The Subway (Zion National Park, Utah); Part Two
One splash led to another. Which might explain why it took us five or six hours to hike to “The Subway” in Zion National Park… [Read more →]
Footsteps
Travels and Journeys…
The Subway (Zion National Park, Utah); Part One
Hannah and I probably violated some “code of conduct” for vacationers by crawling out of bed at 6:15 our first morning at Zion National Park. But “The Subway” was a permit-only hike, and we had to be among the first in line at the back country permit window that morning to gain passage to our favored adventure… We figured we’d snag a permit, eat some breakfast and get in a morning run before the boys even noted signs of daylight.
Zach and Matt grabbed their own breakfast next door at Cafe Soleil (which became our favored morning nutrition stop) while Hannah and I ran the Pa’ rus Trail (“Rushing Water). That trail was a simple paved affair with some marvelous views of our stunning surroundings. There would be nothing simple about “The Subway.”
After a false and somewhat comical start on what we later dubbed the “pseudo-Subway” trail, we found the real trail head for our day’s endeavor off of Kolob Terrace Road. We reapplied sunscreen, strapped on our packs and set off on a red sand trail through a juniper woods.
It was hot. Well into the 100’s… But we had water, food and enthusiasm… When the sparse woods ended at the sheer edge of a cliff, and the trail ahead appeared better suited to small goats, however, I had a moment of doubt. Were my kids up to this? Was I? I have a mental “wobble” with heights which is why I have regularly pushed myself to confront them. While this has worked well for me, I still house a slightly unreasonable fear for my children at heights above, say, the low dive at the swimming pool. Could I really allow my kids to creep along edges that gave me chills in stifling heat?
It became a team thing, and that made all the difference. No one stepped down without reaching back to help the next. We called out the “loose rocks” and “slippery” sand spots. It took almost forever in the intense heavy heat, but eventually we reached the Left Fork of North Creek some 400 feet below and soaked ourselves in the cooling waters.
We were in another world now and knew we were walking into “wonderful.”
“The Subway (Zion National Park, Utah); Part Two”
More on Utah: “Adventures in Utah”
“Road to Zion (National Park, Utah)”
“Into ‘The Narrows’ (Zion National Park, Utah)”
“The Subway (Zion National Park, Utah); Part Two”
Court of the Patriarchs and The Emerald Pools of Zion (National Park, Utah)
Into “The Narrows” (Zion NP, Utah)
“The Narrows” was the perfect plunge into vacation mode.
After dropping off luggage, we hopped onto the seasonally mandatory shuttle bus and rode toward its uppermost stop, the Temple of Sinewava. Each curve of the road took us deeper into the intriguing walls of Zion. We craned to see rocks that stretched up like skyscrapers, sipped water from our Camelbaks and constantly nudged one another to “look at that!”
Road to Zion (National Park, Utah)
The road to Zion extended from an Enterprise rental lot outside Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, past the Strip and well beyond tenacious Mesquite, Nevada. A “Welcome to Arizona” sign came as a complete surprise as we traveled northeast on I-15, but a quick (frantic) check of our Google directions confirmed a “passing through Arizona” before Utah. Whew. That one scared me a little!
The landscape did a rapid transformation from man-made glitz into stubbled desert southwest. This soon segued into ever-growing cliffs that edged toward our roadway and up towards a sky that bloomed blue. It was a windows down kind of drive even with triple digit temperatures.
Once in Utah, we enjoyed the novelty of long stretches of nothingness dotted by municipal blips with names such as Hurricane, La Verkin and Rockville. The latter’s street lights consisted of a series of single light bulbs dangled from the wires periodically strung across Route 9. A hand-lettered sign in La Verkin outlined a former business owner’s vehement discontent with city politics; I bet they have some interesting community parades there… One of the town’s more easy-going residents had appended a cautionary “Watch Children” sign with “act like monkeys.”
Zion National Park gave us tantalizing glimpses of its glory as we rounded bend after bend after bend. Our goal was Springdale on park’s edge, and more specifically, the Cliffrose Lodge which would be our base for the next few days. We passed a doggy day camp with little white tents and an organic orchard before finally rolling into the strip of civilization that has grown out of Zion’s popularity.
The Cliffrose had luxurious views that made up for its average accommodations and was within easy walking distance of the park entrance. With the Virgin 
River in its backyard and balcony views of Zion’s peaks fronted by the lodge’s lush gardens, we were happy to dump our bags and head out for our first hike! Matt’s choice sounded great to our hot and dusty group, a river walk through a gorgeous canyon suitably dubbed “The Narrows”.
MORE on UTAH: “Adventures in Utah”
“Into ‘The Narrows’ (Zion National Park, Utah)”
“The Subway (Zion National Park, Utah) Part One”
“The Subway (Zion National Park, Utah) Part Two”
Court of the Patriarchs and The Emerald Pools of Zion (National Park, Utah)
Adventures in Utah
Where did all the mountains go?! Yeah, yeah… I know. Glaciated Ohio has never contained the ear-popping elevations of our western states. And “straighten (ing) your shoulders” just won’t pull you from under 1000 feet to an elevation that will support ponderosa pines and aspens. No geologic changes here. It’s just me, making some mental adjustments to my internal panoramic viewfinder.
This past week, I basically braked for trailheads, wildlife, scenic views and the (very) occasional gas station (with bonus points for decent restroom facilities). I kind of liked flying across ranchland, over mountains and through canyons in our rental car as we navigated from park to park. Every mile traveled revealed yet another surprise and spectacular scenery.
Utah was quite the adventure for the kids and me. We climbed enormous boulders, swam through rivers, inched up waterfalls, explored slot canyons and fended off menacing road cows (don’t ask)… We 
encountered a park fire, two hail storms and temperatures ranging from 50 -111 degrees Fahrenheit. We scanned cliffs for petroglyphs and pictographs, wandered through hoo doos and, technically, made a couple of wrong turns (although I maintain that if you have a map, it’s just an alignment issue) during our 1500 mile adventure through southern Utah.
And yes, I took a few pictures…
I’ll be sharing photos, hikes and stories from Zion, Bryce and Capitol Reef National Parks, Escalante National Memorial, and Boulder Mountain, Brian Head and Cedar Breaks, Utah in the next few weeks.
MORE on UTAH: “Road to Zion (National Park, Utah)“
“Into ‘The Narrows’ (Zion National Park, Utah)”
“The Subway (Zion National Park, Utah) Part One”
“The Subway (Zion National Park, Utah) Part Two”
Court of the Patriarchs and The Emerald Pools of Zion (National Park, Utah)
“Hanging Gardens” (Zion National Park, Utah)
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