Weather: sunny & hot
I got up at 7.20, and after breakfast was ready to leave at 8.45. It was a short drive up to the I15 highway, on which I was able to make good progress save for a bothersome fly which had got into the car during a stop in the Valley of Fire and was now periodically decided to distract my attention from the matter of driving. I was therefore somewhat relieved to get rid of it when I stopped at the information point just inside the Utah border (having just spent ten minutes within the northwestern corner of Arizona) and persuaded my stowaway to leave.
After picking up some potentially useful tourist information and changing my watch (Utah being on Mountain Daylight Time, an hour ahead of Arizona which remains on Mountain Standard Time all year, and Nevada which lies within the Pacific time zone), I was on my way again. I left I15 near the town of St George and headed east to Zion National Park.
The park covers an extensive area in southern Utah, but most visitors see little other than the main canyon after which the park is named. This was carved out of the surrounding mountainous landscape by the Virgin River, which flows down towards the Colorado at Lake Mead. The main entrance is at the end of the main canyon, which becomes progressively narrower as one heads upstream. A two-lane road runs alongside the river for a few miles until the canyon becomes too narrow to support it, and it is alongside this road that most of the major trails within the park commence. The main canyon itself is a lush green environment, with water in abundance both from the waters of the river and from rainwater seeping from the porous sandstone dominant in the park.
At the entrance station, just beyond the small town of Springdale, I encountered a very helpful ranger who explained to me the benefits of the National Parks' Pass, which for fifty dollars gave one a year's unlimited access, with vehicle, to all National Parks sites within the USA. Given that the fee to take a vehicle into Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon national parks was twenty dollars each, this seemed excellent value. I headed into the park a short distance down to the large parking lot adjacent to the Visitor Center.
2000 was the first year in which a new policy was being enforced throughout the park, with private vehicle traffic banned from the upper portion of the main canyon, a scene of much overcrowding in past years. No such ban was in force in the lower part out of necessity, since the road here formed part of Utah State Highway 9, heading east to Mount Carmel Junction. For the benefit of visitors, a free shuttle bus service operates, using articulated propane-fueled vehicles. This stops at all the major points along the road at a frequency of one roughly every six minutes during the daytime. The only other vehicles in the upper canyon are necessary service traffic and guests of Zion Lodge. It was to this point that I now headed, though not for accommodation but merely to seek a source of sustenance, it by now being 13.00 local time.
On the journey up the canyon, our driver pointed out some of the highlights of the canyon, not least a huge landslide alongside the river. This had occurred in April 1997, temporarily damming the river. Fearing a sudden breach, park rangers hurriedly evacuated the low-lying campground at the foot of the canyon, but the river had something else on its mind. With its old route blocked, what could be more natural than to choose a new route along the roadway alongside? The result was that the road was swept away, leaving staff and visitors marooned at the Lodge. It took 24 hours for a temporary footpath to be constructed so that the people could escape, and another three days before the path was widened sufficiently to enable them to retrieve their cars. Proof that whatever mankind may try to do, Nature will usually get her own way.
I purchased a meal of a cheeseburger, fries and a soft drink from the cafeteria at the Lodge, then headed outside in search of a place to eat it. I ended up sharing a large table with an elderly American couple from a coach party, who evidently had little time in which to appreciate the place fully but concluded from this vantage point that it was ``beautiful'', a sentiment with which I was inclined to agree, with the varied colours of the rocks of the mountains towering above us.
Suitably nourished and after a brief visit to the Post Office inside the Lodge in order to purchase some stamps, I set out after lunch for a walk on the Emerald Pools Trail. This was described in my free park guide as being a three-mile, two hour walk of moderate difficulty up into the shadow of the mountains just across the river from the lodge.
The first stage of the walk was easy, with gentle inclines on a wide, well-maintained path up to the lowest of the Emerald Pools, lying directly under high cliffs from which a couple of waterfalls carried a light stream of water. After heavy rains many more waterfalls will make a fleeting appearance, but there was little chance of my seeing them on this day, what with a cloudless sky. Thankfully the relatively shady environment of much of the canyon made the temperatures very reasonable for a walk.
Above the lower pool, the trail became more strenuous, being the preserve of more serious walkers rather than families with small children. The atmosphere became more friendly, with fellow walkers greeting each other as they met. From the Middle Emerald Pool was an excellent view over the canyon, its floor being in bright sunshine compared to the deep shade of the pools.
The walk to the uppermost of the three pools became more strenuous yet, in places being a bit of a scramble over large and loose rocks, before I reached the tranquil environment of the pool itself, lying directly beneath a high cliff from which rockfalls were not an uncommon occurrence judging by the piles of boulders around the place.
I spent time quietly contemplating this location (not to mention recovering from the exertions of the climb), then began my route back down. Once back across the river, I was ready for another drink, and partook of a large soda, which I consumed while writing a couple of postcards.
I next decided to head further into the canyon. Next stop was at the aptly-named Weeping Rock, a cliff face from which copious quantities of water were oozing, allowing many plants to flourish and forming a hanging garden, if not quite of Babylonian proportions. I continued up to the end of the road at the Temple of Sinawava (the name of one of the nearby peaks), having paused briefly to admire the view at Big Bend (as one might expect, a sizeable meander in the river).
While the road ends at this point, a broad footpath continues upstream for about a mile, forming the Riverside Walk, the easiest of the many trails in the park. I took this to its end, at a point at which the riverbanks disappear as the canyon becomes no wider than the river itself. Some intrepid adventurers continue further by wading into the river, but this is something not to be undertaken lightly what with the dangers of flash floods. I contented myself with a brief wander around on the stony beach before heading back to the shuttle stop.
The light was by now fading in the canyon, and I decided it was time to sort out some accommodation. My guidebook mentioned a couple of reasonably-priced motels in the small town of Mount Carmel Junction, about 25 miles to the east and ideally situated for continuing up towards Bryce Canyon, and I tried to phone ahead to one of them. Unfortunately due to the wonders of the American public telecommunications system and an apparent change of number, I was unable to get through, and instead I decided to venture back into Springdale. I found a room at the Pioneer Lodge Motel for a little over fifty dollars (including taxes, somewhat higher here owing to a greater percentage of state tax and additional local taxes, a point I discussed with the manager). I had dinner across the road at the ``Bumbleberry Inn'': a Caesar salad followed by chicken steak. Afterwards I stopped at a supermarket to buy some bottled water, and ended up also buying a so-called ``Hiking Map'' of both Bryce and Zion National Parks. By this point I had decided not to rush on to Bryce in the morning but instead to spent a little more time in Zion, having found it to be such a pleasant location.
Upon returning to the hotel I opted to make use of the available facilities to rest my legs and feet, somewhat wearied by walkings in two cities and then on the trails. I first tried the hot spa, very relaxing, before taking a dip in the pool. The coldness of this came as a bit of a shock after the hot tub but I soon readjusted, it still being pleasant even in the moonlight of night. I then retired to my room and watched the conclusion of an episode of M*A*S*H before retiring to bed.