“We’re Marching to Zion …”

That title will make sense to my old school Southern Baptist friends! Dale and I did a lot of marching around Zion (National Park) last weekend for sure! The park is only one hour away from where we are staying in Cedar City. We headed out after church on Sunday and stayed until Tuesday. It was a great way to celebrate Mother’s Day!

Zion Canyon National Park was originally called Mukuntuweap National Monument by President William Howard Taft in 1909 when it was designated as protected land. I definitely think “Zion” rolls of the tongue a bit more easily. The name Zion is a Hebrew word and is used throughout the Bible. I found this verse that I think fits very well…

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.”

Psalms 50:2

Throughout our time at the park Dale and I couldn’t help but praise God for the beauty around us. Plus, there is a scenic area called “Court of the Patriarchs” where three peaks are named Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was basically holy ground. Ha!

Day 1

Dale and I arrived at the park on Sunday afternoon and set up our campsite. Months ago, I had reserved tent site F07 in the Watchman Campground. It was perfectly situated by the bathroom (which had no showers!) and the visitor center. Even though it was a populated area we still had a “bear box”, a large metal enclosure to keep bears off of our food.

Our first activity was a walk along the Pa’rus Trail, which started near the visitor center. One of the neat things about the park is that there are several paths that are paved and easily traveled by all ages. While we were walking a storm came and we got a little damp, but nothing too bad.

That evening we cooked steaks and potatoes over the fire. Our neighbors came over to cook their food as well because their site didn’t have a fire ring. They’re from Austria and are camping in the national parks for two months, with a 10-month old and a 3-year old!! Das ist verrückt! (That is crazy!)

The next morning we hopped aboard the shuttle. Personal vehicles are not allowed past a certain point due to the volume of visitors the park receives. The shuttle system was so efficient and hit all the major trailheads. We boarded at the first stop, which is the visitor center, and stayed on until the last stop, which is called the Temple of Sinawava. This is where the most popular hike, The Narrows, is located. However, due to heavy snow melt the river was too dangerous, so we were only allowed to walk on the Riverside Walk. The Narrows hike is mostly in the river itself. The Riverside Walk was beautiful and we enjoyed it along with a thousand of our closest, German-speaking friends. (Seems like everyone was speaking foreign languages!)

Enjoy this recording of the river and birds from our walk along the river.

We hopped back on the shuttle and headed down to The Grotto stop so we could hike the Emerald Pools Trails. The trail itself is called the Kayenta Trail and it takes you to three different waterfalls. The trail was strenuous, long and hot. Thankfully there was only us and a thousand other people hiking on it. Ha ha!

After that we were tired and hungry, so back on the shuttle we went so we could grab some food at Zion Lodge. The Lodge is legit by the way. I don’t know how hard it is to get a reservations there, or how much it costs, but I’d like to stay there. It seems to be the nesting place for senior adults. Ha! We grabbed some food and found a shady spot to sit since our “friends” had taken all the tables!

By the time we finished lunch and rested, it was mid afternoon and we were done with hiking. (I was actually done with hiking midway through the last hike!) So, we headed back to the campground, hopped in our car and went for a scenic drive on the Zion – Mount Carmel Highway. This drive begins just a couple of miles from the visitor center and takes you to the eastern park gate. It was so beautiful! I don’t have the words to describe it. We even saw Big Horn Sheep!

Here’s a short video clip of our first day for you

Day 2

On Tuesday, we got up early to experience sunrise on the Canyon Overlook Trail. To me, this is the perfect trail. It’s short, somewhat challenging, passes through beautiful scenery, and isn’t very crowded (at least not at 6:30am). Once we made it to the end, we enjoyed some spectacular views of the canyon and of the way the morning light would hit each cliff face differently. To me, it was the best hike.

We made it back to our campsite a little after 8am and fixed breakfast – freeze dried biscuits & gravy, and eggs. It was okay. Checkout time was 11am, so we went ahead and packed up our site. Our camping is so much easier since we ditched our luxurious air mattress, blankets and pillows. Now we are more lean, yet somehow more tired and achy. Ha ha! Even though we were packed up, we weren’t ready to leave the park. After all, Dale was off all day and home was only an hour away, so we got back on the shuttle, did the Riverside Walk again, and ate lunch at the lodge.

We drove home around 2pm, unpacked, showered (for the first time in three days!) and relaxed. I fell asleep on the couch before 7pm! I felt like I’d been drugged. I’m outta shape! Ha!

Overall, it was a wonderful trip and I’d recommend Zion Canyon National Park to everyone, no matter your age or fitness level.

Here’s a short video clip of our second day.