Zion National Park – Utah’s oldest and most visited park, and the first of The Mighty Five for our epic weeklong desert road trip. We spent Friday night of Memorial Day long weekend in the hotel in Lander, WY, with the hope of having one last good night's sleep in a real bed before camping for the next week. With an early morning (3:00am) and long drive ahead of us on Saturday, we hit the hay around 9:00pm Friday night… only to be kept awake by kids running and screaming, rowdy adults throwing a party down the hall, and doors being slammed constantly. So much for one last night of luxurious rest.
It was around 1:00am that we both had had just about enough, and Jordan asked me to call down to the front desk to submit a “formal complaint”. Luckily, I discovered two pairs of earplugs in my backpack, so we each grabbed a pair and enjoyed our remaining few hours of sleep before the alarm was blaring. By no surprise, morning arrived quickly and we each began doing our part to get us on the road as fast as possible – I started making coffee while Jordan packed up the car.
The drive to our first stop of the day – Meadow Hot Springs – was an interesting one, and included rain and snow (shocking to us, since that was not what our weather app had warned us of…), but we arrived safe and sound around 10:00am. Meadow Hot Springs definitely seems like a mostly word-of-mouth type of place, as it is an area with 3 pools of natural hot springs located on a farmer’s private land which he allows the public to access. It’s only a short half-mile hike to the springs and is accessible year-round. We spent all our time in the first pool, which is crystal clear and the hottest of all 3, hovering around the 100-degree Fahrenheit mark.
We spent about an hour soaking and swimming before hitting the road again, finally heading towards Zion. The park wasn't operating at full capacity yet, so by the time we reached the park around mid-afternoon the main parking lot was completely full, and they had closed the scenic drive due to congested traffic so we weren’t able to hit up all the hikes I had planned for us. We were able to find a parking spot along the main road however, so we hiked Watchman Tower, a 3.5 mile super easy and therefore super crowded trail, before leaving the park to find a camp spot close to our next park – Bryce Canyon.
Once we reached the Dixie National Forest, we drove around for about an hour or so before settling on a spot. After enjoying a late meal around the fire, we were both exhausted after a day of driving and lack of sleep the night before, so we went to bed early again – in preparation for another early wake up call and busy day ahead.
On Reflection:
Due to the road closures, one trail that we were disappointed to miss out on was the iconic Angels Landing. This popular 5-mile strenuous hike involves steep drop-offs and very narrow sections and leads you to a fantastic observation point 1,500 feet above Zion Canyon. There are anchored support chains attached along some of the steep sections of the sheer cliff, and you are rewarded with excellent views of the main canyon from above. Another must see in the park that we weren’t able to check out is The Zion Narrows Riverside Walk. This 2-mile trail will refresh you on a hot desert day, as it travels alongside the Virgin River and takes you through the water between high canyon walls.
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