p40whk
04-05-2017, 05:50 AM
Living in the Midwest I am always missing the high desert and often think I lived there in another life. I take every opportunity to visit Zion and the area whenever it presents itself and one fell in my lap recently to go with a group of people that have never been to the area much less west of the Mississippi.
I am increasingly amazed at how crowded the park has become from the first time I visited back in the 80s!
I made a few suggestions regarding hiking routes and had hoped to talk at least one other person into a canyoneering trip but all were too afraid of what they didn't know. So, this ended up being a hiking/site seeing only trip for me which is fine as I never get tired of looking at this area.
We hiked about 60 miles in 6 days with our last hike being a through hike from Lee Pass to the Hop Valley Trailhead on Kolob Terrace Road. This turned out to be a great hike but much more vertical than I was expecting.
We Hiked two hikes in the Red Rocks area of Vegas while we waited for all of our crew to arrive, it was okay but not my favorite.
The Fairyland Loop at Bryce which I've done Numerous times but the rest of the group had never done.
Took a shuttle out to East Mesa Trailhead (Thank you so much Felicia aka Zion Siren for our pleasant ride and conversation) and hiked out to Observation Point then down through Echo Canyon as well as Hidden Canyon and out. Always one of my favorite routes.
Most of my group did Angels Landing while I hiked up the West Rim to get a shot of Walters Wiggles.
The Emerald Pools Trail Filled in some time for us as did a hike off Kolob Terrace Road to some Indian Petroglyphs.
We did some bouldering behind True North as well.
Still didn't get to do the West Rim again (my favorite trail) or the East Temple Loop Scramble I've been wanting to do. And I need to plan a trip where I can do some over nights on long hikes.
Anyway, Here's a few pics of our trip, already ready to come back!:
86612866138661486615866168661786618866198662086621 86622866238662486625866268662786628866298663086631 86632866338663486635866368663786638866398664086641
I am increasingly amazed at how crowded the park has become from the first time I visited back in the 80s!
I made a few suggestions regarding hiking routes and had hoped to talk at least one other person into a canyoneering trip but all were too afraid of what they didn't know. So, this ended up being a hiking/site seeing only trip for me which is fine as I never get tired of looking at this area.
We hiked about 60 miles in 6 days with our last hike being a through hike from Lee Pass to the Hop Valley Trailhead on Kolob Terrace Road. This turned out to be a great hike but much more vertical than I was expecting.
We Hiked two hikes in the Red Rocks area of Vegas while we waited for all of our crew to arrive, it was okay but not my favorite.
The Fairyland Loop at Bryce which I've done Numerous times but the rest of the group had never done.
Took a shuttle out to East Mesa Trailhead (Thank you so much Felicia aka Zion Siren for our pleasant ride and conversation) and hiked out to Observation Point then down through Echo Canyon as well as Hidden Canyon and out. Always one of my favorite routes.
Most of my group did Angels Landing while I hiked up the West Rim to get a shot of Walters Wiggles.
The Emerald Pools Trail Filled in some time for us as did a hike off Kolob Terrace Road to some Indian Petroglyphs.
We did some bouldering behind True North as well.
Still didn't get to do the West Rim again (my favorite trail) or the East Temple Loop Scramble I've been wanting to do. And I need to plan a trip where I can do some over nights on long hikes.
Anyway, Here's a few pics of our trip, already ready to come back!:
86612866138661486615866168661786618866198662086621 86622866238662486625866268662786628866298663086631 86632866338663486635866368663786638866398664086641