The Red Cliffs of Zion National Park, Utah

A National Park With Mormon Names

I remember when I first learned about Zion National Park.  I was in middle school at the time at home on a Saturday.  My dad had just finished paging through the latest edition of Backpacker which recently came in the mail.  The two of us went backpacking together for a week every summer and so he splurged for a subscription.  I picked up the issue and an article in the table of contents caught my eye.  I don't remember exactly what its title was, but it was something along the lines of "Best Day Hikes in the US".  Among the hikes featured was The Narrows at Zion National Park.  I promised my self I would make it to Zion one day and I finally did on a cross country road trip at the age of twenty-six.

So proud having finally made it to Zion National Park.

The main portion of Zion is a narrow and deep (up to a half a mile) canyon through which a scenic drive winds.  Little parking is available along the scenic drive, which also provides access to many of Zion's famous hiking trails.  To accommodate the millions of visitors who want to hike Zion's trails and gaze at its vistas without causing a major traffic jam on the two lane scenic drive, the park offers a free shuttle service.  The shuttles run a continuous loop from the resorts and stops outside the park, the visitors centers and entrance parking lots, and up the scenic drive into the heart of the canyon.

The Court of the Patriarchs in Zion National Park. 

Private vehicles are not allowed to drive on the scenic drive during the traffic heavy times of the year, which means pretty much any time it is not snowing.  We visited in early November and shuttles were still the only way to get around the park.  At some of the shuttle stops along the drive we were the only people waiting.  When we disembarked the shuttle at the Court of the Patriarchs (three peaks named for Abraham, Issac, and Jaccob) trying to get photos without other people in them was the last thing on our mind, because there were no other people around.

The Temple of Sinawava at the end of the drive and the starting point for The Narrows.

Of course my favorite part of the park was the entire reason we went there in the first place, The Narrows.  To access The Narrows we got off the shuttle at the last stop on the scenic drive, furthest up into the canyon, the Temple of Sinawava.  The name refers to the amphitheater-like shape of this more narrow part of the canyon and the Native American lore trickster Sinawava the coyote.  

The canyon en route to the Narrows continues to narrow until the stream fills the expanse of the canyon.

From the parking lot it it took us about ten minutes walking through the Temple of Sinawava to reach the starting point of the Narrows.  Geologist like myself would call The Narrows a slot canyon, which really just means a super tall and narrow canyon.  The canyon is so narrow that except for the occasional bank, the entirety of it is filled by the river.  I would have happily spent five hours trudging up the river getting soaking wet and taking in the beautiful scenery if we had come in summer, but we came in Autumn, deep in the heart of Autumn.  While the park was much less busy this time of year it was also very cold.  The water of the narrows is colder still and hypothermia is a real threat.  So I sufficed with a twenty minute trek upstream while my boyfriend took photos and watched his watch to be sure I was back in time.  

Zipping off the bottom half of my dry fit pants, turning them into shorts for my walk up the narrows.

Even though my time was limited on my narrows trek, it was totally worth it and I would consider going back and hiking it again for a longer duration.  I was happy to trade a shorter time on that hike for the relative solitude of the canyon.  After visiting Yellowstone and Yosemite in the high season and spending as much time looking for parking as hiking, I have learned some trade offs are worth it.

Hiking the Narrows and looking for shallow areas of the freezing water.

While the canyon is the most famous and easily accessible (you don't even need a car) part of Zion National Park, it actually constitutes a tiny portion of the park.  In reality there are extensive back county trails in the two hundred twenty-nine square mile park.  Not having the time or equipment with us to explore the back country, we settled with exploring the other area of the park serviced by a road.  

Hiking downstream in The Narrows.

The main road into Zion is Highway 9, which a prong sprouts from to wind up the canyon (the scenic drive accessible only to shuttles).  In reality visitors can drive Highway 9 all the ay through the park.  Instead of veering up the scenic drive, Highway 9 edges its way up the side of the canyon before diving into the canyon wall itself  in a half a mile long tunnel, which spits cars out into landscape I can only imagine is reminiscent of the moon.  I was so enthralled by the landscape and plethora of mule deer (deer with giant ears) I forgot to take photos.  We continued on Highway 9 to Paige, Arizona for the Hot Air Balloon Festival.

The Zion Canyon as seen from its starting point at the Narrows.

The subtitle of this post is "A National Park With Mormon Names".  Reading through my post it should be apparent that this statement is true.  Zion itself is a Biblical name referring to the Holy Land while many formations in the park (Court of the Patriarchs, Angel's Landing, etc.) have a biblical theme.  This is because Zion was discovered (not counting the Native Americans) by the Mormons as they took over Utah.  The Mormons currently have no influence over how the park is managed, but their presence is still felt and not just in the names within the park.

I've always found Utah to have some of the friendliest and legitimately caring people I have ever met. I tell foreigners when I travel abroad their first visit to the US should be to Utah, because the people are friendly and Utah is home to five awesome national parks.  I experienced this friendly helpfulness when I forgot my camera on one of the shuttle buses.  I got on the next bus panicked that I was never going to see my camera again.  The driver told me to stay on the shuttle as he drove around and radioed the other shuttle drivers.  Not even ten minutes later our shuttle made an impromptu stop in the middle of the road where the driver of another shuttle passed my camera over to the driver of our shuttle, who then gave it to me, crisis averted.  Had they not made the effort to find and return my camera, I would not be able to post these photos today.  I want to end this post by saying thank you to those awesome shuttle drivers who helped me out.