Zion National Park, Utah

Upon seeing the valley of the Zion Canyon some 150 years ago, the early Utah pioneers proclaimed that they had arrived at Zion, their promised land. The majestic cliffs and elegant valleys carved by the Virgin River, must have been a sight for sore eyes after their rough trek through literally hundreds of miles of inhospitable terrain (commonly referred to as the “badlands”). The French trappers did not explore Southern Utah as far as we know. The Spanish did not penetrate very far. When the Mormon pioneers arrived here in their wooden wagons with their large families, they claimed the land as their own, despite the presence of Native American tribes. A pioneer named Isaac Behunin, claimed the area we now know as Zion National Park and named his homestead “Little Zion”, hence the origin of the name.

For us, Zion National Park was an optical delight, a bedazzlement of colour. The sandstone cliffs and canyons of Zion are coloured various shades of red and orange. These colours are exaggerated at sunrise and sunset and we tried to capture these sights with our not-so-trusty Pentax SLR. In parts, Zion's landscape appears sprayed with a dark rusty paint over the reds and oranges. This dark colour however, is not paint, but rust, created by iron or hematite (iron oxide), which is thought to either exist in the rocks themselves or to have been carried over them by the ground water. The rocks have also been coloured by bacteria that live on the surface of the cliffs. This bacteria ingests dust and expels iron, manganese and other minerals that then adhere to the cliff face. This creates a shiny black, brown or reddish surface which is called “desert vanish”.

Sunset at Watchman Campground

Further, our fall foliage tour remained on target, which served to only enhance the bedazzlement. The cottonwood and other trees that fill the valleys of Zion's canyons were flush gold, auburn, ochre and even a shade of apricot in parts. These colours contrasted exquisitely against the red sandstone and was entirely different from the fall foliage we've had the pleasure to indulge in before. Yes, we took a lot of photos, and we will share many more with you, dear reader, should you make further inquiries.

History

Home to several different Native American tribes throughout the ages (in particular the Ancestral Puebloans and Southern Paiute), the area that is now the national park was set set aside as a national monument in 1909 called “Mukuntuweap”, the Paiute word for “canyon”.

Horace Albright, the first Assistant to the Director of the National Parks Service (a sort of second-in-command), was the first senior parks official to visit the monument in 1918. His impression was thus:

“I was surprised, excited, and thrilled. More than that, I was just plain stunned. I had no concept of the staggering beauty I beheld. Local Utah people said that Yosemite was a Mukunteweap without color. But this didn't prepare me for the reality of the towering rock walls, splashed with brilliant hues of tans and red interspersed with whites. The great towers, temples, spires, and peaks appeared unearthly as they encircled the narrow lush gorge cut by the sparkling Virgin River. It was love at first sight for me. I was so impressed ... that I was determined we should expand Mukunteweap and have it made a national park.”

Within a year of his visit, Albright had convinced President Woodrow Wilson to expand the area of the Mukuntuweap National Monument, and further convinced Congress to pass legislation transforming it into a national park. Albright also had the name changed to “Zion”, as it is easier to remember, spell and pronounce.

Zion is home to unique desert flora and fauna (67 species of mammals, 207 birds, 35 reptiles and amphibians – sorry, not sure of the stats on the flora) and, hence, in 2009 Congress designated 84% of Zion National Park as “wilderness” pursuant to the 1964 Wilderness Act.

As a sidebar, oddly enough, firearms are permitted in Zion unlike most national parks. As of Feb 22, 2010 a new federal law was passed which allows those people who can legally possess firearms under federal, Utah and local laws, to possess firearms in Zion National Park. Nonetheless, the discharge of such firearms or hunting in the park is illegal – as is the case in all national parks. Utah State Law prohibits the open carriage of loaded firearms on park shuttle buses. All this information was provided in the park's quarterly newspaper, presumably to provide comfort to those of us who don't feel at ease without their piece under their shoulder at all times.

Zion Canyon Valley

Geology

If you have a topographical map handy of the Four Corner States, we need to talk. No, seriously, if you do you can see that Zion is located in the southwest of Utah, which is also the edge of the Colorado Plateau. Bryce Canyon National Park is to the east of Zion and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is to the south. These three geological marvels (as well as the pink, vermilion and white cliffs) are linked by a feature called the “Grand Staircase”, consisting of a series of colourful cliffs, descending in such a fashion as to appear as a massive staircase. In yet another example of the fascinating inter-connectedness of these parks, the water that runs off Zion, including the Virgin River, ends up in the Colorado River than runs through the Grand Canyon.

I'll try to describe the geology of Zion's rock layers in layman terms (God help me if I can describe it in any other fashion). The rock layers of this area has been affected by sedimentation, lithification, uplift and erosion.

Firstly, sedimentation: For each eon there is a level of stone, created by the sediments left by that eon. These sediments include the leftovers from the dinosaur age, various inland seas, etc, etc. The sediments (typically predominantly sand, mud, lime from shells and bones and gravel) of each eon are a different colour. In Zion there are nine such rock layers. The most prominent is Navajo sandstone which occurs at 2,200 feet in elevation.

Secondly, lithification: This big word describes the transformation of the sediment deposits into stone through pressure and the expulsion of fluids. During this process the layers that we see today in the exposed rock were solidified into various types of limestone, mudstone and sandstone.

Thirdly, uplifts: Earthquakes vertically hoisted parts of the Earth's crust. These earthquakes are caused by volcanoes or faulting from the collision of continental shelves. Zion is on the edge of the Colorado Platueau. The rock layers of the Colorado Plateau have been uplifted, titled and eroded. The bottom layer of rock at Bryce Canyon is the top layer at Zion and the bottom layer at Zion is the top layer at the Grand Canyon. This process is still occurring in Zion today.

Finally, erosion: This process is also continuing in Zion today. The Virgin River is still carving Zion's canyons. Flash flooding and landslides are the most visible examples of this eroding process.

What We Did

Upon the recommendation of our pals, Pete and Raluca, we camped at Watchman Campground. This campground is home to some very fine camping sites and facilities, and also one of the most charming vistas in the park - “the Watchman Plateau”. A lovely spot to sit down with a cold glass of Polygamy Porter (a local microbrewery concoction) and a cheese plate, to watch the sandstone cliffs change from orange to red, to blood red and golden, and eventually to black, when the clouds take up the tune for the final flourish of fierce yellows to delicate pink.

The most popular activities in Zion are hiking and rock climbing. We took the easy (or so we thought) option of hiking. Upon Pete and Raluca's advice we hiked the Angels Landing Trail on the first day. The elevation in Zion ranges from 3,666 to 8,726 feet and we felt every bit of it on this trail. The first couple of miles are steep, but easy enough. The trail is wide and there is always a canyon wall on one side. The last half a mile is pure torture. Not only is it basically narrow and straight up, but it has a high level of “exposure”, a term used by hiking buffs to explain that if you slip, you will fall at least 1500 feet to your terrifying, painful death. The only thing between you and the plunge should you slip is a support chain in parts of the trail. This chain is placed conveniently in the middle of the narrow trail as well, rather than either edge. Whilst on Angel's Landing Ellisha developed a fear of heights she never knew she had and had to turn back. Alex completed the trail to the landing but only because he couldn't face Pete or Raluca if he didn't finish (and later confessed that he didn't look up until he was at the top). He was rewarded by 360 degree view of Zion Canyon and a nervous tick that he's only starting to shake now, a couple of weeks later.

Angel Landing Trail in Part

The next day we went for a more horizontal hike, called the Narrows. The Narrows is a thin slot canyon that has been carved by the Virgin River. You start the trail by strolling along the Riverside Walk, a nicely paved trail that travels next to the river in a wider section of the canyon. At the end of Riverside Walk you have to start hiking through the river itself. We went on for a further 100 meters or so (enough so we would be out of sight of the people watching our progress at the end of the Riverside Walk), but the water was too cold to carry on (47 degrees Fahrenheit). We had a cup of tea from our thermos around the corner and then sheepishly turned back. When we reached the Riverside Walk junction we were once again shown up by our lack of gear. We saw other hikers preparing to make the river trek in full body dry-suits, including boots. A much better approach. They tell us that the Narrows continue for 16 miles and at portions the canyon walls are only a few feet wide. At these points the water rises to shoulder height (for people who are in the five foot zone of height). There is a constant risk of flash floods along this trail as well, in case you didn't have enough to worry about already.

The right gear.

We also hiked the short trail to Emerald Pools. These pools are dirty brown and thus look nothing like emeralds and we began to speculate that this was some sort of joke that Mormon husbands pulled on their wives. (“No honey, I assure you that dirty brown rock I bought you is an emerald”). A pleasant hike nonetheless, and we encountered a startled male deer with full antlers on display along this trail.

Food

The small town of Springdale is located at the gate of Zion National Park and is home to a number of nice looking restaurants. We cheated in our camping one night and headed into town for dinner at an awesome restaurant called the “Bit and Spur”. Here we had our first taste of green chili and other Southwestern delights for this trip. The restaurant is decorated as a modern western saloon with adobe colours. We indulged in a selection of prickly pear margaritas, bowls of green chili pork verde stew, jalapeno poppers with cream cheese and cheddar, plus salsa, guacamole and chips. Still dreaming about this extravaganza.

On our way back through Zion a couple of weeks later we tried to recreate this experience but the Bit and Spur was closed. Once the tears had dried we tried Oscar's, just up the road and rejoiced to find it of comparable quality,. We enjoyed a Polygamy Pale Ale with our burritos and chili and agreed that you could justify a trip to Zion for the food alone.

Conclusion

Zion is definitely one of the finest national parks and probably the highlight of Utah's selection, although this is a very tough call to make. Utah boasts an embarrassment of national parks, including Bryce, Canyonlands, Arches and Capitol Reef. Because there are so many common features in these parks (similar rocks, trees, animals, history), it is great to visit them together. You find that by the third or fourth park you can skip most of the interpretive materials and just appreciate the twisting, collapsing, layering and wearing shapes that eternally restless nature presents at this particular speck in time.

We returned to Zion briefly a few weeks later after our initial trip, on our way to Las Vegas National Park (highlights including the Strip, Ceasar's Palace, sports betting, casino gambling and intense eating and drinking experiences). By this time the first snows had fallen for the season and another aspect of Zion's beauty was revealed to us – glistening speckles of white dusted along the red cliffs. Zion here on Earth.

Winter in Zion