High Drama Density (Utah Trip Day 5 and 6/Zion NP)
Tuesday (9/13/205) was a travel day. We took the scenic route from Moab to Springdale. In all we drove 350 miles in 9 hours with breaks. It had been highly recommended from a number of sources and was well worth it. We traveled through Dixie National Forest, Escalante/Grand Staircase National Monument and Capitol Reef National Park. I have no snapshots to share now but I do have a few panoramas to share in a later post.
Tired and antsy, it took us about an hour to travel the last 20 miles into Springdale. Springdale is a small tourist town adjacent to Zion NP. (You can walk into the park from the town.) From the east you must travel through a mile long tunnel that is one way when large vehicles need to go through. Between that, construction, and all the slow switch backs it a was a tedious trip even with the dramatic Zion canyon walls on both sides.
Wednesday (9/14/2005) was our first full day in Zion NP. Zion is a lot like the Yosemite valley. You are surrounded by towering cliffs on both sides and a river runs through the center of the valley. However, Yosemite is much wider and it's a valley surrounded by granite mountains while Zion is a narrow canyon surrounded by sandstone cliffs. Mike and I decided that the appeal of parks like these is the spectacular scenery which provides a sense of drama. The reason that Yosemite and Zion rate at the top of our lists is due to their high "drama density".
That first day we first hiked to the Emerald Pools. It was fairly short but quite nice. We then took another short hike to Weeping Rock, which is interesting. It's a place in the cliff side where water seeps out of the rock and plants grow upside down off the ledge. From there Mike and I hiked to Hidden Canyon. It was a very steep hike with part of the trail carved into the cliff side. At the end is a slot canyon that continues on for another couple hours (?) or so. We only hiked about 20 minutes into the slot canyon, wary of the potential danger if there was a sudden storm.
There are a number of longer half and whole day hikes in the park. We took one of them, Angel's Landing, on Friday. More about that later.
Below is a sampling of Zion pics from that day. Here is the entire gallery.
Weeping Rock
Looking up from Upper Emerald Pool
Are you talking to me?
Tired and antsy, it took us about an hour to travel the last 20 miles into Springdale. Springdale is a small tourist town adjacent to Zion NP. (You can walk into the park from the town.) From the east you must travel through a mile long tunnel that is one way when large vehicles need to go through. Between that, construction, and all the slow switch backs it a was a tedious trip even with the dramatic Zion canyon walls on both sides.
Wednesday (9/14/2005) was our first full day in Zion NP. Zion is a lot like the Yosemite valley. You are surrounded by towering cliffs on both sides and a river runs through the center of the valley. However, Yosemite is much wider and it's a valley surrounded by granite mountains while Zion is a narrow canyon surrounded by sandstone cliffs. Mike and I decided that the appeal of parks like these is the spectacular scenery which provides a sense of drama. The reason that Yosemite and Zion rate at the top of our lists is due to their high "drama density".
That first day we first hiked to the Emerald Pools. It was fairly short but quite nice. We then took another short hike to Weeping Rock, which is interesting. It's a place in the cliff side where water seeps out of the rock and plants grow upside down off the ledge. From there Mike and I hiked to Hidden Canyon. It was a very steep hike with part of the trail carved into the cliff side. At the end is a slot canyon that continues on for another couple hours (?) or so. We only hiked about 20 minutes into the slot canyon, wary of the potential danger if there was a sudden storm.
There are a number of longer half and whole day hikes in the park. We took one of them, Angel's Landing, on Friday. More about that later.
Below is a sampling of Zion pics from that day. Here is the entire gallery.
Weeping Rock
Looking up from Upper Emerald Pool
Are you talking to me?
posted by Bob Sardelli at 9:00 PM
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