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

When we finally arrived at Zion, it was nothing like what we had expected. While Utah is basically a rocky desert, Zion is an oasis with various shades of blue and green. Cliffs layered in red, orange and yellow are surrounded by trees, shrubs and rivers of gushing water. The entrance fee is $30/ per car like most national parks,  but you are only allowed to drive down one road that crosses the park east-west. Visitors are recommended to take a bus that takes you to the north of the park, with stations at some of Zion’s most well-known attractions.

It rained all afternoon when we drove through Nevada and Arizona, but the sun started to peek through the clouds just as we entered the park, highlighting parts of the rocky mountains. Here are some photos:

The color contrast is so refreshing after driving in primarily orange soils for such a long time. Since we were planning to spend the next day in Zion as well, we opted to just drive through the park, without taking the tour bus.

The following photos are not taken in the famous Angel’s Landing, but on the Canyon Overlook trail — a much shorter and manageable trail on the east side of the park where you are allowed access in your own car. The trail starts right after the tunnel, as shown in the first photo below.

The hike is a simple 1 mile walk that should take about 20-30 minutes depending on your speed and the weather conditions. The trail follows the edge of cliffs, and is made of rocks, soil and even a little bridge (that is actually kind of scary). Due to a large amount of rainfall in the area on the days before our visit, little puddles had accumulated and parts of the trail had turned into mud. On the bright side, we got to see streams of running water as well as some waterfalls.

The trail ends at a cliff with a 90 degrees drop. The elevation is around 7000 ft., which makes it one of the most scenic points in the park. It started raining just as we reached the overlook, so my photos turned out to be dull and hazy. However, a little Photoshop magic helped me recreate the views to the best of my memories.

Absolutely stunningly unreal. We followed the trail back shortly after sunset and drove back to Hurricane, where we stayed the night (due of cheaper hotel prices).

For the rest of the night, we sat on a little hill with beers in our hands just staring at a sky full of stars. I don’t think I had ever seen more stars before that I did that night, and I was even lucky enough to catch a few shooting stars. It’s really hard to not feel insignificant and humbled against a sky that is brighter than the ground. I was not equipped to shoot the night skies but I had to try — and here are the results.

I’ve always found peace in the stars. What about you?

Stay tuned to read more on Zion in my next post!

xx

– Vivian