On Thursday, May 30th, we woke up in Zion National Park. We had spent two nights at site F5 in the Watchman Campground but had to move to site F1 for Thursday night because by the time I had made campground reservations in January, the campground had already been filling up. Lucky the people in F1 packed up early, and we able to go ahead and move our tent over the few sites. F1 was still a great site but there was less privacy between it and site F2.
We tried a new breakfast that morning with scrambled eggs, warmed up pre-cooked sausage patties, and cheese on english muffins. Wasn't horrible but I definitely need some more practice on a campstove.
Thursday was our "Tourist Day". We'd had a very long day on Wednesday so we thought it'd be best to give the boys an easier day.
We started the day by taking the shuttle through the canyon where no personal vehicles are allowed. Our first stop was at the Court of the Patriarchs. We hiked a very short little trail to a viewpoint of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Peaks.
We hopped back on the shuttle after taking a few pictures and went to Weeping Rock. This was a 0.4 mile round-trip, paved trail to a rock alcove with dripping springs. I had really wanted to do both the Hidden Canyon Trail and the Observation Point Trail which start here but both were closed because of rock falls. While this trip was amazing, it kept us on our toes with having to change our plans and not doing a lot of the things we had hoped to do. But that just means we need to go back! And then maybe everyone will be brave enough to try Angel's Landing!
Our third stop was at the end of the shuttle line at Temple of Sinawava. Again, we had originally hoped to hike from here up The Narrows, but water levels were too high and this area was closed. This will be on the top of the list though if we ever get to visit Zion again.
Instead we did the paved Riverside Walk along the Virgin River up to the entrance of The Narrows (it's about 2.2 miles round-trip).
This is the end of the Riverside Walk trail and where you'd normally enter the water to start hiking The Narrows.
You can tell in this picture that the river was really high and flowing fast.
After seeing just a handful of people the day before, it was the opposite on this trail with tons of people.
Rylan and Gray went ahead and turned in their books. After saying the ranger pledge and getting their badges, everyone in the museum clapped. Rylan was so embarrassed!!
The boys and I looked around the museum and snacked until Carter and Brian arrived. When they did, Carter got his junior ranger badge and then we took the shuttle back to the Visitor Center. We walked to our campsite from here and ate a late lunch (2 pm - sandwiches and chips). It was super peaceful in the campground during the middle of the day.
After lunch we drove to the Canyon Overlook Trailhead.
The trailhead is just on the other side of the one mile tunnel and we found parking just up the road in a pullout. The trail goes to the top of Zion Arch, which you can't see ever on the hike as you come up the back side and end on top of it. Plus the arch is more of a cut out of rock under the top ledge - there isn't an arch you see through.
The hike was short - about one mile round-trip. The trail starts off above Pine Creek slot canyon.
Fun section leading to a shaded alcove ...
Taking a break to enjoy the view ...
This is a pretty popular trail but limited parking helps to keep it from being too crowded.
The viewpoint at the end of the trail of the main canyon. The road is Route 9 before the one mile tunnel.
We explored the formations up here before heading back.
You can see one of the "windows" in the tunnel. It's about halfway down in the photo and to the left.
Our next stop was further up Route 9 to about a mile past the second tunnel. We parked here and hiked an unmarked, unofficial trail that is known as the Many Pools Trail or the Root Canals Trail.
We left the road on the wrong side but quickly crossed back under it through this cool tunnel.
We unexpectedly loved this hike. It We also only saw two other people the entire time which was awesome compared to the rest of the day. The "trail" follows an open wash with a bunch of fun pothole formations.
The big boys took the hard, but fun, path.
We eventually turned around but I think we would have all enjoyed exploring even further.
You can see the crack the big boys took hiking up on the left side of this photo. Obviously not the easiest path.
The setting sun was really beautiful.
We returned to our campsite after this and had a late (8pm) dinner of nachos (hot dogs and hummus for kids).
As it's been awhile since I've posted about this trip, here are links to the previous days of this trip:
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