Okay, maybe I was too rash yesterday. I do kind of like
Zion. It has a kind of beauty. I still prefer every one of the parks we saw
east of here better and I still think it is badly done, managed and information
communicated here. But, I see the good too now.
So, we were up before the sun again. I guess we still
haven’t adjusted to the time difference. We went down to the included breakfast
here at the Quality Inn. They had a buffet laid out with scrambled eggs, hard
boiled eggs and biscuits and sausage gravy. They also had a waffle iron set up.
A guy asked if anyone wanted eggs fried to order and Clay got his 2 over easy
so he was happy. I saw the waffle iron was not in use and the steam table was
busy so without looking at anything else I made a waffle. I also had a cup of
coffee and a cup of awful chemical-tasting yogurt. I have been eating Western
Family brand that we’ve been buying at stores and I really like it, but
something is giving me awful gas and right now the Western Family yogurt is the
number one suspect!
We came back up to the room to brush our teeth. You have to
go outdoors and walk around the front of the motel building to get to
breakfast, so we had a lot of views around. The low sun was incredible on the colorful
rock faces and the brilliant blue, cloudless sky. We had high hopes for the
day. Clay had an online weather report that the high would be 69F. (It was very
wrong. It was at least 80-something F.) We drove on over to Zion NP to get a
parking place a little after 8am. We had our cooler packed with our lunch in
the car. We parked near the flagpole and decided to test our legs by taking the
Archaeology Trail. It was short, but steep and rough and expected to take 30
minutes. It was cold and though I had a shirt and undershirt on, I didn’t want
to have to haul around a jacket, so I was walking quickly trying to warm up. I
walked right next to a pair of sleeping mule deer before Clay said from behind
me, Debbie, deer. I turned around and saw them right there and squeaked. I
scared the bejeezus out of those deer and they both jumped up and then we all
froze. I felt bad I ruined their morning and rousted them that way! The trail
was a disappointment as all we saw was a sign that said there used to be a food
storage building there from ancient peoples. There was nothing up there now
except a sign. We walked back to the flagpole, used the restrooms and waited. Close
to 8:45am, the appointed time, Ranger Kim arrived and took roll. Everyone that
was on the roll and arrived prior to 9am made it on the shuttle for the Ride
with a Ranger, including the guy that just walked up at 9am. That was good.
We enjoyed the escorted ride up canyon. We made 3 stops and
some of them were in places were the regular shuttles don’t stop. We also
stopped at the Grotto. From the bus we saw deer and a turkey and some rock
climbers on a distant cliff face. We saw hikers up on Angels Landing. Ranger
Kim gave lots of good information and asked and answered lots of questions. I
was really glad we got to do it. It was advertised as a 2 hour tour that began
and ended at the Visitor’s Center. In point of fact, it ended at the last
shuttle stop at the Temple of Sinawava. Kim offered anyone who wanted a ride
with no stops or narration back to the Visitors Center. We decided to stay at
the Temple of Sinawava and take the Riverside Walk. It was described as easy
and lasting an hour and a half. Those things were probably true. We walked
slowly to the end of the paved trail where you have to walk through the Virgin
River to continue onto the Narrows. It was a beautiful and easy walk. It was
2.2 miles roundtrip. We were ready for lunch when we finished. We caught the
next shuttle and headed to the Visitor’s Center. On the shuttle ride back down
canyon, we saw another turkey in the road and this one had over a dozen fluffy
little yellowish chicks with her! Sorry no photos of course, these dang buses. Prepare though for photo overload below. The Riverside Walk was extremely photogenic!
We ate at a shady bench near the Visitor’s Center, used the
facilities and refilled the water bottle. We got on the next shuttle and headed
for the Zion Lodge stop. We walked the trail to the Lower Emerald Pool. It was
a little steep, but mostly paved. It was 1.2 miles and took about an hour. Our
reward was soft serve ice cream cones at the outdoor café at the Zion Lodge
after. We used the facilities again and head back down canyon on the next
shuttle. We got off at Canyon Junction. We had seen the signs at the History
Museum stop for the Pa’rus Trail. This trail goes between the Visitor’s Center
and Canyon Junction. It looked like on the map that you could also start or
stop in the middle at the History Museum. So, we decided to start at Canyon
Junction and if we were done at the Museum, we’d catch the shuttle to the
Visitor’s Center. This didn’t quite work out. The return to the Museum from the
trail was not as well marked as the entrance to the trail from the museum and
when we did find it, the museum was no longer in sight. It seemed that the
Visitor’s Center couldn’t be that much further a walk, so we walked the whole
thing in the blazing sun. It is supposed to be 1.75 miles. It felt longer. It
is also named Pa’rus because it is a Paiute word to describe the Virgin River
and the trail is advertised as riverside. Not quite. I mean we crossed it on
bridges several times and you could walk down to it several times, but for most
of the trail, you wouldn’t know that there was a river there. It was more like
a paved desert walk. We were hot, tired and weary when we finally finished at
about 5pm. We got in the car and drove back to the Quality Inn. A lot of photos!
We put our feet up for a while and then set off for dinner. We
decided that we would first look at the menu at The Spotted Dog Café across the
street. Their website says they serve a seasonal menu so it changes daily. We
were planning to take the free shuttle to the other end of Springdale for pizza
if there was nothing we wanted. The other thing was that the reviews online
complained the Spotted Dog was too pricey. We looked at the menu outside and then asked to be seated. It was hotter inside than out, so we asked to sit on the front porch. There were hummingbirds out there! It was excellent food and no more
pricey than our Mexican food last night. So we were satisfied. Clay had a
Polygamy Porter and BBQ short ribs with fries. I had a blackened flatiron steak
with fries. They were both good and the thin crispy fries were excellent. We
passed on dessert because they were displayed on a tray tableside and were
priceless. I was just too tired to be hungry and felt like I had had too much
sugar the past week anyway. We walked right back to the room.
Clay took a shower and said he ran out of hot water right
away and it never came back. We are both praying this is a temporary problem
and the hot water is back tomorrow morning. If not I will be having a very bad
day!
Tomorrow, we check out and drive on to Salt Lake City. We
spend the next 2 nights at a B&B called Inn on the Hill.
Photos
Photos
