Starting on the largely flat desert plains of Mesquite, NV we continue along I-15 and soon cross into Arizona. The change of state is coincidentally accompanied by a dramatic change of scenery. Road signs indicate mountain gradients but do little to prepare travellers for a dramatic 11 mile route through the Virgin River Gorge, flanked by soaring walls of Sandstone and Limestone we follow the Virgin River. The gorge finally ends and we return to a more familiar scrubby desert landscape. Having cut the corner of Arizona, we finally enter Utah around St George and soon leave I-15 to join Highway 9 heading East to Springdale. The landscape begins to change once more. It becomes reminiscent of the red sandstone mountains and scrubby cottonwood plateaux around Sedona, and the Grand Canyon. This does not come as a surprise as we are not too far from the North Rim.

We climb a winding road outside of La Verkin onto a false plateau, a sandstone mass to our left is revealed to be Hurricane Mesa, the site of the test track constructed during the development of the rocket engine.

Highway 9 will carry us to our destination, and ultimately beyond, in the meantime occasional ‘pull ins’ allow us to stop and take in the developing landscape as the mountains of the Zion National Park begin to appear in the distance…and the crowds begin to build!

Choosing to travel to Zion in late Summer, we had hoped to avoid the crowds and intense heat, that may be so but the road and Springdale are plenty busy and still mighty warm (35oC).

Springdale is the main hub for visitors to the park, pleasant town nonetheless, a little touristy, and buzzing with all of the essentials.

In an effort to preserve the habitat of the Park, cars were banned from the canyon itself many years ago, tourists are conveyed by a system of frequent and free shuttle buses, firstly from Springdale to the Park entrance, and once past the entry booth a further system of ‘hop on and off’ buses (LPG) make the ‘out and back’ trip to the end of the Canyon, stopping at drop points to allow visitors to access various hikes etc along the 15 miles of the Canyon floor, following the Virgin River, the architect of this magnificent place.

Time is short today, even more so as we hadn’t realised we had slipped from Pacific to Mountain time so had inadvertently lost an hour!

We boarded the shuttle and entered the Park having secured an ‘Annual All US parks’ pass we are ‘good to go’, as the lovely P and R lady assured me.

With the sun going down we set off on a late afternoon adventure. Passing under ‘The Watchman’, doing a magnificent job guarding the entrance to the Park, we left the shuttle at stop number 4 and took the short walk to ‘The Court of the Patriarchs’, with our backs to the ‘Mountain of the Sun’ (and its splendid hanging valley) the 3 peaks of ‘The Court of the Patriarchs’ rise majestically above the Canyon floor. Abrahams Peak, Isaacs Peak and Jacobs Peak make up this trio of rocky guardians.

Taking another shuttle we made our way to the end of the Canyon.

The final stop is ‘The Temple of Sinawava’, a soaring rocky amphitheatre from which the Virgin River emerges on its busy ‘gorge cutting’ way down the Zion valley.

The Temple of Sinawava (named after a Paiute Indian spirit God) is also the starting point of a 3 mile (round trip) riverside walk leading to ‘The Narrows’, a slot canyon cut by the Virgin River. It is possible to hike in excess of 10 miles along the river bed through the Narrows, however we confined ourselves to the riverside walk, which even at 7pm was still busy with the ‘Labor Day’ crowds.

Tomorrow is another day and we shall explore the Canyon further.

Labor Day dawns fine and sunny. It is going to be another hot one, but it is clear that the weekend crowds have largely dissipated, so should be a better day for getting around.

Today we have decided to hike some of the trails of ZNP, first on the agenda is ‘The Watchman Trail’, a 3 mile hike climbing to an overlook 300 feet above the valley floor (not to the summit of The Watchman mountain!).

Whilst not one of the ‘great hikes’ of the park this early morning leg stretch was largely shady, moderately strenuous and hugely enjoyable. The path climbed, initially through cottonwood scrub, and then via a series of switchbacks and exposed ledges, around the head of a small side canyon, to emerge on the overlook with stunning views of The Watchman mountain. To the West the view opens beyond Springdale, looking East provides a birds-eye view of the canyon floor and opposite to the West Temple and the Alter of Sacrifice.

Wildlife was relatively scarce, however on taking the optional loop trail from the overlook, which we had to ourselves, we did catch a fleeting glimpse of a hooped tail disappearing into a rocky crevice…a Ringtail?

Taking the park shuttle to our next destination we visited ‘The Weeping Rock’. Rainfall on the canyon rim soaks into the ground and porous underlying rock. When the water meets an impervious layer it moves sideways and eventually seeps out of the canyon walls. The emerging moisture supports the growth of ‘hanging gardens’ of plants which thrive in the habitat. Whilst these hanging gardens are not uncommon in the canyon, The Weeping Rock is easily accessible and very popular with the crowds. A rocky overhang (of non-porous rock) above a viewing platform provides a year round shower of water.

The location provides a great spot to view ‘The Angels Landing’ (but sadly not Walters Wiggles!) and westwards directly down the valley.

Time to find a quiet spot for a picnic lunch by a burbling stream.

Billed as a 3 mile loop hike taking in the Upper, Middle and Lower Emerald Pools, we descended the park shuttle at Zion Lodge. Sadly we were forced to reconsider our plan as the trail to the Upper and Middle pools was closed for trail maintenance, the Lower Pool was available however and so we crossed the Virgin River via a footbridge and followed the graded path for a mile to reach the Lower Emerald Pool.

At certain times of the year this would be a delight but at the end of a long dry summer, not so much! The waterfall, a 100 foot cascade discharging the spring melt waters, was reduced to a bare dribble and the ‘Emerald Pool”, expansive from the waterfall and bright green from the springtime algal bloom was little more than a drying pond with an brownish algal scum. A slightly disappointing end to the day, but clearly viewing the spectacular cascades of the National Parks is a matter of timing, which generally does not coincide with high tourist season.

We are due to leave Zion tomorrow, our road takes us East via the Mount Carmel tunnel, however roadworks for the next 2 days mean the highway and tunnel will be closed, we will need to take a different route and so decided to explore this side of Zion today.

The road climbs steeply towards the tunnel mouth via a series of dramatic switchbacks, and then enters the 1.1 mile Mt Carmel tunnel, constructed in 1930 to provide access for the burgeoning tourist traffic from the East. A quarter of a million tons of dynamite were used to blast the way through the massive sandstone Mt Carmel, including constructing a number of viewing portals to the outside.

The scenery on the eastern side turns out to be dramatically different to the Zion Canyon and Springdale. We find ourselves on a high plateau littered with dramatically coloured cross bedded sandstone mountains, hoodoos (sadly not on the scale of those in nearby Bryce Canyon) and a plateau floor of red ‘beach sand’ sprouting cottonwood scrub. These are the eroded remnants of the massive Aeolian sand dunes from which this land originates.

It is quite simply breathtaking!

Many years ago Zion National Park was home to the Bighorn sheep, pushed to the brink of extinction by a form of Ovine pneumonia the breed was almost lost.

An attempt in the 1970’s to reintroduce the species was considered to have failed following disappointing breeding figures, and the population disappeared from the canyon. Several years later it was noticed that large numbers of Bighorns began to appear to the east, the reintroduced population had simply migrated to more appropriate habitat and have since thrived, to the point where ‘control’ is now necessary.

Travelling through the eastern plateau we came across a flock of wild Bighorns, grazing amongst the cottonwood scrub…another real joy!

The last ‘great sight’ to the east, and the first to be visible on entering the park through the East Gate, is a stunning mountain called the Checkerboard Mesa. This sandstone monolith exhibits the typical strong lateral bedding planes additionally cut vertically by long cracks resulting from water action over the millennia. Why this weathering pattern is only seen on this one mountain nobody seems to know.