Zion : A Peaceful Sanctuary

4th to 6th Septemeber 2009

It seems this year Zion National Park completes 100 years ! It was first called Mukuntuweap National Monument before it became a national park. The meaning of Mukuntuweap is straight canyon. I believe Zion means a peaceful or a perfect place ! Yes, indeed it is ! This is my second visit to Zion National Park, first being driving through it. The high standing cliffs made me feel like I was in Yosemite painted in red ! With this visit I fell in love with this place and will return again to the River Virgin !

When I visited Zion NP last time I didn't have much time to spend in there. I was awestruck by the soaring towers of monoliths and the incredible canyons. That moment I had decided I will return back. I did some research on the park later and I couldn't wait anymore. And so I was going there ... again ... The plan was to spend 3 days in Zion, with two major hikes and some touristy things. The flight to Las Vegas was eventless. But, due to long weekend rental cars had long lines ... even after finishing the paper work at the counter, I had to be in a long line for the car. Anyway, I got one ... PT Cruiser again ! I did some groceries shopping at WalMart Supercenter and headed to Utah ...

I was all excited about the hikes and photography ... As I entered Utah I could see the pinkish, purple-ish dark clouds melting and descending back to Earth ... ufff ... thunderstorm ... and I could see the lightnening ... all over ... it was bit scarry ... the crucked lines of electricity seemed like cruel-wicked laughter of the nature. I was jumping at every lightening and thunder as I passed through the storm. It rained heavily and then everything was clam and cool ...

It was breezy when I reached the Watchman Campground. There were tents everywhere. After pitching the tent I had a peaceful sleep. Next day, I went for Angels Landing hike. Still the nature was showing her wickedness. It rained heavily all afternoon and night. I could hear the 'tap tap tap' of raindrops on the rainfly of my tent. The sweeps of wind brought more raindrops and a bit of chill. In the morning I started for the tour of the park. I took the shuttle from visitor center. Went for Riverside walk. It is a pleasant two miles RT walk along the Virgin river. It is a paved trail with wildflowers lining the trailside.


Emerald pools, is a 2.6 loop steep uphill and then steep downhill hike. The pools might be great during spring. In September, it was nothing but a dirty ditch. Pa'rus trail, is a bicycle trail which gives access to the river. It also has great views of the canyon. It is very exposed and I found only ground lizards other than me on this trail at 2:00PM.


Drove east up to the Checkerboard Mesa. Very interesting landscape. Love the massiveness of this giant. Driving here through the tunnels is a wonderful experience.

Collected my backcountry permit for my Subway hike next day. By afternoon the silvery clouds turned into dark, malicious mass, as if they had MPD. I thought it would be nice to get a room in a nearby motel. I had to drive 30 miles to Hurricane. All the Motels near the park were full as it was long weekend. I can't believe that I paid $100 per night for a room at Travelodge ! But, hot shower after the hikes, AC when the outside temperature was 90F-100F, bed to sleep on ... felt good.

3rd day in Zion, I woke up very early in the morning. Prepared for my 10 miles RT backcountry out-and-back hike to Subway. I had seen the pictures on flickr and had heard so much about it and also about the flashfloods in the month of September. It was a hard hike of rock-hopping, river-walking, bush-whacking. It was a hike to remember. After the hike I appreciated the Travelodge and had a deep relaxing sleep.