hiking_ut_log

Zion National Park Hiking Log

May 2002

by Dana Farnsworth

Day 1

After a long flight from Tampa, Kelli and I arrived in Las Vegas around 9:30 AM. After losing an entire twenty five cents in a slot machine, we picked up our rental car and headed north on I-15 towards Zion National Park, near Springdale, Utah. The drive is very straightforward and easy and takes a little under three hours. En-route is St. George, Utah. St. George looks to be a relatively new-growth town; meaning that it has at least one of every conceivable strip-mall style businesses. This makes it a good stop for anything you may have forgotten or need for your hike. We purchased some white gas from the omnipresent Wal-Mart.

Arriving at the park's southern entrance will put you at the Visitor's Center. From there, we planned our route, received our backcountry permit ($5) and arranged for a truck to pick us up and drive us to Wildcat Canyon trail head ($30). Our hike was planned to start at the Wildcat Canyon Connector trail-head to Wildcat Canyon Trail continue towards Lava Point and the West Rim Trail. From there we would pass through Potato Hollow, continue along the West Rim Trail to Scout Lookout, Angel's Landing and ultimately end up at the Grotto where we would catch the park shuttle back to our car. For transportation to our starting point we called Zion Canyon Transportation. Our driver, Mike, was courteous and knowledgeable. When you use this service in conjunction with the park's shuttle service, you can easily do a point A to point B hike. We were picked up at the Visitor's Center, driven to the trail head and then returned to our car on the park's shuttle. This can also be done in reverse (drive to trail head and arrange for a pick-up and ride back to your vehicle when finished.

It took us about an hour to reach the connector trail to Wildcat Canyon. That meant that we started the first leg of our hike at 5:30 PM, that's actually 8:30 PM EST to our quickly jet-lagging bodies. The beautiful scenery energized us; so at least at first we didn't feel too worn out. We initially planned to do around three miles, but ended up pounding out close to five. The section of trail between Wildcat Canyon and Lava Point is mostly a free camping zone; meaning that there are no designated campsites. It's a moderate hike that has a 450-ft elevation gain from the Wildcat Canyon trail head to the West Rim Trail. In between is a 500-ft descent into Wildcat Canyon and an equal ascent out. The geology of this area is made up of white sandstone contrasting with dark basaltic lava flows.

Kelli quickly spotted a rather large, as of yet unidentified, snake. Not feeling up to the task of doing a Crocodile Hunter style "jump into the weeds and pull out a venomous snake" trick, I wisely took a picture of its ass as it slithered away. As we continued on and began to wear down, we kept a keen eye out for a good spot to set up camp. We finally found a nice spot outside of Lava Point just around the point of our exhaustion. Jet lag had caught up and we were pooped. We probably were within the "no camping within one mile of a trail head zone," but to be honest, we didn't care at this point. Our spot was off of the trail and hidden enough that it would be difficult for anyone to see us. We set up camp in twilight, cooked our dinner in the dark and then crashed hard into sleep. It was after 1:00 AM to our bodies, and we certainly were feeling it.

Day 2

After a restful night on new Therm-a-rest sleeping pads (see review in our Gear section), we awoke to a beautiful morning. After breakfast and disassembling our site, we headed off. In the early morning light we were treated to the far away mountain vistas of Wildcat Canyon, the Left and Right Forks of North Creek, Imaly Canyon, Phantom Valley and the Virgin River Narrows area lit by the rising sun. Soon we passed Lava Point (a back-country campground with six spots), made a turn south and headed out onto the Horse Pasture Plateau towards Potato Hollow on the West Rim Tail.

On the way we spotted our first backpacker heading the other way. He looked fresh and energetic as he loped almost effortlessly by. In passing he mentioned that he and his not visible friends had camped at Sawmill Springs (around one mile from Lava Point) for the night and that there was no water at the spring. We wondered where his friends were.

In a hiking style that I have not witnessed before, we met his friends one by one, spaced around 200 yards apart. The first guy hiked effortlessly, the next a little more labored and the last guy seemed to be walking as fast as he could, breathing hard and working furiously just to be the last in line. Either these guys were into solitude, were very pissed at each other, or had too many freeze dried beans the previous night for dinner, each laying down a toxic stream of internal pollution so great that they needed to fan out in order to breathe. We never figured it out, but had a good time and a few laughs discussing what the hell was going on.

Later we spotted the fattest, largest squirrel I've ever seen standing upright in the middle of the trail, almost daring us to pass. I wondered if this genetic freak of a rodent was rabid or just doing an impression of the troll that guarded a bridge in Monty Python's "Search for the Holy Grail" ("Answer me these questions three, and the other side you will see"). As we passed, he leisurely crawled off of the trail, stopped short after about two feet and rooted around doing squirrel stuff, oblivious to us.

We reached Potato Hollow around lunchtime. After finding a nice grassy spot we had a nice lunch and a little rest. Potato Hollow differs greatly in terrain from the rest of our hike. It's a grassy sloping field with tall rippling grasses and pine trees. A lot of the area seemed a bit scorched from a catastrophic wildfire that occurred there in 1980 from a lightning strike. The grasses had recovered, but most of the trees were burnt and twisted. Although not my favorite area of our hike, the scenery was unique and as Kelli put it, "a little spooky."

We arrived at our designated campsite (#7) very early, around 1:00 PM. It is a wonderful spot behind some large living pines, with a magnificent overlook of one of Zion's many beautiful canyons around 100 yards away. This area also has the only water source we came across during our twenty-mile hike - a cattle pond constructed during ranching days that is intermittently fed by a spring. On this day the pond was so skanky in spots, birds were actually walking across it! We were thankful to find a small, comparatively clear spot that we were able to filter enough water to refill our canteens. This would prove to be a very important event later.

Since we arrived at our site so early, we decided to hike on and test our luck at finding a vacant campsite further down our route, which would leave us with a shorter hike out our final day. After taking care of nature's call, and taking a break in the shade of a huge pine tree by the pond, we packed up and headed out for the unknown. I wouldn't normally recommend the practice of not staying at your reserved campsite, but we knew from making our reservations the day before, that a lot of sites were going to be vacant. If we couldn't find one, there was always "Plan B" - making a low-impact bootleg site.

Our first section of trail outside of Potato Hollow was a fairly healthy climb in two parts. Kelli and I both remarked that we were glad this wasn't going to be the first thing we encountered the next morning, had we camped at #7. Upon exiting Potato Hollow we came upon the junction of the Telephone Canyon Trail and the West Rim Trail. This area of the West Rim Trail, in my opinion, is one the main reasons to hike this route. This route from the Telephone Canyon junction is relatively level until you get to the area of the West Rim Spring Junction, where it descends steeply along a cliff. Absolutely breathtaking scenery virtually surrounding your vision is your treat. Tired and hot, we were energized by the view.

I stopped along the way and did a little "lizard wrangling." I managed to pick up a very cool looking horned lizard for a few cameo photos. He was a willing subject; it actually took a little effort to get him to crawl out of my hands when we were finished photographing him. I didn't feel as manly as I would have, had he been a snake, but hey, I still managed to show off my "woodsy man" persona to the wife and still be alive to tell about it. And besides, he was sporting a fine suit of pokey things all over him that at least looked dangerous.

As we hiked along the rim, our conversation turned towards how far we were going to go, and how much distance we would have to hike the next morning. We decided that a five- mile hike was the most we wanted to complete the following day. So we continued with a keen eye for a suitable vacant site. We soon passed site #5 (#6 is at the Telephone Canyon Trail Junction). Kelli remarked that we should stop at the next available site. We soon passed site #4, due to the fact that it would leave us with a longer hike than what we wanted.

By this time we had hiked close to ten miles in 90-degree heat, and we were feeling it. Our feet were sore; our energy reserves were draining fast, and all we could think about was dinner and a nice cushy bed. We reviewed our topo map and continued on in search of site #3. After another very difficult mile we were treated to a sight that made me as happy as my wife with a cold beer for me in one hand and the TV remote control in the other: We had spotted the marker for site #3! Now, if only the site was vacant.

Of course life couldn't be that easy. Tired and weary we had to do one last steep, cruel ascent to the site. Perfect! Everything looked great until I ventured around the corner to find three people who had passed us by earlier in the day. Site #3 looked to have at least two, if not three, distinct tent sites. So, after a little groveling and a giant guilt trip, the speedy inhabitants cheerfully agreed to share their site with us.

We were so exhausted that it took a monumental effort to put up our tent. The minute we did, we were both horizontal enjoying a well deserved rest. Prying me out of the tent to cook dinner was an effort. After a nice dinner, a couple of ibuprofen and a water inventory (which was running low), we returned to our tent to rest. A discussion of waiting until it got a little darker in order to do some stargazing was soon interrupted with sleep only momentarily disturbed by Kelli telling me "good night."

Day 3

I'm quick to pan bad products but equally as quick to praise good ones, too. With that in mind, I will tell you that I normally wake up the next morning with my back or hips sore from sleeping on a foam pad. This time, my second night with the Therma-rest, I woke up fresh and free of any aches or pains previously caused from sleeping on the ground.

It looked to be another hot day in the making. We had two quarts of water left and five miles to cover. This meant no oatmeal for breakfast. We made due with a couple of bacon sandwiches. This left us with both quarts to consume shouldn't be a problem. We packed up and headed off for our mostly downhill five-mile hike. Most of the last five miles are hard surface; either rock based and/or patched with concrete in slippery or eroded areas. At .3 miles from the West Rim Spring Junction you'll come to Scout Lookout, where the route to Angel's Landing begins more on that in a minute.

More incredible vistas were ours to view. One particularly beautiful area of note is the area where you begin your first descent at the southern junction of Telegraph Canyon Trail and the West Rim Trail. This are is also home to campsites #1 and #2. You begin your descent with a sheer rock wall plummeting earthward to your left. Another picturesque canyon is below you as the wind whips around you. Winding down into the canyon, we found ourselves in a lush pine forest.

It was beginning to warm up. That coupled with the dry wind was making us a bit parched. Down to our last quart of "pond water" (that we were happy to have, by the way), we began to be a bit concerned about the possibility of running out. A few more minor climbs took us close to the much-visited Angels Landing Trail. By this time we were fresh out of water. The scenery at Scout Lookout was nothing short of amazing. We had an eye level view of all the peaks in Zion Canyon truly memorable.

As we started down the steep winding descent of Angel's Landing Trail, we marveled at the people going up the trail as they passed us. Some were serious day hikers suited up with plenty of water, food and trekking poles. Others were sadly and comically ill prepared for the torturous vertical five-mile climb. One man was outfitted in his finest polo shirt and blue jeans, armed with only a Kodak disposable camera and a map. I overheard one woman ask if there were flush toilets at Angels Landing! At any rate they provided some comic relief for us. At this point, the steep descent had begun to turn our knees into Jello. At one point I looked back and didn't see Kelli. She said that she had seen the trail vibrate, had to slow down and was quite dizzy. Obviously she was in need of water.

It became obvious at this point that Kelli was too tired and influenced by fatigue to offer any sage advice to those who passed us on their way up. When asked, "What's it like up there?" Kelli answered one group of ladies with "More of the same." This answer being delivered in such a desperate and fatigued tone, that I joked that she easily could have been saying "Beware! There's death on the trail! Bodies everywhere! Strewn about the trail! Turn around while you still can!" Make no mistake; Angels Landing Trail is a very strenuous hike especially if you approach it from the Grotto. It's a constant climb that lasts for a couple of miles and at points is virtually straight up steep switchbacks. The view is certainly worth it though. We were descending the trail. I highly recommend this approach, as the majority of this entire hike was descending.

With the Virgin River in view below, we plodded along dreaming about a cold glass of water, a cold beer and a shower (in that order). Weary, we reached the Grotto Trail Head around 1:00 PM. After consuming a quart or two of water, we were ready to jump on the shuttle and return to the Visitor's Center where a greasy cheeseburger and a cold pitcher of beer was awaiting us at the Sol Food restaurant; outside the park within 100 yards of the Visitor's Center.

The looks we received as we dragged our tired, filthy, and stinky bodies onto the shuttle bus full of happy clean park tourists were nothing short of amazement - or possibly wonderment. I remarked that I felt like a caged animal in a zoo with people starring at me. After a few questions and a few surprisingly funny jokes from the shuttle driver, we arrived at the Visitor's Center. We hobbled as quickly as we could to Sol Food and enjoyed our post hike reward: a fried chicken sandwich for Kelli, a cheeseburger for me and two pitchers of tasty Wasatch Pilsner for us both to consume.

After that we drove into Springdale and found lodging for the night in one of the coziest bed and breakfasts I've stayed at. O'Tooles Under The Eaves Bed and Breakfast is the oldest B&B in Springdale. It just recently changed ownership and will soon be referred to as Under The Eaves B&B. Our lodging was an absolute bargain at only $60 a night. This included a cozy well-furnished room with its own bathroom as well as a tasty breakfast of quiche and muffins with fresh fruit. We spent several hours sitting in the shade in comfy wood chairs under a large tree in the front yard. We started a little party; as other guests as well as the new owner joined us in the shade for a few beers and some lively conversation. We later enjoyed dinner down the street at the Bit and Spur Restaurant. It's within easy walking distance of O'Tooles B&B. We both enjoyed the baked chicken deep-dish enchilada served with pinto beans, rice and a salad.

Day 4

After enjoying a nice breakfast and exchanging stories of adventures in Zion with the other guests, we packed up, checked out and drove through Zion one last time. We decided to drive through to the other side of the park, where we would be treated to breathtaking views in Zion Canyon as well as the very cool drive through the one-mile long tunnel. At one point we got out of the car and scampered up a very interesting smooth rock surface. From our vantage point high above the road below, we waved at little blue-haired people in a tour bus as they passed us by.

Back to Las Vegas, we headed. Our shuttle driver Mike had told us of an outlet store in St. George that sold Kelty equipment at wholesale prices. So one last stop was in order. Three pair of hiking socks, three small stuff sacks, a pair of Merrel trail runners and a nice pair of snow gaiters later, we were back on the road to Vegas.