In the spring of 2000, Zion decided that it would be a lot more efficient to restrict private vehicles from driving in the canyon and to replace them with propane buses instead. These buses are a cinch to use, they cut out the congestion, and they are more environmentally friendly.
First stop on our tour was the Riverside Walk at the top of the canyon. After about a mile of scenic walkway, one must wade through the wall-to-wall waters of the Virgin River to continue. The canyon continues to narrow to the size of a slot canyon for about 16 miles in a section fittingly known as the Narrows. Unfortunately, there was no time for this waist high adventure in this trip, but we did get to go far enough up to get a taste.
From there we checked out an area called Big Bend, and moved on to start an amazing hike up to the Angel's Landing.
This 2.5 mile trail gains a whopping 1800 ft up to a panoramic view of Zion's breathtaking canyon. Adding to its epicness, half of a mile of this trail crosses a narrow ridge with a 1200 ft shear drop on one side, and an equally sharp 800ft drop on the other. Not for those scared of heights, the ridge has a number of places that are only a few feet wide with little to nothing keeping one from a long drop and a short stop. Now that I have gotten all of our parents' attention, I will add that we made it safely, had a great time, and took plenty of pictures. Unfortunately, none of those pictures were taken with my phone, so you will have to wait until we find free wifi to get one up on here.
Speaking of pictures, this one is from the Lower Emerald Pool hike, which was about 1.5 miles round trip and our fourth and final hike of the day. Just before this, we also hiked to see the Weeping Rock, a place where water seeps from pourus sandstone as it reaches a less permiable layer of rock.
After a full day of hiking, we went to Zion Pizza for dinner with Raf, and retreated back to the camp site. In my opinion, there was no better way to cap off our tour of National Parks than with Zion.
Orion
