Our second day at Zion began with fresh smoothies and hearty sandwiches from a little café near Hurricane. It looked like one of those family-run places, and has a great selection of pastries too – from cinnamon rolls the size of my face to chunky scones and cheesy quiches. After we placed our orders, we walked through the backdoor and were surprised to find several tables lined up along the edge of a cliff. Yes, we had breakfast on the edge of a cliff! There’s a canyon below lined with trees and a small river that runs through the valley. It doesn’t look that dramatic from my fisheye lens but it was really something else.

So back into the park we went. The weather was absolutely beautiful – blue skies, fluffy clouds and the occasional sunshine accentuated the greens and the reds in the park.

I forgot exactly which day it was but it was a weekend, so there were even some traffic at the front of the park. I absolutely can’t stand waiting but I promise you it’s worth it! Round two of stunning views:

This time, we parked right where the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive began. I got a little excited and started running towards the gushing river. The water wasn’t crystal blue as I had expected, but it was still clear and cool nonetheless. Next to the river is a sandy beach-like area where shrubs and cacti grew. Cacti next to a river? I don’t know if that’s common but it sounds quite unusual to me.

We walked along the river for a bit — you can choose to walk on the sand or on a nicely paved road further inland. If you love a scenic walk, forget about your city’s nicest parks and check out Zion. The river runs several miles within the park; you are more than welcomed to walk along the river and make frequent stops at some of Zion’s most popular attractions.

We had already seen Zion from above the day before, and it was getting insanely hot outside, so we decided to skip the whole bus tour and do a little exploring on our own instead. A couple minutes off the highway (where there’s a lot of overflow parking on the side) and past some trees and bushes, we found this secluded little gem.

We sat on a huge piece of rock that stood in the middle of a little stream of water, just enjoying the shade and the sound of water flowing. I even caught a photo of my friend (who never smiles in photos) laughing! So candid.

It was a little past noon, after we agreed it was time for us to move on to our next destination, that we found another unmapped gem. This series of mountains are found on the drive towards Zion’s east entrance, probably just a 10 minute or so drive past the tunnel. As you can see, the rocks are dynamically layered in different colors. The rough pattern makes the rocks easy to climb on, so we decided to take a little adventure and hike up the rocks. It’s a really enjoyable hike because you feel like you are literally just conquering a mountain. No trails, no signs, nothing to guide you on your way up. We simply packed some water and a bluetooth speaker, and began our climb up.

We didn’t get to the top, (I wanted to — but it was about to rain and my friends convinced me it’s probably not a good idea to be on top of a bare mountain in the rain) but we did get high up enough to see a nice view of the bumpy landscape. As we walked down, I got a better glimpse of the patterns on the rocks and found them to be just magical. They remind me of expressionist paintings where paint is applied in thick layers. The texture of the rocks are truly peculiar too; if you kick them, they actually shatter into pieces that look much like ceramics. Nature’s full of wonders, isn’t it?

Last view of Zion before we left the park. Read about the rest of our day in my next blogpost!

 

Next up: Bryce Canyon & a little surprise.

 

xx

– Vivian