This was like any other day hiking in the canyon for work. I chose Observation Point because it is probably my favorite of the main canyon day hikes. It is long, 8 miles round-trip and extremely scenic with great views throughout of Zion Canyon. I decided to add a bit extra to this hike since it was nearly my last day of work. I hiked over to the normal point but then behind me looked to see that the actual summit of the mountain I had been hiking up was there. Since there was no trail, on one typically went there. I was interested to see that on top there was a survey marker with the words Observation on it. Thus, this must be Observation Peak.
The views down canyon were not quite as good, but up canyon you could get a good look at the layer of Navajo Sandstone that was carved nearly vertically providing the home of the Narrows. Zion was such an amazing place of slickrock beauty. I had some lunch up on top and then went down. I was surprised to find on my way down that there was a campfire that had been left there.
I could only imagine how old this was because no one has been able to camp near Observation Point for a while. Either that or they were camping out of bounds. Either way I cleaned it up and moved on. Unfortunately it was not far until I ran into another obstacle to my hiking progress. Someone had written with white-out on the signs. I ran into two signs just like this. One near Observation Point and one at the junction with the East Rim trail.
This was strange for Zion. We often get scratched in or carved in stuff, but no white-out. I did my best to get it off with available tools which turned out to be water and concrete that was nearby. It took about ten minutes apiece, but I believe that at the end of it all, it looked back to 95% of what the sign once was. I continued on down and let law enforcement know about the graffiti. Turns out it was all over the park and the inscription had some tie to a gang in North Carolina. Somehow they made their way to Southern Utah. It was a good day to enjoy the park a bit before going into full time Dad mode.
I could only imagine how old this was because no one has been able to camp near Observation Point for a while. Either that or they were camping out of bounds. Either way I cleaned it up and moved on. Unfortunately it was not far until I ran into another obstacle to my hiking progress. Someone had written with white-out on the signs. I ran into two signs just like this. One near Observation Point and one at the junction with the East Rim trail.
No comments:
Post a Comment