Hey Actifitters,
Yesterday our adventures continued in Zion National Park. Unlike Death Valley where it was my first visit, I already visited Zion a few times, but it was many years ago, so I was glad to visit again. We arrived there fairly early, but it was already very crowded. So we parked just before the entrance in Springdale, and used the pedestrian entrance. It was a good idea, it saved us some time and we could catch a shuttle quickly. It's one of the cool things in Zion, this shuttle system. Less cars everywhere and it runs quite smoothly. Anyways, we wanted to start with something nice and easy, so we picked the Riverside Walk for our for trail. For that one, we rode the shuttle till the last stop at the Temple of Sinawava. The trail is mostly paved and about 1.5 miles. Perfect to warm up, and the Virgin river views aren't bad either!
Meeting the local squirrels reminded me of our forest walks with Kaia, but these ones are really not afraid of humans. They were almost posing for us.
This first trail ends where the infamous Narrows start. I've never had a chance to hike the Narrows till the end, and it wasn't happening this time either because it is closed. Too much water I think. I know I will hike it some day, but this time we had to stop at the very beginning before turning back.
What strikes me the most in Zion are these huge cliffs, just massive. So many of them!
We followed the river back to finish our first trail for the day.
Next we wanted to walk the Emerald Pools, all three of them. The usual start is at the Zion Lodge, but the bridge was damaged by flash floods, so instead we stopped at the Grotto and headed to the Kayenta trail.
First views of the falls and the pools.
Not even sure anymore if it was the lower or middle pools.
I guess the name isn't really important when you find these overwhelming vistas.
These were for sure the Upper Emerald Pools. I'm pretty sure I remembered them much clearer, but it was beautiful anyways.
You can even go to the very top where they all start.
The rest of the trail was typical from what I remembered from Zion. Huge beautiful views on the canyon and the peaks.
This is also a perfect location to admire the Patriarchs. The name comes from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from the Bible new testament. I'm not religious of course, but this Court of the Patriarchs is just fantastic!
And finally the bridge back to the shuttle stop also called Court of the Patriarchs.
It was already a pretty full day of hiking, so we thought we deserved to relax near the river.
Of course I couldn't resist dipping my feet in the cold water. So refreshing!
On the way back to the visitor center, we also made a stop to the Museum. It was interesting to learn about the history of the park, and even long before the park.
And we finally made it back to the park entrance and exited for the day. It was still quite early, so we spent some time in the tiny Village just at the entrance. Once again, we thought our effort deserved a reward, and a mango-strawberry ice cream was mine!
One more view before going back to the hotel. I guess a word very fitting for Zion would be massive.
We thought we'd be done for the day, but we found a very cool coffeshop/restaurant and this was our view for dinner. Not bad, no?
But after that, that was really it for the day. We have a second day planned in Zion with even more miles to hike, and more places to visit. So we need a bit of rest.
As always, thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow.
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