ZION NATIONAL PARK

First of all let me say that today marks Mr. W and I being married 40 years.  Geez! 40 years! Man, where has the time gone?

Don't we look young?  Let's see, 40 years, so I guess that makes me 9 and Mr. W 10? :)

OK, now to Zion National Park.  We arrived in Springdale, Utah on Monday.  We are staying at Zion Canyon RV Park which is about 1/2 mile from the entrance of Zion National Park.  It has full hook-ups, pool, laundry, a pavilion, a free shuttle that picks you up and brings you back from the park, and a river runs on the back side of the park.  It is not cheap.  As a matter of fact, Mr. W is worrying about where in our budget we are going to make up for over spending the "rent" section this month.  This park does not participate in any of the discount clubs.  So, the nightly fee is $45.  We are staying here for 2 weeks.  The only discount you get is if you stay 7 days you get 1 day free.  So I'm paying for 12 days instead of 14.  But you can still do the math and wow! But, here's our backdrop for the next 14 days.  I guess some things are worth the splurge.

There are just about as many foreigners here as there were at the Grand Canyon.  The rental RV businesses are making a fortune.  There are all shapes and sizes, makes and models, of rental RVs everywhere.  Most all the foreigners have the rental RVs.  We have seen very few Americans with the rentals.  We've seen/met Germans, Dutch, Korean, Japanese, French, and Italian all in RVs. Mr. W wanted to take a picture of one particular kind that he finds fascinating.  It is not exactly my idea of an RV, but whatever serves your purpose.

The part that pops up on top is called the penthouse.  They have the words painted on the outside of the automobile.

We went to the park today to get info and check things out.  While we were there, Mr. W decided that it would be good to take a hike.  You know that makes me nervous, right?  But, we talked to a Ranger and he acted like the trail was not that big of a deal.  So we went.  We were going to hike the trail that is called Lower Emerald Pool Trail and Upper Emerald Pool Trail.  You would think that National Parks would eventually get a little more creative with the names! Actually, when we got to the trailhead, the sign indicated that there was also a Middle Emerald Pool Trail.

One thing about hikes is you usually get to go to places that aren't visible from the road and you wouldn't get to see if you didn't do the hike.  So off we went.

 

 

 

One of the weird things about this hike is that the "Emerald Pools" are not pretty.  The water is very clear but the dirt underneath is red and/or brown so it looks almost muddy and not emerald.  The hike to Lower Emerald Pool and Middle Emerald Pool were not bad.  But then we started the hike to Upper Emerald Pool.  The Ranger had said it was a moderate climb and there was an elevation change but not bad.  OK, I'm good with that.  However, what he did not say was that the trail became very rocky.  Not little pebbles, rocky.  You had to climb onto and over rocks to get up the trail.  It also became very narrow where only 1 person could climb up or climb down at a time.  I am officially hating hiking again at this point.  At one point, I told Mr. W to go ahead and see how much farther it was because I was about done.  He took off and I waited for a little bit to see if he came back.  I decided what the heck, I had gone this far, I might as well finish it.  So I did.  It was a pretty oasis in the mountain once I got there.

We started the hike back down and reached a point where you could go one way and return the same way you came or go another way and take a different hike and end up at a different place.  I decided to take the different route.  Mr. W wasn't going to pick because he didn't want to be held responsible if the trail ended up being one that I did not like again.  Smart man.  But, this trail was a good one and again, I got some great photos.

Everything is in bloom right now.

 

 

We did make a stop by the Lodge while we were out today.  Mr. W's dream is to stay at a National Park Lodge one day.  He is not sure which one, but one of them.

Not as rustic looking as the lodges at Grand Canyon

We also decided to drive through the part of the park that is least visited.  It is about 30 miles northwest of where we are.  It has a scenic drive with several pull-offs and scenic overviews.  There are a couple of trails in this section but that wasn't happening.  There is a place called the "Grand Arch" and it is supposedly the oldest and biggest natural arch in existence.  If Mr. W wants to see it, he will have to hike by himself or with someone else. :)  The roads were as red as the rock and they looked pretty great by themselves.

We did make it back in time to go out to dinner at a little gas station turned restaurant that is right by where we are staying.  The food was good and the view was spectacular.  It all made for a good anniversary.