Zion National Park: Day 2: Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Day 2: Zion National Park

Riverside Walk, from Temple of Sinawava.

The end of Riverside Walk, and the start of The Narrows.

Dark weeping rock marks much of The Narrows.

End of Mystery Canyon in The Narrows.

Large boulder on the left makes for a fake "narrowest" point.

Now The Narrows is really starting to live up to its name.

Junction of The Narrows and Orderville Canyon.

Looking south from Orderville Canyon.

The sun peeks through.

Severe undercutting of the rock face... there's more further up The Narrows.

The Virgin River cut The Narrows over many millenia.

Mystery Falls.

Massive formations compose the Temple of Sinawava.

View from Scout Lookout, near Angels Landing.

Hikers waiting to make the final ascent to Angels Landing.

Reverse angle.

Angels Landing is actually a little further ahead. DOH!

Looking south at Zion Canyon from the West Rim Trail.

Trails here are so popular they're almost all paved.

Many switchbacks up from the canyon floor. And this is only halfway!

Bison burger at Zion Lodge.

Lower Emerald Pool.

Red rock and signs of fall just beginning to appear.

Fall colors will be much stronger in a few days.

Deer at The Grotto.

Woah. When they said free upgrade I wasn't expecting this...

One of two bathrooms in the Terrace Suite at The Cosmopolitan.

Terrace Suite Fountain View. Bellagio fountains and Paris Hotel dead center.

The balcony is ridiculous.

Pre-dawn arrival at Zion National Park to be one of the first ones renting gear for The Narrows hike, and to beat the crowds on the park shuttle to the Temple of Sinawava, the starting point for Riverside Walk and The Narrows.

Zion is so popular that most trails are paved, so mile along Riverside Walk is quite pleasant and very smooth. Then it's time to walk/wade in the river until... well, you feel like turning around. In this case, 4.5 miles one-way to Orderville Canyon before turning around. With reasonably low water levels, the water shoes and dry suit pants rental might have been overkill, but at higher water levels they're definitely necessary (make sure to check before you start). Plus, even then, there's a few deep spots where things will get wet if you're not careful.

Walls of grey, red, and black rock encompass the Virgin River the further you go. It's underwhelming and awe-inspiring all at the same time, and if you have time to go beyond Orderville Canyon into Wall Street, it's supposed to be even more beautiful. Alas, the towering walls of Orderville Canyon junction were as far as I had time to go-- and to be fair, I have no complaints as the sun shone spectacularly into the Narrows on my way back.

Quick ride to The Grotto next, where Angels Landing, supposedly a 4 hour hike, was a bit rushed... sped up and down it in just 90 minutes. Bit of poor planning/bad information meant I was a little short of the actual end, ack! It was still worth the 1,400'+ of elevation gain, although somewhat to my surprise, the view from the top was not as good as the view from a few hundred feet earlier at Scout Lookout... and even the view from just a mile up the trail was almost as pretty.

Surprisingly decent lunch at Zion Lodge, then a quick hike to Lower Emerald Pool to see some of the fall foilage before returning the rental gear and driving back to Las Vegas.

Ended up with a complimentary upgrade to a much nicer room at The Cosmopolitan than I expected. Heard the front desk clerk say "Bellagio fountain view" and expected a tiny room with a view of something other than the parking lot. Instead, ended up with ten times the space I expected and double the bathrooms. o_0 (thanks Marriott!)

(and obviously, just have to go back to Zion again to hike more of The Narrows and to properly do the last couple hundred feet of Angels Landing!)