East Rim in the Snow

 I have to admit that Seth and I had different expectations for this day. When I saw that it was going to snow on a day that we were supposed to hike the East Rim, I was excited to spend the day fighting the elements. When he saw that it was supposed to snow, he questioned whether it was still a good idea to complete the trip. I convinced him that it would be a good idea, so Ryan gave us a ride up to the East Rim trailhead near the East Entrance. When Ryan dropped us off, it was snowing pretty good on us. I was excited and hoped it would continue for at least some of the hike.

 Unfortunately, it was not too long before the snow stopped falling and a beautiful blue sky found its way into Southern Utah. Still, we got to hike a trail that seemed virgin in the fact that there were no other footprints. We debated whether we should bring snowshoes, but decided that boots and gaitors would be all that we needed. It was a good idea as the snow was only barely above the ankle in sections. We had the whole trail to ourselves and were able to check on the trail conditions where a couple of trees had fallen and the spring that was definitely flowing. We had a nice lunch up on the plateau with the entire area to ourselves without even the thought of other people dropping off the rim.

 There was one section of trail that we were concerned about. This section was right as we were dropping off the East Rim Plateau. This was the narrowest section of trail that often did not see much sun but did get big drifts of snow.
 It was not incredibly bad or anything and being the first two to hike it since the snow made it really grippy. But if a bunch of ice appeared, this would be a tough spot for people. After that the snow dissipated as we lost elevation. It definitely made a simple trip on the East Rim more entertaining and the snow really lit up places.
We hit the junction with the Observation Point trail and after that there was much less snow on the trail, except when we were in Echo Canyon. I could imagine that after this storm, it would be some time before the technical section of Echo Canyon would open for the season. The non-technical section was easy enough to get through and then it was down to the vehicle that we had left at the trailhead at Weeping Rock. This turned out to be a very enjoyable hike in Zion on the 1st of March.