Zion National Park - Heat Stroke Anyone?

I was up at 4:45 not because I wanted to but because I'm still on Eastern Time and I keep gaining an hour as I make my way west. I packed up and got to enjoy the sun rise once again on the Grand Canyon. It was the perfect goodbye and end to my first visit. I left the north rim by 5:30 so I could get to Zion National Park early enough to beat both the crowds and the heat. Well, that didn't happen. First of all, I gained an hour at the Canyon but lost it on my way to Zion. Damn those time zones!

I pulled into Zion National Park about 9:15 (Zion Time) and made my way up the perfect winding road into Zion. There are multiple hairpin turns through sandstone that is so red it doesn't look real!



(Here's a picture for you Karyn. God, I hate taking selfies.)


At one point I drove through this really long tunnel through Mt. Carmel that goes on for over a mile. Love!!!

Here's a view of what those hairpin turns look like that I found on google. KahRazy!


The sky was an intense blue so the sandstone just popped!

I had my phone mounted on the dashboard so I tried to capture the scenery. 


Both Zion and Bryce Canyon have this free shuttle that takes you around the park. You can hop on and off at different stops to see the sites and hike. I decided to hop off to hike the Emerald Pools Trail. It was about a 4 mile round trip hike up to different falls and a grotto where you can swim. At this point, once I got to this stop with the shuttle, it was after 10:30 and over 80º. I sprayed myself with 100 spf (no joke), put my Red Sox cap on and made my way to the falls and Emerald Pools Trail.


Some of the path is smooth and easy to walk. There is little shade but the curves and textures in the rock were breathtaking.

About a mile in you hear water flowing and splashing on the rocks below. It's high drought season here so I was amazed there was water at all. 



It wasn't a lot of water but I still stood right under it both on the way up the trail and on the way back down.



The further up you go, the trail becomes steeper and more challenging with steps carved into the sandstone.


Now, at this point the temperature was well into the 90's and I was only halfway there. I was glad I brought 2 large containers of water to keep me hydrated in the hot sun. At one point, I stopped to spray myself with more sunscreen. This very white girl does not want to burn!!

Beautiful isn't it?

Challenging way up the trail.



T-Rex rock!

It took me less than 2 hours to make the hike and I drank 64 ounces of water and took a waterfall shower 2 times to cool off. By the time I reached the bottom and made my way across the bridge to the shuttle pickup,  it was near 100º and I was spent. 

I got back into my air conditioned car, frozen strawberry smoothie in hand, 

drove back through the park, 

through the tunnel...

and out of the park.


Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 19, 2018 at 11:15 AM

    I think that might be my favorite landscape anywhere. So beautiful. Haven't been there in 20 years-- your pictures make me want to plan a trip soon!

    ReplyDelete

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