Captains Log: Tuesday, 22 July 2014.
12:23 a.m.Guess whos awake?
3:07 a.m.Youve gotta be kidding me.
6:23 a.m.Bleh.
6:30 a.m.Well, Im not getting any more sleep. How do the kids sleep through that racket, anyway?
8:00 a.m.Were still in the room, taking things slow this morning. I think the periodic interruptions of sleep are starting to catch up with us. No free breakfast at Rubys, so weve had to dig into our precious supplies of Pop Tarts and donuts. The breakfast of champions.
9:00 a.m.Took a while to get going, but weve finally checked out of the hotel and are on our way. We have to re-trace our steps somewhat, but thats not necessarily a bad thing. We get to drive through Red Canyon again, so heres a better picture of the rock tunnel:
10:30 a.m.Only an hour and a half of driving and were already at our next stop!
All of the National Park entrance signs are pretty cool, but I think Zion has the coolest one. It feels like youre entering a special place.
Zion National Park was founded in 1919, and has typically been one of the most popular national parks in America. The park receives close to 3 million visitors each year, most of which typically arrive during (you guessed it!) summer. Due to the overwhelming number of visitors, the park runs a mandatory shuttle bus system on the main road during the summer months. This way they can control both the flow of people into and out of the park as well as reduce the air pollution from all of that traffic.
But before you can use the shuttle bus system, you have to get into the park. We were coming in through the east entrance on the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, a civil engineering masterwork of decades gone by. The first stop as you go west into the park is an overlook for Checkerboard Mesa. This is a rock face that has been eroded and weathered over the years in such a fashion that a giant criss-cross pattern has been cut into the stone.
Some of you may be wondering what Baby Drew thought of all this. I think he was as awe-inspired by the scenery as we were. Heres the Drews-Eye-View at the Checkerboard Mesa overlook:
10:35 a.m.Its time to drive the rest of the way into the park. The entrance fee is $25 for 7 days, but I cant count that total against the annual pass this time. We had already visited the Kolob Canyons portion of the park and the entrance fee there would have also allowed us entrance to this portion of the park. So we remain on our total of $68 saved so far.
The Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway is one of the most spectacular drives Ive ever seen. We wind our way down through valleys as red rock formations rise higher and higher all around us. The whole landscape is breathtaking, and theres a sense of adventure with each tunnel we approach on the drive.
Finally, we reach the entrance to the Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel, a 1.1-mile tunnel carved through the mountain that will connect us to the main park. Its here where we get our first taste of the popularity of Zion.
The tunnel was built in 1936, when cars were much smaller than they are now. As a result, the park operates it like a one-lane road, with one direction of travel allowed through at a time. So
we wait. As you can probably guess, Im praying that Daves bladder will hold out.
After a few minutes, we get the all-clear and start moving. Its pretty amazing to think workers blasted and dug their way through over a mile of rock so many years ago. Even more impressive, at several points along the tunnel, they carved windows through the rock wall to give drivers a glimpse of the wonders waiting for them in the valley below:
After emerging from the tunnel, we are greeting with the full glory of the Valley of Zion National Park before us. If I were quicker on my feet, I would have cued up some sort of dramatic entrance music on the iPod to blast away when we exited the tunnel. Maybe next time.
The road winds through many, many switchbacks down the mountain to the valley floor. Looking back, we can see one of the tunnel windows in the rock:
We drive slowly through the park, soaking in the views. At the turn for the visitor center, we pull in to discover that the parking lot is completely full. Signs helpfully point us toward additional parking in the town of Springdale, just outside the southern gate.
We head out of the park we just entered and take the first left, bypassing ample shoulder space on the main road and following a sign to Zion Overflow Parking. Its a parking lot next to several shops and a movie theater. Theres a very small sign at the entrance informing me that the fee for parking here is $10 for the day, and could I please pay in the shop next door? Violators will be towed. Naturally, the visitor center parking lot would have been free.
Oh, and Dave has to go to the bathroom. Im just thankful we made it through the tunnel.
We decide that Dave and I will handle the rip-off parking fee and then find a bathroom while Julie starts making sandwiches for lunch so we can eat before entering the park. By the time everyone finishes lunch, makes a pit stop, etc., its after noon and we still havent done anything in the National Park. Also, I notice the shoulders on the main road are full of cars parking for free. So, when you visit Zion, dont make the same mistake I did!
See what I meant earlier? Rope Drop is your friend. Always.
12:05 p.m.The pedestrian entrance is a nice, wide bridge over the Virgin River. It leads straight to the Visitor Center. They have the same cool entrance signs here.
12:25 p.m.We pick up Junior Ranger booklets for the kids and head to the shuttle bus stop. Theres a big difference in elevation between Bryce Canyon and Zion, and its mainly noticeable in the temperature. Its hot here in the valley. Blazing hot. Boiling lava-melt-off-your-skin-hot. And the buses are not air-conditioned. But they do have the windows propped open. So we have that going for us, which is nice.
We hop off the bus at Zion Lodge, a few stops into the park. Once again, the kids need to attend a Ranger program to get their badge and this looks like the only one we can get to. Were a little early, so we wander onto the path to the Emerald Pools for a bit.
12:45 p.m.Before weve seen a single Emerald Pool, we decide we need to turn around and head back to the Lodge for the Ranger program. Plus its surface-of-the-sun hot and this hike doesnt offer a lot of shade.
1:00 p.m.Bad news: the Ranger program takes place outside. No air-conditioning.
Good news: its under the shade of the largest tree on the lawn.
Bad news: its geared toward very little kids. The program is on the level of, Can you say the word, prey? The kids are rolling their eyes already.
Good news: I can abandon them to the program and wander through the air-conditioned lobby of the Lodge.
1:15 p.m.The program is still going, but I return and let Julie wander. This proves to be a good decision, as she returns several minutes later with ice-cream sandwiches for everyone and a smoothie for herself. This also proves once again that she is a better person than me. But you knew that.
1:45 p.m.The program is mercifully over, the kids have the Rangers sign-off, and we can move on. We all pile back onto the shuttle to ride further into the canyon. A recorded narration plays as we ride along, making me hope to hear something like, Por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas, but no such luck.
2:15 p.m.Weve ridden the bus all the way back to the very last stop, the Temple of Sinawa. After another pit stop, we begin a hike during the hottest part of the day. Because we are idiots.
2:20 p.m.But at least the scenery is nice. Were on a trail called the Riverside Walk, which follows the River for a little over a mile up into the deepest part of Zion Canyon.
Before long, we find a nice spot at a bend in the river and ask a fellow hiker to compose a family photo. The result? Well, its not bad. But once again, I must regretfully point out that there is no rule that states we have to be in the center of the picture. Just tilt the frame up ever so slightly, and you might even get a mountain in the background!
I suppose I should be happy that most of us are smiling.
2:40 p.m.We come upon a shaded spot with a few rocks to sit on. The canyon wall behind us is actually wetwater is seeping out of the rock itself. This is known as a weeping rock. Basically, rain falls on the top of the mesa and seeps into the porous sandy layers up top. It trickles through the mountain as ground water until it hits more impermeable layers further down, where it is then forced out the side of the canyon, giving the wall the appearance that it is weeping.
It is here that Scotty announces he is too hot and tired and doesnt want to go any further. I cant blame him for being hot, but when we ask a hiker coming the other way, she responds that its only 5-10 more minutes to the end of the trail. No dice. Scotty wants to stay and rest. So, we make the executive decision that Ill take one for the team and stay with Scotty and Drew while Julie continues on with Sarah and David.
2:50 p.m.Apparently they made it.
See that bag of Sarahs? Yes, its made of duct tape. And yes, she made it herself.
The trail dead-ends at the river, where the kids are happy to cool off in the water. If we hadnt had the baby or a whiny 8-year-old with us, it would have been really cool to continue on. Thats right, you can actually continue hiking into the river here. Walking down the river leads to a section of the canyon called The Narrows, which looks like one of the best hikes ever. You have to check with the rangers in the morning for the weather forecast and permission to go, but if there are no potential flash floods, you can get into parts of the canyon that
look like this.
2:54 p.m.Meanwhile, after much grunting and straining, Baby Drew poops. Thanks, kid. Now I have to change you on a rock.
Also, Scotty decides he really does want to go on now. I tell him its too late. I dont mean to be harsh, but I figure the others are already on their way back by now. And I also want to teach him that when you quit on something, you miss out.
3:00 p.m.We meet up with Sarah, David and Julie and they rave about how wonderful the end of the trail was, which Im sure makes Scotty feel better. You snooze, you lose, buddy. Is that too mean?
3:15 p.m.On the way back, we stop at the same bend in the river. Heres what we were going for.
Julie took this shot to give a sense of the scale of the canyon.
3:45 p.m.Were back on the bus, exhausted, hot, and all of our water and Gatorade were carrying has warmed up to the same 100-degree temperature as the outside air. Blech.
Wed planned a couple other stops and hikes, but due to the heat and our sheer exhaustion, weve decided to sit and ride all the way back to the visitor center. The shuttle bus is a little frustrating in that you cant just stop wherever you want to take a picture. It feels very limited. Also, due to the nature of the road and the valley, it feels like youre really only getting a small glimpse of the grandeur of the park by sticking to the shuttle system. To experience Zion, you really need to get out and hike it, and weve tried but conditions have made it hard to go on.
But dont worry. Were not finished with Zion yet. We just need a break.
Coming Up Next: Much-needed food. And a much-needed swimming pool.
It was incredible!
