Southwestern Utah Vacation - Day 2: Rain, Snow, and Riverside Walk

Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Zion National Park

There were a number of trails I had in mind to hike while we were at Zion.  Yesterday, we had knocked one off the list (Angels Landing).  I also wanted to do the Riverside Walk, Emerald Pools, Hidden Canyon, Canyon Overlook, and Watchman Trail.  We really only had two full days left in Zion - today and then Friday when we returned from Bryce Canyon.  Was that enough time to fit them all in?

Today the weather was not pleasant.  It was rainy and cool.  I think raw might be the right word.  We thought we would start things off by visiting the Human History Museum in the park, but found when we got there at 9:20 that it didn't open for another 40 minutes.  So we headed back to the Visitor Center to talk with a ranger and see if they had any recommendations for rainy-day trails.

We left the Visitor Center with the idea that we could do the Emerald Pools.  However, the closer we got to the shuttle stop, the heavier the rain seemed to get.  We changed our plans and decided to stay on the shuttle and get off at the last stop, the Temple of Sinawava.  Here we could take the easy mile-long paved trail to the area of the Virgin River where the hike for the Narrows starts.  I think the Narrows would be a great hike because you hike in the river, up through the canyon.  Not something that was really on the agenda for us in April, though.  The water is cold and the current is fairly strong.

The scenery here is stunning as the sheer sandstone cliffs rise a thousand feet above the river that carved them.

Looking up into the narrows.

We were all pretty wet and cold by the time we made it back to the shuttle.  As we headed back down canyon it started to snow!  A group of four that had just finished hiking Emerald Pools got on at one of the stops.  They were soaked and their hands were frozen from holding on to their hiking poles.  They were pumped, though, partly from running to catch the shuttle and partly because just as they got to the waterfall, it had started to snow and made the most amazing scene.  I'm glad we didn't go on that hike, but I love how you can still have a great experience even if the weather isn't what you were hoping.

These people we met on the bus were from the Burlington, Vermont area and we kept bumping into them all week - on other hikes, at Bryce Canyon, and finally at the airport in Las Vegas.  We compared notes on different hikes and laughed at the weather.  One of the women said she recognized us from the hotel restaurant because she remembered the nice family with the big, tall boy who still hugged his dad.

After getting dried off and warmed up a bit at the hotel, we went out for lunch.  I wanted to try out Oscar's, and luckily there was a table available inside.  There were tables outside under heaters, but that would not have done it for me.  The food was good and Bill was able to get the burger he craved.

There were breaks in the clouds in the afternoon, so we thought we'd try again for Emerald Pools.  We got to the Human History Museum and it started to rain.  We poked around in the gift shop and watched the film in the theater, but things weren't looking any better.  We did run into the Vermonters again here.

The weather cut our hiking short, but did give us some nice pictures of snow-dusted peaks.

We gave up and headed back into town.  We hit a few rock shops, went back to the hotel and eventually out to dinner.  This time we ate at Zion Pizza & Noodle Co.  It was good, but the main dining area was essentially outside.  I hadn't realized that when we walked in.  They had the shades pulled down over the "windows", but after a few minutes I realized that there really were no windows.  That explained the gas heaters positioned around the room.  I kept my coat on through dinner, but the food was good.

Southwestern Utah Vacation - Day 1: Angels Landing

Monday, April 15, 2013
Zion National Park


After our breakfast buffet at the Switchback Restaurant (I can not emphasize enough what a highlight this was for the boys) we headed into the park.  The entrance fee is $25/car and is good for seven days.*

One of the first things we do when we get to a National Park is check out the Visitor Center and talk with a ranger.  The Visitor Center is the place to find out weather conditions, get a summary of the geology or history of the park, and get information on hiking and other sites to see.  The rangers' insights can be invaluable.

Today, the weather was a little cloudy and breezy, but not too cold.  It looked like rain was likely tomorrow, so it made sense to save shorter hikes for then.  The hike that I had in the back of my mind for today was Angels Landing, a four-hour, 5.4 mile hike that was listed as strenuous and (here is the part that gave me pause) not for anyone fearful of heights.

Here is a description from zionnational-park.com (not the official government website):

The last half-mile is across a narrow sandstone ridge. Anchored support chains are attached along some sections of the sheer fin. Sheer cliffs at high elevations while hiking on a narrow fin. Not suggested for children or those with a fear of heights. Avoid standing near the edge at all times! Do not hike the trail when it is wet, storming, or when high winds are present.

Sounds exciting, but maybe a bit too exciting.  In talking with the ranger, we found that there was an area called Scout Lookout just short of Angels Landing that still gave commanding views.  The decision was made!

We took the shuttle to The Grotto stop.  During the ride, we listened to the recorded tour of the canyon, which included an admonition that the hike to Angels Landing could be dangerous.   After exiting the bus, we crossed the road and were met by a sign warning of the danger.  The main message being "Your safety is your responsibility."  Know your limits.  I appreciate that the park service has not closed these trails, but instead has given ample warning and let people make up their own minds.

Reason enough for mom to be nervous:
Six people have gone over the edge in the past 9 years.

Crossed the Virgin River to start our hike.

The way up to Scout Lookout took some work, at least for me, but we weren't in any rush.  The guys would go on ahead and then wait until I caught up.  This part of the trail was wide and in no way scary.  Bill annoyed Tom by taking a million pictures, so any that include Tom usually show him looking exasperated.  It was becoming clear as we walked that, although Dave had no intention of going all the way to Angels Landing and I was on the fence, Tom had determined he was going to go.

Going up Walter's Wiggles

We made it up Walter's Wiggles, a series of short switchback's just below Scout Lookout.  Once at Scout Lookout, we could see across to Angels Landing.  What is not obvious from this vantage point is that the trail goes up to a peak, then back down along a narrow spine, and back up again to the end.

Spine between two peaks not visible.

The boys were ahead of us as we approached the first set of chains.  I got to the top and Tom had already continued on beyond where we could see him and certainly beyond where Dave had planned on going.  

Up the first set of chains.  Note the warning sign again.

Bill was within view and speaking distance and was planning to follow Tom.  I hadn't really made up my mind that I was okay with them going and at least wanted to talk it over with them, but it was out of my hands now.  I was certain that I couldn't follow them and watch them on the scary parts, though.  So I stayed at Scout Landing, a nervous wreck, for the next hour or more.  (Let me just say I'm glad I hadn't read this article before we went.)

Bill took this picture looking back at us.  My comment was,
"Put the camera away and hold onto the chain with both hands!"

The time that they were gone seemed like forever.  Neither of us had realized that the trail continued as far as it did.  As I mentioned previously, you can not see the part of the trail that dips down between the two peaks, so it doesn't seem like it should take that long.  The time was spent alternately between thinking terrible thoughts and being distracted by other people who were going by or had joined us at this place that was deemed "far enough".

The narrow part we couldn't see.

Tom scrambling up.

The view from the top.

Tom taking a picture over the side with the phone.

What a relief when the boys came back into view!  They had made it all the way to the end.  I think I was more proud of them than they were of themselves.  Just another day for a kid, I guess.  I am glad I did not go with them, because I think I would have ruined the experience for them. 

Back down Walter's Wiggles.

A picture of the trail from above.

A great view of the canyon.

I can't vouch for the trail all the way to Angels Landing, but if I can make it to Scout Lookout, most other people can to.  It is well worth the trip.

After the hike, we headed back into town and ate a very late lunch at Cafe Soleil.  Yummy paninis and some pizza.  Definitely hit the spot after our long hike.  From there, we went back to rest at the hotel.  The guys played on the putting green a bit and then Bill and Dave went for a swim in the heated pool.  I just enjoyed the view from a rocking chair on the back patio.

Later we learned about the bombings at the Boston Marathon.  It felt odd to be so far from home.


*  If you walk into the park, the fee is $12/person and is free for those age 15 and under.  Our teenagers are 15 and 14, so we could have saved a whole dollar by walking in.  If you are going to use the shuttle, there is no need to drive in.  We were going to be driving over to Bryce and would need to go through Zion on Route 9 to do so, so paying for the car for the week made sense anyway.  I did walk into the park by myself once and simply had to show the receipt.  If we were trying to enter the park at different times and meet up somewhere else later, I don't know how you would handle that as there is only one receipt.

Southwestern Utah Vacation - Day 0

Sunday, April 15, 2013

I'm calling this Day 0 because it was a day spent traveling.  Not very interesting, but I wanted to make note of a couple of things for my own reference.

The outline of our trip:  Fly into Las Vegas on Sunday and get to Zion National Park that night.  We would stay until Wednesday morning and then drive to Bryce Canyon National Park (about 2 hours away) where we would spend one night, giving ourselves Wednesday afternoon and as much of the day on Thursday as we wanted before we headed back to Zion.  We'd have a full day in Zion on Friday and then have a little time on Saturday morning before we had to head back to Las Vegas for a late afternoon flight.

We were able to get direct flights between Hartford and Las Vegas on Southwest.  We arrived in Las Vegas around 5 p.m. Sunday, but by the time we got off the plane and got our rental, I think it was after 6 p.m. before we left town.  B wanted to go down "The Strip" in the hopes of seeing some cool cars, but his parents just wanted to get on the highway.

B's view of "The Strip"

It took us about three hours to get to Spingdale, Utah, the gateway to Zion National Park.  It was 10 p.m. local time.  Nevada is on Pacific Time, but Utah is on Mountain Time.

Side note: The part of Arizona we went through does not observe Daylight Savings Time, so they are still on Mountain Standard time, which in this case is the same time as Pacific Daylight Time.  Interestingly, the Navajo Nation (northeastern Arizona) does observe Daylight Savings Time, but the Hopi Nation, which is within the bounds of the Navajo reservation does not, it stays on Mountain Standard Time like the rest of the state.

We stayed at the Best Western Zion Park Inn and were extremely happy with our choice.  We had a great view from our room of the mountains behind the hotel.  There was a small putting green, a heated pool and hot tub, and the highlight for the boys was the complimentary breakfast buffet at the Switchback Restaurant.  The buffet was quite extensive and provided the fuel the boys needed to get in a solid morning of hiking.

Springdale is a great little town with plenty of restaurants to check out.  I suppose it has neat shops, but if you know me, you know that is not my thing.  We did visit at least three rock shops while we were there and also went to the Fatali Gallery.

Southwestern Utah Vacation - A Word About NPS Shuttle Buses

The last time we were at Zion National Park (1996), I remember talk of the Park Service introducing a shuttle bus system.  The idea did not appeal to me.  I am, after all, an American, and I love having a car at my disposal.

How wrong I was!  The shuttle bus system ROCKS!

The advantages of the shuttle bus system include less congestion and pollution, better hiking options, a opportunity for camaraderie and information, and flexibility of activities within the family.

The shuttle was introduced to Zion in 2000.  Each year, starting in March and going into the beginning of November, cars are not allowed to enter Zion Canyon past Canyon Junction.  Canyon Junction is where the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive begins and heads north while State Route 9, the road on which you enter the park from Springdale, heads east in the direction of Bryce Canyon National Park.  (The only exception to the no car rule seems to be if you are staying at the Zion Lodge in the park.  You are given an access card at the entrance station which allows you access along the road to the lodge. From what I can tell, the access card does not allow you to stop anywhere else.  You would still need to use the shuttle to see the sites).


The shuttles runs in a continuous loop from the Visitor Center to the end of the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive at the Temple of Sinawava and back again.  There are nine stops in all, and the shuttles stop at each location on both the way up-canyon and the way down.  On the way up-canyon, a recorded message explains the geologic and human history of the canyon.  The shuttles arrive at each stop less than 10 minutes apart, so if you see one pulling away, another will be there shortly.  The total round-trip takes about 80 minutes.  The town of Springdale also has a shuttle system that connects to the park system at the Visitor Center.  The shuttles are all free and you can hop on or off at any stop.


If you have been to a National Park, you know that there can be lines of traffic to get into the park.  Once you get in, traffic can slow to a snail's pace if someone decides to pull over for a photo opportunity.  Often, you must keep your fingers crossed to find a parking space at the trail head.  The shuttle system has changed all that!  The shuttles were virtually alone on the road.  The parking lots are empty and you can get to any trail head you want by simply hopping off at the right spot.  Pollution in the park has been reduced by not only eliminating all the automobiles, but also by the use of Propane on the shuttles.

The shuttle also opens a whole new set of possibilities for hiking.  If you have a car, you need to plan your route so that you return to your car.  This is not the case with the shuttle.  You can start hiking in one place and end up someplace else.  No backtracking.  With only a limited amount of time and limited endurance, it is nice to be able to hike a trail in one direction.

One of the other advantages of the shuttle I hadn't considered was the feeling of camaraderie that could develop - something that would not happen if we were all locked in our individual automobiles.  On one of the days we were in the park, it rained and snowed.  We were soaked after doing a short hike on the Riverside Walk trail.  We got on the bus to head back to our hotel and get dried off.  At one of the other stops we picked up a group that had hiked to the Emerald Pools and was colder and wetter than we were.  The Emerald Pools hike had been our original plan, but after seeing the weather, we had opted for the easier, shorter hike.  We got to talking and laughing with this other group and learned about some of the hikes they had done.  After that, we kept seeing them and saw them again at Bryce Canyon and even at the airport in Las Vegas!  We continued to share hike information every time we met up.

Another advantage of the shuttle is being able to go your own way once you enter the park.  Because we were visiting the park before peak season, we opted to drive to the Visitor Center each morning.  We talked with the Ranger about possible hikes and then grabbed a shuttle to the appropriate stop. However, we could split up if we needed to.  We weren't relying on one car.  On the last day, we needed to get our airline boarding passes for the next day.  Two of us headed back to the hotel, and the other two finished the hike and then took the shuttle deeper into the canyon for one last chance at taking some pictures.  When we got back to the Visitor Center, we picked up the Springdale shuttle and were dropped off across the street from out hotel.


Bryce Canyon also has a shuttle system, but it wasn't in operation yet for the season.  I actually missed having it available.  If it operates as efficiently as the one at Zion, it would expand the hiking options and allow you to see more of the park in less time because you wouldn't have to return on trails you took to get into the canyon.

I don't know if the shuttle system would work well in every park, but the one at Zion made me a convert.

Granby - McLean Game Refuge: Fish & Birds

Things are finally warming up a bit.  Temps were in the mid-50's making it another perfect day for a walk in the game refuge.  This time I started on Canton Road, walked down the still icy woods road and turned right in the direction of Trout Pond.  As I crossed the bridge over Bissell Brook, I spotted the small fish in the picture below.

Not long after that, I heard a woodpecker.  The picture I got isn't that great, but it is definitely a Pileated.

Pileated woodpecker.

I turned left on to the North Trail and climbed to the ridge.  Now I was headed in the direction of Kettle Pond.  I was hoping to hear the cacophony of Wood Frog calls, but I heard and saw nothing.  In previous years, I have seen thousands of them in Kettle Pond while half of the pond was still covered with ice.  There is no ice now, so I suspect I missed the mating season.  Check out this cool video on how North American Wood Frogs freeze and then thaw.  Amazing.

Looking down the North Trail.

A nice walk, on a nice spring day was capped off by being able to add a new bird to my life list - a Wood Duck!  They are much more skittish than the Canada Geese or even the Mallards, so I didn't get a close-up shot.  Still, I am happy to be able to add this beautiful bird to my list.

Two Mallards, two Canada geese, and two Wood Ducks.

OHC - Moss, Lichen & Mushrooms

My son and I took a walk in a local game refuge to look for any moss, lichen, and mushrooms.  There were still large areas with snow on the ground, but around the bases of trees and along the stream banks, the sun had done its work.

The thing that amazed me about this month's challenge was the incredible diversity of species.

Here are some of our mosses (although, I think some are not true mosses, but club mosses).

It's like everyone is looking in one direction.

These look like mini ferns.

These remind me of sea anemones.

Now onto our mushroom collection.  Some of these are absolutely beautiful.

 

 

I love these.  They formed on a stump left by a beaver.

 

Some kind of slime mold.

I think this might be called Ceramic parchment.

Since it is on a coniferous tree, I am going to say it is Orange Jelly.

Some kind of puffball.  I was surprised to find it in early March.
I thought it was a fall fungus.

We also found some lichen, but the pictures were not that great.

This month, we really just spent our time looking for as many different species as we could find.  It is funny how once you start looking, you see them everywhere.  Our next step will be to work on identification.

Granby - McLean Game Refuge

It was a gorgeous day and the boys wanted to go to the park to play basketball, so I decided to take a walk in the McLean Game Refuge.

The mottled bark of the sycamore is beautiful.

I crossed the bridge from Salmon Brook Park into the refuge and turned right when I got to the blue/orange/red blazed trail.  These trails run together for a bit before first the red and then the orange trail turn off.  Each trail completes a circuit with the blue trail being the longest.  I took the blue trail today.

The trail had patches of ice and mud, but nothing too serious and those disappeared altogether once I started going uphill.  At one rock outcropping, I could see through the trees to the Barndoor Hills.  The hill on the left is in the game refuge.  Boy, it looks a long way away.

Barndoor Hills in the distance.

Today, I saw my first butterfly of the year.  Actually, I saw three.  I saw two Mourning Cloaks and then a smaller orange one that I did not get a good look at as it flitted by.

Mourning Cloak.

Once the blue trail got down to the woods road, I found the trail was pretty icy.  I think more people use these trails and the snow gets packed down and doesn't melt as quickly.  It wasn't too treacherous, although I think some trekking poles would have been helpful.

Woods road was icy.

The trail brings you around to Trout Pond.  I did not see any trout today, but I did see a couple of geese tipping their tails in the air looking for food on the bottom of the pond.  I also saw a few turtles basking in the sun on a log along the pond's edge.

Senator McLean's cabin with a view of Trout Pond partially covered with ice.

After leaving the pond, I turned left on the loop back toward Salmon Brook Park.  In the lower muddy area between the game refuge and the park, I found some skunk cabbage in bloom.  Near the bridge, in a dryer, sandier spot, I saw some yellow flowers that I at first took for dandelions, but upon closer inspection, I believe they are coltsfoot.

Skunk cabbage.

Coltsfoot.