of the trail.  All those colors are different minerals that have seeped through the big rock above over the millenia.  I wish I had taken more chemistry and/or geology so that I could tell you which color is which compound.  If anyone reading knows, please leave a comment or send me an email at craigm014@gmail.com.

The second image shows two attractive rocks that stand together on the north side of the canyon.  I like to think of them as brothers who have watched animals and people walk past them over the years, and share a constant but low-bandwidth commentary about the travelers.

We will be hiking past a lot of rock formations in the next few months.  Where are your favorites located?

Angels Landing: we're still alive!

Well, so much for sticking to the easy hikes until my ankle is completely healed! On Wednesday evening, in a fit of madness, I declared that I wanted to hike Angels Landing in Zion National Park.  It's the among most popular hikes in the National Park System, and among the least-frequently completed.  I figure with my increasing age and deterioration of my body, if I didn't hike it this time, I would probably never hike it.

With a bit of trepidation, Craig agreed and it became the planned adventure for Thursday. He then read (aloud) some of the reviews of the hike including ones that mentioned the fact that six people have fallen to their deaths from the narrow rock ledges that comprise the last 1/4 mile of the hike, 1400 feet above the canyon floor, where you have to cling onto chains that are anchored into the rock to make your way along.

By Thursday morning I was no longer quite sure I wanted to do it, but we went anyway. I too had read some things about the hike, and figured I could always turn back if things got too hard. 

When we were at Horseshoe Bend, a nice man suggested I get rubber tips for my poles because they didn't slip on rock, so on the way into Zion we stopped at not one, but three different sports equipment shops looking for tips. At the first two I also talked to the guys behind the counter about Angels Landing. They assured me that although the first two and a quarter miles were "a real Huff and Puff", if you took your time it was do-able. I was also informed that many people stopped at a place called Scouts Lookout, which is just below the chains. This info gave me enough confidence to "give it a go"!

You can see hikers in the lower left corner of this image

The first part of the trail is a very easy stroll along the edge of the river, but the goal looms high overhead. Are we really going to go to the top of that?

The Huff and Puff started gradually, with long but uphill sections of trail. But these and the much steeper switchbacks ahead were easy to walk, because they were all paved with either sidewalk-like cement or a more textured hard surface. Much easier than loose or irregular rocks and roots.

Here you can see the trail winding slowly upward. The rocks at the bottom of the picture were at the edge of a sharp dropoff, overlooking the previous switchback. 















Here's another view...

We just kept going up, resting at most switchbacks.

Going up, my ankle didn't bother me very much. Catching my breath was another matter! I sure wish I were 50 or 60 pounds lighter.

Up... up... up... beautiful views! The weather was perfect for this hike: in the low seventies with just a bit of a breeze.

Eventually we got to the part of the trail called "the Wiggles." It consists of 22 or more short but steep switchbacks. The image above shows five of them. 

Just about the time you feel they will never end, the trail spills out onto a fairly large, fairly flat sandy area called Scouts Lookout.

This is where people decide if they want to climb the last quarter-mile up the rocks on the right side of this picture.  Which leads to its informal name "Chickens' Landing".

We had our picnic lunch and I stayed there while Craig bravely went about halfway up the chains. 

He said he had to turn back when he couldn't quite see where the trail went next, and couldn't bring himself to trust the designers of the trail. I held my breath as I watched him come back down.

I did not get a picture of him because he had the camera.  This is a shot of some of the other hikers. Strange how you can never quite show how steep something is in a picture, nor the fact that this rock edge overlooks a 1400 foot drop off!















The walk down had its own difficulties. Breathing was no longer a challenge, but the downhill angle was hard on our knees and my ankle. Although the stops were not as frequent, we did stop to rest from time to time.

It was a beautiful day! We both felt good because we had done (most of) it! For me, stopping at Scouts Landing was still a victory. 

Needless to say, Friday was a rest day.

We made the best of it

Knowing that Zion National Park might close on Tuesday, we made the best of the situation and saw as much as we could in one day. One of my plans for the full time RV adventure is to take our time and savor each National Park without feeling rushed.

We have a site at the Zion Canyon Campground (which is not in the park) for a full week.  There is a shuttle that comes to the RV park and takes us to the entrance of the National Park less than 1/4 mile away.  The current and forecast weather are spectacular. But the mess in Washington has resulted in the closure of the park.

Well, we did have yesterday, and this is some of what we saw and did.

Hoping to have more days at the park later in the week, we started with two easy warm up hikes.  The first was to the three Emerald Pools.  Although listed as "Easy" there was quite a bit of climbing up and down irregular rock steps.  I was glad to have my poles along. 

The water in the Upper Emerald Pool was very still and the reflections were crystal clear.  

The trail was in and back, and it was interesting to see the same vistas from two directions and light conditions. 

The mid-day sun illuminated the trees high on the canyon sides.

On the trail to the Pools there was a section where water was seeping thru the rocks and falling like rain on the hikers.

After the Pools, we re-boarded the park shuttle and rode it to the end of the line. There was an informative audio track that told us about the canyon.  Unlike many of these that we have experienced, this one was clear and enjoyable.  We figure if the park reopens before the week is up we will be able to go back and take some of the other hikes.  If not, we have an overview.

Our second easy hike was the Riverside Walk. A mostly paved, level trail that was somewhat crowded. Along the path there were many wildflowers blooming. 

Each flower was tiny, but in mass they were quite colorful.

At the end of the Riverside Walk is the entrance to the Narrows. Although not absolutely necessary, it is recommended you have special waterproof shoes and socks to wade thru the river on this trail.  We did not, so we passed on this adventure. 

I have not tweaked or changed this image in any way.   The sky was that incredibly blue and clear.  

Zion National Park is not the only thing to see or do here.  We hope the Congress will get it together quickly, but if not we will make the best of it.  

On the Road to Zion

My post about the run-down desolate towns in Nevada was an observation, not a criticism or judgement. As we travel I am likely to write about what I see without great modification or perspective. I write after a long day of travel while the impressions are fresh and real.

Today, after a relaxing day and a half at the Oasis RV resort in Las Vegas, where I was able to catch up on the wash, do a bit of shopping for my son, and top off the groceries, we hooked up and headed off to Zion National park in Utah.

As we drove out of Las Vegas I thought about what I had written in my last post. As I looked at the desert landscape I started to see its unique character. The further east we went, the more green it became and the more interesting the mountains grew. The best thing was that aside from the road itself there was very little trace of mankind. No junk. No rundown buildings. No dead towns.

The terrain began to change in the small slice of Arizona that we crossed. More hills and more color in the rocks. As we crossed the Utah border a spectacular range of hills and mesas were revealed. 

The towns we passed thru were well kept and the road and yards were tree lined. Quite a difference. 

We are now at the Zion Canyonland RV Park. Our spot is a shaded pull-thru just a short distance from the pool and laundry.

We are both looking forward to a full week of hiking and exploring this wonderful park. 

This is the view from our dining table window:

WOW!

In coming here we have changed time zones. Craig just went around the coach changing the clocks. The "kitchen clock" on the wall, the bedside clock, and the Alfa dashboard clock. 

I would have just added an hour each time I needed to know what time it was.

What would you do?