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Sunday, May 22, 2022
We left Vegas this morning and enjoyed the rather easy sub-three hour drive to Zion National Park. Our path lead us through a wonderful place called The Virgin River Gorge. It’s a long canyon that spans Utah and Arizona that was carved by the Virgin River. The path winds through a twisting road which crosses the river several times. Out the windows you see soaring masses of rocks that were once part of an ancient seabed. The many layers of colorful sediment have been eroded into all sorts of interesting shapes. When the light hits the canyon just right it is an amazing sight.
We approached the park through the town of Springdale and encountered a sign that said that the parking lots in Zion were full and suggested we park in town. No problem. There are free shuttle busses that run every few minutes that will take you from town into the park. We parked at stop nine, the furtherest from the park, paid $15 for the day, and walked just a few steps to where a shuttle was waiting. Parking in Zion is rather limited; those who get there early enough can park for free. We later found out that if you park near some of the closer shuttle stops the charge for parking is $40.
Right near the park entrance we found a nice little restaurant and decided to have some lunch before embarking on a hike. We split a cheeseburger and fries. Based on previous experiences eating in and around National Parks we didn’t expect much. Sometimes it’s nice to be surprised. The meat on the burger was fresh, it was well dressed and it tasted great. We tried their special oil, vinegar and garlic fries too. The dressing made them a little soggy but they were still quite tasty.
After lunch we walked into the park, showed our pass, and went right in (I never get tired of saying that). Deborah had researched all of the trails and suggested we do one that was right near the visitor center. It was the Pa’rus Trail.
The trail starts at the visitor center and ends at canyon shuttle bus stop three. During the busier times of the year, like now, you can’t drive in the park. Fortunately, the park service provides a very nice shuttle service that sequences between nine different stations every four minutes or so…and it’s free. Our hike was on a paved trail that followed the Virgin River for about 1.75 miles each way. The trail is part of the way that extends all the way through the park and ends at shuttle stop nine.
We had been to Zion before in 2017 with a bunch of family members. At that time we walked a short portion of the very rugged Watchman Trail. Now we were going to get the opportunity to explore the entire park. The park is really one long canyon that was carved by the Virgin River over many centuries. Like the gorge we had passed through there were high mountains of sedimentary rocks on either side that had been eroded. Even though there is a lot of green foliage near the river the area is still considered desert so we were not too surprised to find numerous prickly pear cacti. Several were flowering. Most were yellow but we found one that was a shocking pink. We also encountered several deer. They were not the least put off by our presence.
This trail was also very popular with the biking crowd. As a matter of fact it is the only trail where cycling is permitted. There is a store just outside the park that rents bikes – both regular and electric. On our way back we found another deer in the middle of the trail eating leaves off a bush. We approached slowly but he didn’t care. He went right on with his business. As I approached I was snapping photos like a madman. At one point I was close enough to touch him with an outstretched arm. It’s obvious that the deer have not been mistreated.
We finished off the day by riding the canyon shuttle bus from the starting point to the ending point and back along the Scenic Drive. (There are two shuttle busses that you need to use. The Springdale shuttle takes you from Springdale to the park. The canyon shuttle takes you through the park.) It was a great way to see the entire park and get our bearings for our subsequent visits. We had to get off the shuttle at stop nine (The Temple of Sinawava). While we were waiting for another shuttle to take us back a turkey appeared. He walked through the crowds looking for someone to give him something to eat. It was very amusing.
Back in Cedar City, where our hotel was, we visited an old favorite restaurant for dinner called Culver’s. We first discovered Culver’s near Savanah, GA in 2019. We split an order of chicken strips and then enjoyed some soft serve custard for dessert.
Monday, May 23, 2022
It turns out that our hotel has a complementary breakfast. Because of COVID, even the hotels that say they offer breakfast really don’t. We’re never sure what the deal will be until we actually see what is being offered. The breakfast included cold cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, eggs, sausages and more. It was very satisfying. On the way out we grabbed a couple of bottles of water and a couple of yogurts for dinner at some later date.
We got to Springdale around 9:00 am. This time the sign said that there was parking available inside the park. When we drove into the park the ranger informed us that the parking had been closed for about two hours. When we asked about the sign she said that Zion had no control over that sign; it was owned and operated by the town. We drove around the parking area for about ten minutes looking for a space but found none. We drove out and parked exactly where we had the previous day and took the Springdale shuttle bus back into the park.
This time we took the canyon shuttle to stop five. This is where the Zion Lodge and gift shop are located. We took the grotto trail. It was a short walk, mostly along the road, that went past a small cave from where water runs off in the wetter months. Along the way we encountered a young male deer. He was sleeping about ten feet from the path. When we came along he picked up his head, which made for a wonderful picture. By the time we walked back he was gone.
Upon our return we explored the Lodge. There was a very nice, rustically decorated lobby but not much else to see except a staircase that led to an upscale restaurant. Just off the lobby there was a large gift shop. It had all the usual items you typically find in these park shops: clothing, games, rocks, snacks, and jewelry.
Next door was a small cafe. They had small pizzas, sandwiches, hamburgers, and hot dogs. I got a chicken salad sandwich and Deborah got a tuna salad sandwich. The sandwiches were a big disappointment. A teaspoons worth of salad was spread on a stale hamburger role which was dressed with two small slices of tomato. We washed that down with our own water. The most substantial thing we ate were the oranges that we’d brought with us.
Our next destination was the Lower Emerald Pools Trail. The trailhead was just across the road from the Lodge. The path wound its way up around a mountain until we reached a large grotto. Above there was some water trickling down the sheer mountain walls into a small pool below. The way continued on the other side of the grotto. Someone we met told us that it lead to the Middle Emerald Pool (just a puddle) and eventually to the Upper Emerald Pool (similar to the one we were at). We turned around and went back to the Lodge.
By now it was around 2:30 pm. We were both still feeling rather energetic and resolved to do a third trail off of shuttle stop nine. By the time we got to stop nine we knew that we’d be leaving that trail for tomorrow.
While driving back to Cedar City Deborah was jonesing for a streak. We found an interesting looking restaurant with an unassuming name: The America Diner. They had an eight ounce sirloin streak that came with two sides for $11.99. Deborah got a baked potato (with butter and sour cream) and mixed vegetables. I got the same thing except instead of the veggies I got the homemade tomato soup. The steaks were tender and well seasoned, the baked potatoes very satisfying and the soup was quite delicious. Even the vegetables were good! We saw what some of the other people were eating. All of the portions were huge. I don’t know how they can stay in business at those prices.
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Back at Zion we parked at the same place and took the Springdale shuttle into the park. The last two days we’d waited 15-20 minutes to get a ride on the canyon shuttle. This morning we just walked right on. We got off at stop nine and headed over to the Riverside Walk Trailhead.
The trail starts at the northern end of the park and wends its way north along the river. The gorge is pretty narrow at this point. The towering sandstone walls are close in on both sides. About a mile upriver the path disappears entirely. The gorge is so narrow that, if you wish to continue, you are mostly walking in the water. At this point the trail changes it name to The Narrows and it is actually one of the most popular trails in the entire park. A store just outside of the park rents special waterproof socks, shoes and waders for those who wish to try their luck. The guidebook describes it as walking on wet bowling balls where the water levels range from a few inches to waist high. The path extends an indefinite one to eight miles. At the point that the path disappeared we turned back.
The way back was not without its charms. We encountered several deer grazing along the banks. When we had completed this trail we had done all of the trails we intended to at Zion.
Instead of driving back to Cedar City we went into Saint George. We were looking for sporting goods companies. Deborah had gotten it into her head that we could save a lot of money if, instead of renting hotel rooms, we camped in the parks. Can you ever have imagined the name Deborah and the word Camping appearing in a sentence together?
We had lunch at an artisanal pizza place called Onyx Cafe (they really need a better name). They specialize in wood fired pizzas, homemade root beer and cream soda and gelato. We ordered a medium pizza with Calabrese ham with every intention of trying out their gelato for dessert. The pizza was good but lacked some flavor. The sauce could definitely have used some garlic and the dough really needed some salt. The sodas were very good but a little on the sweet side. Because the pizza was not as good as we had expected we decided to pass on the gelato. Eventually we hit on the happy idea that we could go to Neilsen’s Frozen Custard for dessert. We’d been to the one near Las Vegas many times and it was always first rate.
We had made a list of all of the camping equipment we thought we would need but we really had no idea what kind / what size tent we would need. None of the places we called or visited had tents set up on their floors. Stumped, we decided to get gas and then get dessert. Along the way we found two interesting sporting goods stores that Google had failed to mention. Both had a full compliment of camping goods, including tents. We were able to determine that a four person tent would be more than enough for our needs.
The Neilsen’s in Saint George was charming. It looked like it had been around since the 1960s. Given that they were having a lot of trouble with the custard machines I’d say that we weren’t that far off. We ordered a single scoop of vanilla with caramel sauce and a single scoop of chocolate. The portions were much smaller (and cheaper) than we were used. The presentation was anything but neat but at least the custard was good.