Zion National Park

Day 12 National Parks 2010

Woke up at 5:30am and did morning ceremony.  I then hustled to hang my tent and sleep stuff on the clothes line to shake off pounds of sand.  Then I laid each item on the picnic table to pack them sand free.  I didn’t roll off until 7am.  Skipped breakfast and water, just hit the road.  I had snacks packed in the shotgun seat to munch, nor and mushroom chips, etc..  The drive was exhausting.  I took a Taco Bell 20 minute rest.  I kept on driving, a lot of miles to cover today.  I kept on driving, even though I had trouble in staying focused on the road.  It’s a combination of driving fatigue, heat on the road, and general travel exhaustion. 

I made it to Zion National Park South Camp.  The walk in camp is like Bryce where you park at an empty space and pay and put the tag up.  I rolled into #76 camp site when an elderly couple was pulling out and insisted I stay there free for 2 nights and refused to accept my money.  They decided to leave early and had two more nights on their prepaid site.  The timing of it was amazing.  Any second earlier or later I would have missed her waving and flagging me down.  I am grateful at the simplicity and smoothness of such a tender exchange.  This was 1:32pm. 

I set up tent and the ground was covered with rocks.  The only way to stake my tent down was to tie it to the picnic table.  It took me an hour to set up.  Mostly I had to solve the rocky ground issue.  I was super tired when I was done and sleepy.  I pulled down the rain fly to let more air through and I slept in the tent.  This spot #76 is by the river front campsites and in between us is the river trail.  The river front campsites cost more.  There is no shower facilities here, people use the river to dip in, also no dish washing facilities here. 

I woke up at 5:30pm and hiked to the museum bus stop and got on the bus.  The river trail will take me to the museum but I wanted to get a bus tour of the place.  I went to the Emerald Pools Trail and got off at the Zion Lodge where the trail head was.  The lower pools were pretty with water dripping.  The upper pool had frogs that croaked and echoed all over the canyon.  They have a large sack in their jaw that helps them create these loud sounds.  It’s quite cool to watch them as their sacks rattle.  It’s the most exciting part of this part of the pools. 

I stopped to listen in on a ranger tour in progress on a trail.

This little guy is so loud. 

I hiked all over Mt. Emei in Sichuan China to try to locate these cute little frogs with a German traveler and had no success, here they are. 

I was told the Narrows opened two days ago.  That until then the water level had been too high and currents too dangerous.  So this is why after Bryce I had to skip Zion, I didn’t know it then that the Narrows was still closed.  Now that it has opened, I am here.  I have always wanted to do the narrows slot canyons.  I had wanted to backpack through it.  But given the height of the water level and my height, I’d just be swimming with my back pack on.  It is not fully open, it is only open to Springdale.  The rest of the water is still too high.  I heard parts of it requires a bit of swimming and to avoid swimming and falling into the water if you can.  I shall tackle this tomorrow. 

I need to add spray bottle to my to bring list and window clean stuff to clean off smashed dried bugs off the windshield.  There is no dish washing facilities here.  People are asked to take water back to their site to wash then dump the water outside the restroom gutter area. 

The restrooms here at Zion National Park are not well maintained.  I don’t want to touch anything.  Grand Canyon National Park South Rim had the best restroom so far with shower and regular maintenance.  North Rim Grand Canyon National Park restroom go head to head with Bryce National Park and Arches National Park ranks behind.

North Rim Grand Canyons National Park shower facility had a heater that was super hot and wonderful, Clayton the facilities guy maintained it regularly but the facilities itself was outdated.  Bryce National Park shower facilities were more current but less maintained. 

As for laundry facilities, North Rim Grand Canyons National Park wins.  Bryce National Park and Grand Canyons National Park South Rim go head to head. 

As for campsites, all the national parks I have been in so far including Kaibab National Forest Dispersed camping had really good chi.  Here at Zion National Park, the mountain backdrop and the river by the campsite makes up for the actual campsite deficiency.  The campsites just feel very well used and nature doesn’t quite have time to exhale and regenerate. 

As for sleep I liked it all.  I like the sound of running river here.

Drinking water, the water at both North and South Rim of Grand Canyons National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park all taste good and sweet.  The drinking water at Arches National Park is terrible to drink.  The water here at Zion isn’t good to drink either.  Always pack your own water enough for the week just in case. 

I walked around other campsites to see what others were doing with their setup.  Everyone had their rain fly up and so I too will put up my rain fly for the night even though it is very hot. 

In the dark of the night, because the restroom was so gross, I had to bring water back to my campsite and hide in a bush and wash that way while breathing in fresh air and look at the star filled sky.  At Grand Canyons National Park, you can see the Milky Way clearly at night.