Zion National Park

We went on our first true backpacking vacation last week.  We went to Zion National Park in Utah and hiked over 25 miles in about 4 days.

We arrived late Thursday afternoon.  After setting up camp at the Watchman campground, we were able to take the buses into the park. 
 

We got off at the Zion Lodge stop and hiked the short 2.2 mile roundtrip hike to the Upper Emerald Pools.  By the time we got back on the bus, it was getting dark.  We got lost looking for our campsite, by eventually found our way back.  It was the only night we had a campfire (since no fires are allowed in backcountry), so we treated ourselves to steak and mac and cheese.
 

The next day we took the buses back into the park and hiked several short day hikes. Zion is known for two more adventurous hikes - The Narrows (which is hiked through water) and Angels Landing. Since the water was still pretty cold, we skipped out on The Narrows. And well, I was too much of a chicken to even try to attempt the steep climb and long drop offs of Angels Landing.

We did, however, hike the 2.2 mile roundtrip Riverside Walk to see the entrance to the Narrows. Then we did the quick 0.4 mile hike to see the Weeping Rock. The most impressive hike of the day was probably the 2.4 mile roundtrip Hidden Canyon Trail. It had some great views and it was fun to hike into the "hidden" canyon, even though it required quite a bit of scrambling over boulders, toppled trees, etc.  (The first picture is of the entrance to the Narrows, the second is of the Weeping Rock, and the rest are from the Hidden Canyon Trail.)

 

 

 

About mid-afternoon, we left the main part of Zion and headed northwest about 45 minutes to Kolob Canyons.  This is were our true backpacking adventure began.

We started at the Lee Pass Trailhead and took the La Verkin Creek Trail about 2.5 miles to our campsite (campsite #2 out of 13 available in this part of the park).

 

 

 

I think we got to the campsite around 6:30 pm, which was just enough time to rub our sore feet, set up camp, and cook dinner.

 

 

Since there were recent black bear sightings in the area, we packed all of our food in a bear canister and did all of our cooking about 60 yards away from our tent.  Within 50 feet of our campsite we did find these tracks.  I think they are from a mountain lion, which are pretty common for the area.
 

 

The bulk of our hiking was the next day, where we hiked 4.5 miles to the Kolob Arch and then an additional 2.1 miles to Beartrap Canyon Falls (for a total of 13.2 miles that day - a half marathon of hiking if you will!)

 

I really enjoyed the La Verkin Trail.  I thought the scenery was nice, and plus, it's just so much more secluded than the main part of the park, which was nice.  Seeing the largest free standing arch in the US wasn't bad either.
 

 

 

And although our feet were mighty tired by the end of the day, I'm so glad we made the extra trek to Beartrap Canyon to see the waterfall.  We had to cross the La Verkin Creek (which was flowing fairly strong) 15 times between the Kolob Arch and the entrance to the canyon.  I kinda suck at crossing rivers, but got used to it after so many crossings!

We were both surprised to see snow as we entered the canyon.  Midday temperatures outside the canyon were in the 70's, but I guess it was still cold enough in the canyon to keep the snow from melting.  Even though we didn't hike The Narrows, I think this gave us a good glimpse of towering canyon walls.

 

 

It was a really nice trip and I think it went well for our first true backpacking adventure.  Can't wait to plan our next trip!  To see more pictures from our trip, click here.