A Unique View

I was back to work and we weren't opening the desk for two weeks. That left us some time to get to phone calls, but also to hit the trails and get out in the field. It was a beautiful winter day in Zion. I was hiking up to Observation Point. Along the way, I ran into a group of canyoneers going into Mystery. Sounds cold! I resolved some permit issues with them and then I was off for a peaceful day. It was quiet on the trail other than this Mystery group who I kept running into. After enjoying the view from Observation Point, I made my way over to the East Mesa trail.

This trail I followed all the way to the gate at the East Mesa Trailhead. There I got off trail and did some exploring. I have always been interested in the multitude of canyons that dump into Orderville. Following the park boundary got me into a wash that eventually led to a snowy drop-off. I decided to not take any risks, but I sat down for lunch at a spot overlooking one of many unknown canyons dumping into Orderville. People think everything has been done in Zion. One look from this overlook would tell you differently.

There are multitudes of canyons in Zion that no one has even considered exploring. I enjoyed this view and then made my way back to the trail by a different route. This led me to some steep scrub oak which is never fun even when the leaves are not out. Eventually my choice of routes led me back to the park boundary anyway. Once I hit the trail again, I looked at my map for the next view. I decided to check out Miss Me Canyon. A very dumb name for a beautiful canyon. The view of it was right off the trail and it looked like an interesting canyon.

 Then from the edge of the rim, I tried to follow that over. It kept me on the rim with not much bushwhacking until I made it to a point. I could look down a field of scrub oak and see another point below.

I had some time before I had to be back, so I kept moving down the field of scrub oak. I am not sure why I wanted to torture myself, but I fought my way out to a view of Zion that I am positive few have ever had before.

 I was right behind the Mountain of Mystery with a view of the entire Orderville drainage. This view was fantastic! It was once in a lifetime, though, because there was no way I was going to fight that scrub oak again. I made it back up quicker than I originally thought by following the signs of green. This would be a juniper tree which would clear out a small space to evaluate my next steps. From there I was able to fight my way back to the trail and then I was in a hurry to get off on time. I decided that this year, when I get my chance to be out in the field, I am going to spend the entire day out until I am off. Our field time seems to be slowly dwindling away as we strive to keep up with the crowds with such a small staff. This year when I get a chance, I am going to enjoy the beautiful wilderness that Zion is lucky to have.