Friday, April 26th – Saturday, April 27th, 2013
We hopped on the free shuttle and struggled to hear the stops from the intercom over the loud French tourists. Our first stop was The Grotto, and we hiked Kayenta Trail to the Upper Emerald Pools Trail. It was a little oasis in the mountains. We started to hike the Middle Emerald Pools Trail, but it was blocked off due to damage. We continued onto the Lower Emerald Pools Trail, which took us under a waterfall. On our way back to the road, I nearly pooped my pants when something large and loud came charging at me out of the woods. Fortunately it was only a Mule Deer. I probably looked like what they look like when a car is about to plow them over into bits.
After my near death (not really) experience with Bambi, we took the trail towards the Zion Lodge shuttle stop, and hiked an unmarked trail along the Virgin River (Where many virgins had been sacrificed to the Dark Lord. I kid). The trail led us to the Court of Patriarchs shuttle stop (Don’t ask me about the names, ask the mormons). We walked along the road taking in the scenery until we reached the Canyon Junction shuttle stop. From there we took the Pa’rus Trail back to camp, but not before Trevor almost got run over by “Gwen Stefani” on a bicycle (probably not really Gwen Stefani, but it would make this a better story).
We walked out of the park into Springdale to grab some grub and window shop. After coffee, a Frisbee session, and mellowing out a bit back at camp, we moseyed around the visitor’s center. I caught a guy sniffing his lady friend’s butt which was partially exposed while she waited for the shuttle. At least the evening ended with better things to look at once the sun went down and the stars were shining.
Nature was on display in the morning as I saw a Scarlet Tanager (a red bird) at camp, an albino squirrel near the river, and several bats flying around during the day catching bugs.
We took the shuttle to the last stop called Temple of Sinawava. We took the very unimpressive, paved Riverside Walk which led to The Narrows trailhead, a hike we’d reserve for our next visit.
We took a trail along the river to the Big Bend shuttle stop and saw a lot of rock climbers up above (a hobby I would love to get involved in if my arms didn’t resemble those of Mr. Burns from “The Simpson’s”).
We did some road walking to the Great White Throne viewpoint, which we thought had one of the best views so far.
We arrived at the Weeping Rock stop where a French lady who looked like a skeleton was flipping out on her husband/boyfriend/dude she was with, before storming off up the trail. We followed behind her along the battered switchback that led to the Hidden Canyon trailhead.
Heights have never really bothered me, but Trevor on the other hand, has alway gotten really nasty vertigo (even though he used to climb ladders for a living). He was a little worried that he wouldn’t be able to handle the trail, since some parts were narrow and high up in the air (one of the reasons we postponed hiking the Angel’s Landing Trail).
After a steep climb, we reached a false summit (just kidding hikers, this is just a view), so we continued our way up. We had to hold on to the chains embedded in the rock wall during a few sections of it since the trail was so narrow. I found it sketchy, but enjoyable. Trevor just found it sketchy, but pulled through. We had to climb over some boulders once we reached the top to get to the canyon, and after sweating so much in the heat, we were happy that the canyon was nice and cool. I was super proud of Trevor, and I think this ended up being a turning point for him since he’s been handling heights much better since then.
After we found our way back down, we walked the Weeping Springs Trail, which was pretty lame in comparison. The ride back had noisy kids, screaming babies, and a wedding party on board. We were relieved to get back to Springdale for food, then back to the BLM to relax for the evening.
Jump Back to Part 20: Cowboys, Rainbows & Farts
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Start Over at Part 01: The Blue Bubble, Freebies & A Rude Awakening
Stubbs Rambles On 