CW: Zion Canyon and Observation Point

October 7th was a hiking day on this Country Walkers visit to Zion Canyon National Park. Because Angel's Landing, the most famous hiking destination in the park, was temporarily closed for trail repair, we headed for Observation Point.

Reaching the trailhead was a two-step process. During the tourist season, private vehicles are not allowed into the canyon -- there is almost no place for parking in the canyon, which begins narrow and grows narrower. After parking in the extensive lots at the Zion Visitor Center, visitors must board one of the circulating shuttle buses. Only those overnighting at the mid-canyon Zion Lodge are exempt. 

In this map, the visitor center is highlighted in red (ellipse), and the point beyond which private vehicles are not permitted is marked with a red square. The background of the park is "satellite view," while the town of Springdale is in "map view."

Did I say extensive parking areas?

Heather and Eric, our guides, parked the vans and then made sure we had full water bottles; the center has outside taps. We boarded the shuttle and disembarked at the Weeping Rock stop.

This sign explained how wood from the mesa tops was lowered into the canyon for construction, starting in 1900, by a system of cables from the cliff edges. Before this, lumber had to travel for two weeks from Arizona to reach Zion.

Some of the cable works still cling to the rim, but they were too far away for a decent photo.

The Observation Point trail started with moderate, paved, gently sweeping switchbacks. Nonetheless, there were warnings about what might lie ahead.

One group, including Joan and me, set off with Heather directly for Observation Point. The rest went with Eric to explore other spots in this location.

In this image (an afternoon shot) you can see a trail switchback lower down, in the lower left, through brush. The mid-canyon formation deflecting the river into a big bend is called The Organ, and above and to the left looms Angel's Landing.

After gaining altitude the trail dove into a gorge cut between heights.

 The bottom wasn't visible when we looked straight down.

In a few minutes the gorge bottom began to peek out at us.

In spots the trail and the floor of the gorge were one and the same. (Not a good spot to be in during thunderstorms.)

Here it was a bit wider.

A generous path and a deep cut.

As we walked higher the feeling of being trapped between two walls fell away.

The trail broke out onto the mountainside.

This trail was blasted and hacked and irregularities paved over by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in the 1930s.

It is still a good idea to watch your step, because the intervening years have broken up the paving in places. (There's never been any need for paving the section atop the mesa.)

Then we were above the level of Angel's Landing, and getting closer to the top of the canyon.

Hoodoos on the mesa opposite Angel's Landing.

The final stretch of the Observation Point trail made a broad arc along the top to reach the viewpoint. This picture looks back to the trail climbing the last, steep switchbacks to the rim.

With Angel's Landing closed, we weren't the only hikers at Observation Point, and the best sitting spots were already taken. Standing at the point, however, we had a great view down the canyon.

There was much else to see here, including red-tailed hawks chivying and pursuing a swiftly cruising peregrine falcon. Joan and I were glad to have carried the weight of our binoculars.

Our chosen lunch spot was off the side of the trail, a few dozen yards back from the crowded viewpoint. We could look down into the main canyon, but took care not to let our meals or poles slide down into it.

There were people down there, and so we would be, tomorrow (click on the image to enlarge it). The canyon becomes narrower and narrower the further upstream one goes.

The trip back down was pleasant but uneventful. We hopped onto a shuttle, transferred to our Country Walkers vans at the visitors center, and returned to Springdale, tired but happy.

Arriving back at the Desert Pearl, we discovered a deer browsing the parking lot grass. He wasn't concerned about us.

Tomorrow would be the opposite of climbing the heights; our group would plunge up Zion Canyon through the waters of the Zion Narrows (the North Fork of the Virgin River). On foot.