Today's 'where to hike' decision came very quickly. The choice? Observation Point trail, rated by the National Park Service as:
Strenuous: Climbs through Echo Canyon to Observation Point. Excellent views of Zion Canyon.Zion National Park has done a very cool thing. No one can wander in their own cars. The only motorized transportation allowed within Zion Canyon - except for the rangers, of course - is the park shuttle bus. We rode the bus to the trailhead for Observation Point, and then we started up the trail.
We pranced up and up and up some more. Oh! Yes, you're right, I pranced, and Denise walked. I think that prancing is more fun, don't you?
We passed through shaded sections, parts of the trail dappled with sunshine, eventually changing to all sun. There were distinct differences in the trail sections, from wooded, to (almost) a slot canyon, from hiking on a park-service-paved trail, to a natural rock surface, to sand. Up, up, up...
Wind, howling wind. Denise had to hold on the the canyon wall for stability a couple of times, and I only posed for a couple of photos. It was so windy I might have blown away! We could feel the wind, but we could hear it too. The sound of swirling wind enveloped us as we came around the corners of switchbacks on the trail.
The top was a long time coming, but it was worth the tramp. From the top of Observation Point, Angel's Landing was visible. Oh look, the elevation of Angel's Landing is 5790 feet, and Observation Point is at 6507 feet. No wonder it seemed so far. It was!
Switchbacks were visible from the top, but they were far away. The switchbacked piece of the trail is on the lower section of trail, but it was visible from the upper section of trail. It's pretty amazing to be able to see a pattern to the trail from that far away.
I think that it's a later than normal wildflower season here (based on the flowers we enjoyed when we were here last year, two months earlier than now). I rememer seeing beautiful tiny flowers when we were here last spring. We are here two months later than last year, and the flowers are just amazing. And the cactus is in bloom. Wow.
There are so many different things to see. A few chipmunks posed for us, but not enough. And I think they probably are some kind of ground squirrel, one with multiple stripes down their backs. And there were skittering lizards too. I hope that a few more of these animals agree to pose for us tomorrow. I think we still need more pictures.
Ah, it's time to go down. Down, down... And then up a little more to visit Weeping Wall.
It was a day of good conversations, a day of leap-frogging other hikers on the trail. I guess everyone was taking turns exercising their cameras or finding a time for a little rest. Denise asked another photographer about his tripod since he was using the brand she is looking at - Gitzo. He let her pick it up, and wow - that's light. He was using a tripod head to allow him to do panoramic shots. That was heavy, but what a cool thing. I think we'd better start with the basics though, and I think that's what Denise is thinking too.
It was a good day, but a day of tired feet. My paws are tired too - from prancing up and down the trail.
Tomorrow? I'm not sure where we're going. Denise is thinking about the Hidden Canyon Trail, but that shares the start with the trail we did today. I think Denise was considering Hidden Canyon on the way back from Observation Point today, but we were both pretty tired so we skipped that today. How long was the Observation Point trail? The park service shows it as 8 miles. It was almost entirely uphill on the way out. Climbing, climbing. From the end of the trail we were looking down on Angel's Landing, and that was quite a bit below us.
Dinner? A nice veggie lasagne. Then we came back to the room to write for a bit. And then? We went out for ice cream!
You know that Denise doesn't like standing close to the edge when there is a steep drop-off, don't you? I can't believe how many trails in this park are marked with these little person and rocks falling signs. And we still manage to find places to hike that make Denise happy!
