Day 19 Zion National Park

We’re so glad we made the 2-hour trip to Zion as it’s one of our favorite National Parks, second only to the Grand Canyon. On the way we passed Grand Staircase-Escalante National Historical Park. Like Vermillion Cliffs, though, we didn’t drive into the site as the roads are unimproved and filled with pot holes. There weren’t many pull-off spots for pictures but we got a couple from the car and one from the parking lot at the Visitor Center (which was closed).

From the parking lot at the Visitor Center.
Peter took this one from the passenger seat while we drove home from Zion.

Just west of Grand Staircase we saw a sign for Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park so we took a little side jaunt to check it out. The sand doesn’t look that coral/pink to me but it was still pretty.

By the time we finally made it to Zion and found a place to park (not easy; we trolled the parking lot for 15 minutes before catching a handicap spot as a car was pulling out) it was almost noon. We lost an hour going into Utah so even though we left at 7am it was still mid-day before we arrived.

There is a shuttle bus to take visitors through the park and we got off in a couple of spots for two short hikes. The first was to the Lower Emerald Pool.

Cute bridge crossing the river at the beginning of the trail.
View from the trail.
Emerald Pool. Not much water but it was still pretty.

Here’s a short video I took at the pool.

Emerald Pool

After finishing our hike to Emerald Poool, we ate our picnic lunch on the grounds of the Zion Lodge. There were no picnic tables so we just plopped down in the shade.

Getting back up was a lot harder than getting down.

Our next hike was the Riverside Walk which is also called the Gateway to the Narrows. It was a 1.5 hour walk and we were getting tired so we only walked about a 1/2 mile before heading back to catch the shuttle.

At the start of the hike.
View from the trail.

Given that we had a 2-hour drive back to our hotel we left after our 2nd hike. Even though we got the hour back when we hit AZ, it was still 5pm before we arrived. It was a long day but we’re very glad we went. Peter said he like Zion better than Rocky Mountain NP, mainly because of the contrast between the mountains and the sky. If you remember from the pictures of RMNP, the sky was very hazy. We asked a ranger about it and he said it was smoke from the fires in the Pacific Northwest. In Zion, though, the sky was crystal clear and made for a beautiful scene.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we head home. Originally this trip was going to be 5 weeks long and include Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. But, we decided we didn’t want to be gone that long so we only did the first half of the trip. As much as we enjoyed our adventures, we’re glad to be heading home. It’s only a 5-hour drive so we should be back by mid-day. We can’t wait to see if the landscapers have finished our backyard renovations. We’ll let you know.

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