The hikes begin, days three and four

Patrick and Dad hiking in central Zion NP

With dawn I wake up Patrick and ask him about photograph taking and enjoying the morning.  He eagerly rolls out and is ready for the sunrise.  We watch the horizon and the slowly creeping light of the day spreads out over the terrain.  There are no dramatic moments, just a slow awakening of the day.

In awe of the Navajo sandstone cliffs

The hummingbird feeder provides a continuous thrill with visitors lining up to drink from the fount. At times five birds might be sipping from various ports with others flittering around, just behind the sipping crew.  Changing f-stops and shutter speeds, Patrick explores how to capture the feeding frenzy.

We linger until 8 AM and decide that we need to head into the park, which means stopping just outside the park to wait for the shuttle.  Zion has removed much of the car traffic in the central park of the park, but still others need to drag their car into some areas.  Happily we find our way in and begin our day of touring and walking.

Moon rise from the back deck of our house.

The building crowds of people amaze us by mid-morning.  Later in the day the park is full and the more scenic walks are shared with hundreds.  We have the conflict of wanting to commune with nature and having this setting all to ourselves, while recognizing that so too do many hundreds of other hikers.  It is good to see so many hikers, and then again not.

At one time one of the hikers noted that it was like a UN hiking convention.  I smiled at the happy thought.  There were plenty of Europeans and Americans, both North and South, and far fewer Asians.  We suspect that the strength of the dollar, or not as the case is, has led to a strong westward flow to the tourist travel. 

Bighorn sheep in Zion  NP

After an overnight recharge and a decision to try new areas of hiking, we head off into the mid-section of Zion NP to check out the less talked about areas of hiking.  What a score.  The drive north from Virgin, UT, was relatively straight up the Colorado Plateau to the top where the dark Cenozoic lava flows cap off the majestic, but barren white splays of Mesozoic Navajo sandstones.  The road winded along, except in areas where we occasionally followed the narrow peak of the ridge and either side of the two-lane road faded quickly away to an abyss that lay some hundreds of feet below.

Patrick hiking the canyons of Zion.

On top of the Zion plateau the environment changed dramatically from desert scrub to pine forests and large open meadows.  As we turned off the main road we follow a dirt track through the forest and find an empty and remote viewpoint from which we can survey the park for as far as the eye can see.  The lava viewpoint is listed at 7900 feet and we can look down and south towards the main valley of the Virgin River in Zion National Park. We spot our hiking trail and hunt with the binoculars for wild game along Wildcat canyon; our prey eludes us, but we will be vigilant throughout the hike.

Our trusty rental car makes the trek to the trailhead, albeit with the occasional bump on the underside.  Here again, we are the only car at the trailhead; what a stark contrast with the day before – could this be the same national park?  The trail promises a great view, but we have little to go by, as our map does not have a track plotted. 

Whitetail doe

The trail leads us in and out of forested areas and open rocky ridges.  We hear some other hikers, but never run into them.  Along the wildcat canyon trail we find lots of carnivore scat and the occasional dog footprint, but no sightings of promised cats or otherwise, aside from ravens and other big birds in the sky.  A couple of hours into the hike we come to a split in the trail at a meadow and head out in the direction that holds promise of a vista.  Another 10 to 15 minutes and our trail reveals a great landscape, with a ridge of lava surrounded left and right by small peaks of Navajo sandstone and off in front of us, about a mile away, is a massive peak of sandstone complete with a high and remote, arched cave that is probably about 50 feet across.

Lower emerald pool

The vista point gives us a chance to rest, enjoy our limited supply of food and water and dry out the packs and our shirts.  We were fortunate at this elevation the temperature has been cool, perhaps in the seventies and this, combined with frequent trail sections through forested areas makes the journey easy to take.  The hike back is a more muted and determined one.  We realize that we should have brought more water or perhaps not gone so far.

Welcoming us towards the end of the trail is the decaying wheels and axial of a wooden carriage.  When we make it back to the car we are bushed and reckoning that it was likely a ten-mile sojourn, more than what we planned for, but the trail and views were great rewards for the tiredness.  A return to the homestead for baked ziti and a review of photos gave a nice finish to the night.