Don't tell anyone, but the East side of Zion National Park is awesome! As the country finally learns that our National Parks are getting too crowded with too many people hammering the same resources over and over again, it is nice to know that maybe the most impacted park from this visitation still has places that are left untrammeled. I drove the hour up from our home in Washington, UT to the pullout near Crazy Quilt Mesa. It was cold out as it had just rained the night before and up here it looked like it must have rained, then froze. I even slid on the road once going at about 25 miles per hour.
Needless to say it was great hiking conditions for the East side. The typically sandy sections were now completely frozen. The rock was a little more brittle, but walking on sandstone means that you take extra caution anyway. I had just been to this area a few weeks ago, so I tried a different way to get up the cliff face. This was my 3rd different way and none of them have ever been very easy. It worked out though and I was on the slick rock that flattened out and opened up. I decided to hang to the left this time to check out that area.
There was a hoodoo or too, but mostly it just made for a bushier hike. Then I popped out on to the saddle. From the saddle, I stayed in the canyon drainage. It was easy to follow until I came to a large pour-off. I skirted this on the right and found a nice open canyon. I had been in this area 12 years ago now, so I did not remember everything perfectly, but the goal was to find the unexplored canyon again that I had found.
I wanted to see if it still looked interesting and it still looked unexplored. Coming out of the open canyon, I came upon lots of iron concretions. This section was just loaded with them. I continued going downstream until I came to a canyon with something I do not remember.
I must have saw it 12 years ago, but I did not recall it or maybe was not experienced enough to recognize it. The canyon walls were completely iron. It looked crazy. I tested it and it was super hard. Then there were these great looking stratified layers after that. I continued on and this is where the head of the canyon was. I could get down and back up, but it was wet. I did not feel like being wet considering the temperature was still not incredibly warm out.
I instead went over the canyon and visited it from the other side. I remember water pouring out last time. This time it was a bunch of potholes. I was able to get into the canyon for a second and it looked like a narrow slot. It is worth exploring. I would like to be the first but would be open to somebody else doing it first so that I can explore it. But as of right now, it looked to me like it was unbolted and still pure. If I could name it, I would name it Concretion Canyon. From there, I had a decision. I could go 15 minutes further and get to a pour off that overlooked Parunaweap or I could head up the slick rock to check out the hoodoos.
Since I had already been to the pour off when it was raining and it was this spectacular waterfall, I choose the hoodoos.
I had some lunch and then started to sweat as I chugged up the hill. The sun was out and it was now warm. The hoodoos were sweet! There was one that I particularly liked that looked like a flying car. It was held together by the slightest of sandstone columns. From there I continued up and up on a ridge of sandstone. This kept going until I came to a place I had to drop down and then climb back up.
I decided to go back on the west side of the little peak that divided this canyon between Nippletop and Crazy Quilt. This section was so unexplored. There were Moqui marbles everywhere and it was nice to be in a place where no foot had tread. From there I was able to get to a different saddle, but still find a way to easily pick my route out.
The east side is such simple hiking to just explore and having been there enough now, I know relatively where I am most of the time.
I continued back to the car having only to find my way through the cliff side drop right at first. I picked another different route entirely. A great weekend with so many wonderful sights. I will have to return soon.
This was a momentous day because my mom was out to help watch our kids during conferences. We also had the day off for Martin Luther King Day, so it was like a bonus day. That meant that we had a babysitter, so we took full advantage of that and went for a hike. Mom and I had just walked the Timber Creek Overlook trail out in Kolob the day before, so looking down, I thought it might be nice to see the Kolob Arch again. Jacqueline took some talking into because it was a much longer hike than she wanted to go on, but when I told her I would carry the pack the whole time, then she was in. I wanted to get an early start, but we didn't make it to the trailhead until around ten. I like this trail a lot because of the gradual nature of the elevation. It was a quiet day on the trail.
There was no snow and there seemed to be no one out there. We hiked the four miles to La Verkin Creek, then upstream toward the Arch trail. We had a good time getting some conversation in about life, kids, work, etc... We finally ran into our first hiker and he was so enthusiastic about how quiet it had been out there. We didn't run into anyone else until the Arch trail. The Kolob Arch trail was in better shape then I remember it and pretty easy to follow upstream without getting the shoes wet.
We made it to the Arch where we sat down and had some lunch. Then turn around and hike back. We saw one more group coming out. It was a bunch of horse riders. The rest of the way we got to follow the chewed up trail, which made the hiking a little more challenging with all the sand. We had a quick stop down at the creek before heading up the hill. I really appreciated the openness with the big cliffs all around. Zyla had a great quote yesterday when we were at Timber Creek Overlook. She said, "There's a mountain on top of that mountain."
That was truly what Kolob looked like. The hike up was not so bad. There was the 3/4 of a mile up to campsite 3 which was just about enough uphill when we got to it. Then the meandering along Timber Creek, before the last mile out. Just before the end, you have to drop down a bunch before climbing again. We were out. Jacqueline was a little sore, but it was definitely good for her. I sure enjoyed having the day to hike with my wife again. It was a throwback to ten years earlier and a foreshadowing of what was to come in say another 10 years. Good hike and nice to get in some miles. 
