Joshua Tree in the Snow

It was winter break and we were going to take advantage of having a week off to make a short trip out to California. It started with a night in Vegas to see the Blue Man Group. The weather was absolutely awful with just buckets of rain pouring down. In Vegas, it does not matter too much because we were mostly inside except for the part where we have to move back and forth from our car. Where it did impact us was the next day when we tried to drive to Joshua Tree. We should have only had a 3 to 4 hour drive.

Leaving at 9:00 AM this would have left us plenty of time to do some hikes in Joshua Tree. Unfortunately for us, though, the interstate had been closed the night before in Primm which led to a massive pileup of automobiles in Primm, Nevada.

A drive that normally would have taken us half an hour, took us over an hour and a half just to get to Primm. Then, when we finally made our turn, the road into the Mojave Desert Preserve was closed. This made us completely switch our driving direction and instead cut over to Needles, CA, then down to I-10 to come into Joshua Tree from the south. It sounds simple enough, but it was literally all day. We finally got to our campsite in Joshua Tree at approximately 4:00 pm. Given that we were still pretty close to the shortest day of the year, this meant that we were going to have to leave almost immediately to get out on a hike. Luckily, there was a short loop hike right near our campsite called the Mastodon Mine trail.

The lighting turned out to be fabulous and we took many photos as we watched the sun go below the clouds. The trail itself was good and we got to see all the interesting rock formations of Joshua Tree. There were still other people out and about which was sort of surprising given how late that it was. We could tell that this park was going to be pretty busy by that. We were able to make it back to our campsite before it got too dark, but everything else we did that night was in the dark. Setting up the tent, cooking dinner, eating dinner, hanging out, were all done in the dark. It was needless to say an early night to bed because it was also fairly cold.

The wind was blowing too and honestly I was exhausted from the driving that day. The kids and Jacqueline slept in the car that we had decked out with a nice comfy mattress whereas I got to enjoy the four person tent with lots of extra space. I slept great and the next morning after finally getting the rest of the crew moving was also delayed by the fact that we had to relocate our campsite given that I was not able to book the same campsite two days in a row. After we got everything resettled, our plan was to go enjoy the part of the park that we had missed with our long drive the previous day.

The park had other plans for us, though, because as we approached the higher elevations of Joshua Tree, we realized that they had received a massive amount of snow the same day that the Interstate was shut down near Primm. There were still 8-12 inches of snow in many places. This was going to impact us because we did not have the clothing options to go tramping around in the snow for the day. It also impacted us because there was absolutely nowhere to park. We finally found a parking spot near a road and we decided that our best bet was to just walk this road for a while.

 It was good, but also really muddy and there were still foolish people that seemed to want to drive their cars down this obviously not in good shape road. This was a climbing area in the park and we even saw one group of climbers braving the elements. We walked until we saw that this road was probably just to access some park housing which was at the end of it and then walked back to our car. It was pretty fantastic seeing the Joshua Trees buried in snow, but as far as getting our for a hike, this was not ideal. We decided to make our way back to our campsite, stopping briefly to complete a short loop at the Cholla Gardens.
We were once again approaching dusk when we decided to go back toward the trail that we had done the previous night, but instead head out on a different trail. This one went toward the Lost Palms Oasis. We did not make it to the end of the trail, but we were happy that we got to stretch our legs and probably made about 2 hours of hiking. We asked some people who had done the whole hike and it sounds like there were a bunch of palm trees at the end. The wild palms were so much neater than the groomed city palms.

These were just so massive and wild looking. We had to turn around because of daylight, but we did enjoy another evening in camp. This one was cold enough that frost formed on the outside of the tent and on the inside windows of the car. We got going early in the morning for a drive out to Santa Barbara to meet up with our friends. Joshua Tree was a good place, though, I think visiting it again without the piles of snow may give us a different perspective in the future. 

Yellow Knolls to Black Gulch

It started out simple enough. It was Jacqueline's birthday and while we had explored other options for family activities, she chose to go on a hike as long as we postponed our Vegas show idea until we were down there a couple of days later. I had just purchased a new map of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, so I was excited to go check out a few trails that I had never been to off the Cottonwood Road. This road went right from a spot in between Washington and St. George. It started out paved put quickly became a whitish clay. Luckily it had not rained in a few days, so the road was in good condition and we found our way to the Yellow Knolls trailhead.

The hike looked great as we started out in the flat desert scrub, but almost immediately went downhill into a canyon with slick rock to our right. Unfortunately, I had forgot that I left my phone charging in the car, so I had to turn around and run back to the trailhead while Jacqueline hiked with the kids. Luckily, I had been running often at this time, so the jog was not too bad. When I got back to the family, we were well on our way through this canyon that now began to slowly climb uphill. The trail was in good condition and easy to find and it just sort of meandered uphill. Given that it was Jacqueline's birthday, she got to take her sweet time getting ready in the morning, so this hike did not start until 2 pm.

 This would come in to play later, but for now we enjoyed some excellent weather and some amazing views. The highlight of the Yellow Knolls trail is the slick rock that is fractured to create pentagon and hexagons that look like the scales of some giant extinct dinosaur. We had to take a side trip so that we could get some pictures and so the kids could climb up and down on the rock. Zyla gets more and more interested all the time in exploring. After we left that spot, it was just hiking the rest of the trail until we hit a junction above. We had a choice. We could either continue on this current trail up to the high point and turn around coming back the same way that we came or we cut turn it into a loop with Black Gulch.

Everyone seemed up for the loop hike, so we headed toward the road which we crossed before coming to a canyon starting to appear on our left. I suggested we cut down immediately, while Jacqueline said that did not make her feel comfortable. Instead, we continued until we crossed the wash. Then we immediately started down. I should have known that this was going to be a bit more adventurous than I planned when it was slow going from the beginning. There were also no signs and the only way I knew I was in the right place was the map and my watch that was a new toy but also showed me a map right at my wrist.
Soon, we knew we were in for it though, because Black Gulch was just absolutely filled with tumbleweeds. Given that we had our two children with us, this made for some slow going because the tumbleweeds were sometimes over their heads. Looking at the time on my watch, I knew that we were in for an experience because this was the second shortest day of the year and it was now after 4 pm. We had only an hour to make our way through this canyon that we did not know what would be around the next corner. Sometimes it was puddles of icy water. Sometimes it was down climbs through volcanic rock.

No matter what, I knew that the person that would take the blame if anything happened to anyone else on this hike was me. So I went first and I found a way down. I would position myself so that I could hand the kids across drop offs and over tumbleweeds. There were a couple of times that I came around a corner and thought that we had come to a point that we could not get down, but every time, there seemed to be a way. The worst I had it the whole time was once when I had to step into a pool of water and lift everyone else so that they did not have to. Twice I made a bigger step then I planned given the amount of tumbleweeds which could have given me an injury.
Only once did Jacqueline start to panic and say that she wanted to try to hike out up onto the cliffs. I was willing to go, but the best course of action was for us to continue downstream without a headlamp and hope that the approaching darkness would not overtake us. Eventually the canyon started to open up. Just about that time we ran into two slow moving men who were heading up canyon. We did our best to warn them that they should probably turn around.

Tough to listen to a family with two children under the age of 10, but I think our kids are actually pretty tough to move as quickly as we did through that canyon. The biggest complaint was the amount of cheat grass in the shoes that slowed down Conrad. We did not give him much sympathy, though, as we had to keep moving. The GPS on my watch told us the trail was near and soon we found the way out. We hiked up the steep cliff and out onto the plateau and there was our car just as the last hints of daylight were receding. We were all relieved and celebrated with a trip to Benja's for dinner.

Below Burnt Mountain

I love maps because a new hike can be found just by studying the map for long enough. I have a huge map of Zion that I got from the Visitor Center when it was replaced with a newer, updated version. It bounced around in my various residences over the years, but eventually it has found its home in my garage where I pull the car in and out every day going to and from work. Sometimes I stop to study it and on one of those days recently, I discovered that there was this canyon located above Hop Valley that went right to the base of Burnt Mountain. Having never visited there or heard anything about it, I decided that I must go.

When I awoke in the morning, I studied Google Maps also. The satellite view gives such immense detail that I even questioned whether I should attempt the hike. I could already tell that the hike was not only possible, but looked like it wasn't going to be too difficult. After a while of dragging my feet, I decided to go for it. I packed up my backpack and headed out for the Hop Valley Trailhead. I was the first car who arrived there at 9 AM. I started down the trail until I got to the gate. I went through the gate and instead of staying on the trail, I went on a series of roads that were as good as any trail.
The hiking was fairly easy except that the entire way to reach the pass was deep sand. Given that we had not received measurable precipitation in Southern Utah in months, it was very sandy both on the Hop Valley Trail and on the roads. I followed the road as far as it went passing a corral and some water tanks that looked in pretty bad shape. There were no cows around having moved on to greener pastures for the winter. When the road began to die away, there was still a reasonable path that took me to a high point on the pass between these roads and my canyon.

The views were great from up there where I could see all the way into the La Verkin Creek drainage and the peaks of Red Butte and Burnt Mountain. I decided to descend right at the head of the canyon that left from the pass. It turned out to be the right decision. Even though there was a bunch of bushwhacking and route finding to do, the way turned out to be fairly easy with no significantly difficult spots. I got to experience quite a bit of the fall colors as many times my way went right in between these trees with yellows, reds, and oranges. I even found some water in the drainage which was surprising given how dry the weather had been.

Eventually this small drainage met up with the larger drainage.  It continued downstream until getting to a confluence with another drainage coming down from Burnt Mountain with many willows, cottonwoods, and even aspens at the confluence. Now it was continuing up to the base of Burnt Mountain. I could not believe how incredibly wide this drainage was and still incredibly sandy. As I got closer to Burnt Mountain, the drainage became narrower and narrower. There were a few places to climb around, but eventually it all ended at a large pour off of about 30 feet. I struggled to call this the end and instead decided to climb up above to get a view.

The way was steep, but not dangerous. I picked my way through the oaks and manzanita before ending the trip under a large tree where I could sit and enjoy my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It had taken only 3 hours to arrive at this point. From here I could see to the high cliffs extending above Kolob and also to the top of Burnt Mountain. Given that the summit of Burnt Mountain was a Research Natural Area, considering climbing it is not really an option. But if I did, I could see the route that I would take and while it looked challenging, it looked possible. The only recorded climb is by Courtney Purcell who seemed to have climbed most of the peaks in and around Zion about 10 years ago when writing his book that saw limited time on the shelf.

Well, there was not much left to do, but go back down. Given that it had taken me less time to arrive at this point than I had anticipated, I decided to check out the canyon where my two washes met up to see if possibly there was an easy way down into Hop Valley. I fought my way back down the drainage to the spot where the willows choked the wash. Eventually it opened back up and I followed the wash downstream. There were two places where I had to find my way around pour offs always making sure there was no jumping down given that it was highly likely that I would be climbing back up. My mind always entertains the notion of having found an easier way, but when the canyon eventually came to a narrow spot with a 100 foot pour off, I knew that I had found the end of my journey down this canyon. It presented another opportunity for those canyoneers who wanted to get a first descent. It seems that every time I say that I turn out to be wrong, but on this one there did not seem to be any signs of other humans having been in this drainage before. In fact, it really did not seem like anyone had been in this canyon below Burnt Mountain before. The only signs of other humans being the two balloons that I found. Stop releasing balloons! Gravity still works.

I turned around and went back up with little difficulty. There were many opportunities to find a new way or a new exploration. I went into a few narrow spots to see if I could see any owls. Lots of droppings, but no owls. Instead it was up the same canyon I came down and back to the car. It was smooth sailing the whole way and in fact, when I turned around at the stopping point in the canyon heading into Hop Valley, I predicted what time I would get to my car. I guessed 3:30 which seemed fairly impossible given how far away that I was. Sure enough, though, after putting in many sandy miles, I arrived at the car at 3:26 pm. It was a great trip and I am sure that I will go back to the area to explore other off trail opportunities. The route was not difficult and the views were amazing. It was also incredibly quiet on a weekend when it seemed like everyone and their cousin were descending on Zion and the surrounding area. I had once again discovered another quiet place in Zion. 

Top Down Narrows in October

Whose bright idea was it to hike the Narrows in October? Ok, it was probably mine, but the idea was put in my head after spending the afternoon over at our friends Josh and Kara's house a month previously. We met them last year when we discovered that we had both moved recently from Oregon and enjoyed being in the outdoors. I had fond memories of hiking the Narrows in October from my days working at Zion and when I was living in Oregon, the only time that I actually missed hiking it was during October. The colors are fantastic and the weather is typically warm enough to make it enjoyable.

Unfortunately the days we chose to do this hike fell on a cold snap that swept through most of the west. Down in Washington City where we live, it just caused a drop in temperatures, but was still comfortable. Up at the headwaters to the Narrows, though, it was a different story. To get to the headwaters, we had to put in the not so fun part of getting a permit by entering the last minute drawing, obtaining a ride from Zion Adventure Company, leaving home at 5 AM, riding in a shuttle with a bunch of other hikers, and then being dropped off at the trailhead. We could immediately tell that this was going to be rough at first. The temperatures at the trailhead were somewhere in the teens.
I knew that we could get a small advantage on the day if we could keep our feet dry at the first river crossing. There were no more crossings for a couple of miles after that. Unfortunately, all the rocks that we could use to cross the river were frozen. Josh tried to cross one of those and slipped in so now, not only were his feet wet, but part of his arm and gear. I tried to find a place farther downstream, but eventually just gave up and went right through. In retrospect, I should have taken off my shoes and neoprene booties to keep my feet dry, but instead I went for it. It was bone chilling cold and now I had two cold feet to continue the walk down the road.

So far, though, it wasn't so bad. We could make good time walking down the road and were even able to pass a couple of hikers that were still on the other side of the river going slow, but with dry feet. I figured the wet feet thing was inevitable, but it would have been much better to not have wet feet during this first few miles. We continued along on our way and eventually the road gave way to the river. At this point, we began crisscrossing the river many times. At first it wasn't so bad, but after a while the ankle deep water seemed like a punishment that I did not want to endure. Josh had much thicker neoprene booties, so his feet were great. Mine, though, eventually felt like two blocks of ice attached to my legs. The sad thing was, that they were well could have been given the fact that my pant legs were looking like the formation of ice on the side of waterfall in winter. It was crazy that every time our legs went into the water and came back out, the air temperature would immediately freeze the water on our legs. Josh, who was tougher than me, was wearing shorts and had ice accumulating on his bare legs.

Given the pain that I was forcing myself to endure, it was harder than normal to look around and appreciate the beautiful colors. The trees were changing and there were many times where the reds and yellows rose up from the river. What was in shorter supply at this point was sunshine. It was not until 10:15, two and a half hours into the hike that the sun finally reached us. We took a break here, but not long enough for my feet to stop being numb. It made the walking tough to not really be able to feel anything when I placed my feet down. Every crossing was painful and I didn't realize how many times I actually had to cross the river.

I would even be that guy who blazes a new social trail just to avoid the inevitable of placing my feet in the river one more time because the longer I kept them out, the more feeling that would return to my feet. I felt like a bad friend because my mind at this time was completely wrapped up in what was going on with my feet. Still, this was an awesome experience and the upper part of the Narrows was great. Eventually we were passing all the landmarks including a new one that I did not understand. Someone had a for sale sign up about a mile from the park boundary. It said that you could own a piece of the Narrows. Wow, that was depressing. I hope some selfish idiot would not buy that from this other selfish idiot.

After we went through the narrowest section, we finally popped out at Deep Creek and headed downstream. I was a bit relieved when I tested the waters because it was much warmer coming from Deep Creek than it was from the North Fork. Given that Deep Creek provides 2/3 of the water for the Narrows, this made the water significantly more tolerable. I am not sure what the water temperature was in the North Fork above Deep Creek, but it was definitely in the 30s. We found a patch of sun right after Deep Creek where we had lunch and I sat in the sun until feeling returned to all of my toes. I was actually pretty nervous at this time, so when every toe was working again at this point, I was happy.

I could now be a better friend and actually have a decent conversation with Josh. The river was swifter and deeper at this point, but much warmer. Never again did my feet go numb, but given that they were numb for over 3 hours, I was still a bit nervous about long term damage. The rest of me felt good as we had not gotten in over our knees at this point and slowly my pants began to unfreeze. We passed by and through many of the campsites and side canyons. I got to relive a few of my past adventures with Josh. He was generally excited about much of Zion and I enjoyed sharing some of my knowledge of the place while also not trying to seem like a know it all. The best experiences are always the ones that we make ourselves anyway, so I just wanted to encourage him to go out and see many of these amazing places also. As we got further down the campsites, eventually we got to a place that opened up between sites 10 and 11 where the sun was out and we were actually warm. I finally shed some layers taking off my winter coat for the first time all day and was able to take off the tights and long pants for shorts.

The warmth did not last an extended amount of time, though, and soon we were in the deeper water. After site 11, the sun disappeared and the deeper water began. It was like a switch was turned off and the sixty plus degree sunny day that we were enjoying was quickly thrown back into a world of winter. The Narrows is funny because unlike much of the rest of Utah, it is free from sunshine for so much of the year that it is definitely a different climate from the rest of Utah at the same elevation. We were surprised to see at campsite 12 that a fairly recent rockfall had occurred. I would not have wanted to be camping in that site when that much debris came down.

After site 12, the canyon immediately seemed deeper, darker, and busier. We saw our first people since early in the morning right around Big Springs. From there on out we were rarely, if ever alone. It was not as busy as a summer's day, but as busy as a summer's day 10 years earlier. The outfitters in Springdale must just be swimming in the profits because everyone seemed to have the dry pants, shoes, and sticks. They all seemed wiser than us as many times were were having to wade up to our waist in water. The thought of doing this earlier in the day would have seemed like misery, but with the warmer air temperature downstream, it was a minor inconvenience. I was cold, but not dangerously so at this point in the day.

I spent the rest of the day going back in forth between enjoying the beautiful canyon and dodging the masses of humanity. Getting below Orderville, at that point it became less enjoyable. Unfortunately this is one of the most amazing parts of the canyon, but it is almost ignored given the fact that there are so many people there distracting your mind away from the beauty. Also, the impacts of people are so bad in there that it made most of the time and effort I spent protecting that place look like a waste of time. I am not sure what the park's plan is going forward, but idly sitting by and letting the Narrows get trampled to death is not a plan. There needs to be something done about allowing everyone to just pummel that place from the bottom up.

This was one of the reasons that I had to leave the park service because I did actually care too much to just let it go when it was impossible for one person to save that place. On our hike out, I saw two dogs on the trail and many people just sitting there hand feeding squirrels. It unfortunately got me thinking of my children who would never know these places without either massive crowds or very restrictive rules. On a day like today, though, I could think back to the quiet and outstanding natural features that I got to experience with Josh in the upper part of the river with just the price to pay of having numb feet for a few hours. Well worth it and when I look back I will always remember the tranquility over the pain especially since it looks like there won't be any long term damage from my frozen limbs. 

Reconnecting with Zion Canyon

Zion Canyon and I have had a long back and forth relationship. I came to Zion in 2006 to start a volunteer gig with the backcountry division in the park which would then transition into a paid fees position while taking a break from my studies to become a teacher. I happened to meet my wife there which further derailed me another 3 years working for what would become the Wilderness division.  We would marry in 2008, but with both of us working seasonally, we finally made the transition to teaching. Two years later with the addition of a child, we were back. She was still seasonal, but I was a term employee with benefits. Enough so, with that we were able to afford another child and day care expenses. 
But just barely and for another four-ish years we made it work, but with my approaching term ending with 2 children to raise, we made the wise decision to go back into teaching. We moved away to the McKenzie River in Oregon, which was both fantastic and challenging at the same time. We stayed in Oregon for 3 years, but eventually we found ourselves back in Southern Utah, teaching this time. This is where we find ourselves now in our third year teaching in St. George. While I would have loved to work for Zion National Park again, there is a part of me that is glad that I do not. It also helps that it is near impossible to get hired back at this point due to rules changing while I was away, but still I do feel that now I am truly seeing Zion from an outsider's perspective. 
But I still love it and I mean who wouldn't. The big issue for me, though, is everyone else seems too also. Or do they? Is it just another box to check off? Is it something to say that they did? I am not sure because experiences vary. For some people a morning hike up Angel's Landing and an afternoon in the Narrows is just perfect. From the lines and crowds, it seems like this is ideal. For me, I wanted to know why this place was protected and what the early visitors to Zion were experiencing. So I have been reading a massive amount of texts from when it became a park and before. For me this is great reading because it gets to the bottom of why this place is here for future generations, but also why it is so insanely overcrowded. 

So, many of the earliest experiences were men on horseback riding up the main canyon along the river to the beginning of the Narrows and back. This meant most of their travelling was in the Virgin River which made it dawn on me that I had never hiked the river from the Temple of Sinawava down. So I got inspired and on a Sunday in August, I did this very thing. I wondered what it would be like given that I avoided the main canyon like a plague because of the parking issues, shuttle riding, and massive amount of clueless, sunscreen smelling, and unfamiliar faces I would encounter along the way. 

It was incredible and let me tell you why. It was just me doing this hike on this day and it felt wild. Strangely enough, I could be near people, but my experience was much different then what they were having so I was not in their world. There was no trail because I didn't need one. The river was there to guide me down the canyon and this river ecosystem felt much wilder than a few miles upstream where it was getting pounded in the Narrows. This turned out to be a really good idea that allowed me to reconnect with the main canyon for the first time in years.

My hike actually started in Pine Creek because the parking was so tough that I had to park quite far away at the first turn out. This gave me a chance to see the Pine Creek bridge which is truly a feat in discreet engineering. Each rock was taken from a different part of the park to make this truly a rainbow bridge. This was the last piece of the tunnel road completed in the late 1920's to open the road from Zion to Bryce. I tried hiking down Pine Creek, but there was so much vegetation that it was a battle. Eventually I made it back to the road and caught the shuttle at Canyon Junction. 

Taking the shuttle up Zion Canyon is not an experience, but a necessary evil. I stood until the Zion Lodge, packed in tight, but eventually was able to get a seat. When they dropped me off at the Temple of Sinawava, I took a quick trip to the bathroom, then off to the river. I started across from Telephone Canyon and immediately felt like I was in a unique position. When I came back to the Temple, I was in the river. The Pulpit looked different then before and I felt disconnected from the world where the shuttle was travelling. It was just me and the river. I got out of the river right away though because it is actually really easy walking. Zion Canyon used to be a massive lake, so it is actually rather flat, though abundant in non-native cheat grass. I even found myself some sort of sticky plant that stuck to my legs. I did my part in spreading that seed for sure. Almost immediately I ran into a buck and I would see wildlife all day long that was at least slightly nervous in my presence. The coolest thing was the Great Blue Herons that were fishing and flying away when they saw me. 

The best thing about the whole day was seeing that for the most part, the shuttle was doing its job. To be in, what was, the original route to visit Zion Canyon and have it feel nearly wild was incredible. I walked by the Angel's Landing viewpoint at Big Bend and I was not bothered by people or buses. I had incredible views of these monuments and many of my pictures echoed those of the early writers, artists, lecturers, and politicians. This is how they saw the Canyon and why it was protected. This section, at least, was still in its original condition given that the roads, trails, and instagram followers had not made their way down here. 

There were times I saw people like when I came around the corner from the Organ and Angel's Landing to see the bathers near the Grotto after their hike up Angel's Landing. But they were there and then they were gone. It still felt like the original Zion Canyon until near the lodge where extensive leveling and channeling of the river had been done to make sure the lodge did not experience the frequent floods that plagued the early pioneers that farmed near here. I tried to picture hogs running wild in Zion Canyon, which made me think that much of the vegetation was probably in better shape now then it was 100 years ago. 

Still, I could not believe just how quiet it was passing between the Grotto and the Lodge. This is a main thoroughfare for people going to the Emerald Pools. Yet, we were both sort of curiosities to each other as I passed under the stream of traffic on the black bridge leading from the Lodge to the Lower Emerald Pools. Below the lodge it was nearly abandoned, but no less spectacular. There were two women I saw lounging in a hammock, but that was it. Yet the scenes before my eyes were wonderful with the Sentinel dominating, but also the awesome views of Mt. Majestic which is best seen from the Virgin River. 
These are places where many early visitors looked up and said this should be protected or other's should know about this place or this is the house of God. That is what Frederick Vining Fisher thought as he sporadically named everything he could see with Claude Hirschi in 1916. The funny thing is that he named all these different courts along the way, like the Court of Music and the Court of Poets, but the only one that stuck was the Court of the Patriarchs. I am still not sure why some of his words were taken like gospel and others were completely ignored, but it probably comes down to politics that I will not understand 100 years later.
The river continued to flow along nice and meandering like. It was easy to see why geologists are convinced that this was a lake bottom for many years. It was even easier to see after finding my way to the Sentinel slide area. Unfortunately, there is a diversion dam right near Birch Creek that seems to serve no purpose nowadays, but probably has some, right? Below that the canyon became much more sporty. This is because the Sentinel slide is what dammed up Zion Canyon and then river has to make up for lost time to meet the meandering stream it becomes once again below the park entrance. 

Because of this ancient lake bed, it is easy to see why Zion Canyon is so remarkable. Given how flat it is with so many amazing peaks rising above, one can see much of the grandeur for miles before they are there. There is not too much hidden in Zion Canyon so one gets to experience much of it the entire time. Below the diversion dam, though, it becomes a different world of feeling semi-trapped in a narrows plunging river canyon that obviously wasn't meant to be tread by man. It was picking and choosing routes and crossings in the main part. Here I saw the only other people actually hiking in the river as they picked their way upstream. 

I was able to walk right by the slide area and see that it is still actively eroding and the river is still cutting its way through this massive debris pile that has plunged down from the cliffs above. The best part of this section, though, was following the Great Blue Heron as it moved downstream and eventually flying high above to get back to its home. Not a bad place to live. This section was long and challenging. It was the only section of the river that I would not choose to hike again as it was hard to see anything but the canyon itself and the road cut high above until I was nearing Canyon Junction. Here I could look back upstream to see the Twin Brothers and Mountain of the Sun. Eventually I made it back to the shuttle stop where I proceeded up the road back to my car instead of taking the shuttle. It would have been very anti-climactic to end the day like a sardine in the shuttle.

Instead, I was able to reflect on the experience I had and realize that after 13 years of hiking in and around Zion, I had done it. Not only had I enjoyed the main canyon, but I had found a new hike to do that was away from the crowds and allowed me to see the amazing beauty of this place. It gave me hope for the future of Zion because not every place is over run with people checking their cellphones every five minutes or blasting their speakers as they hike. You can still go to the main canyon and find what this place was set up to protect. On this day, it truly did feel like a sanctuary and I was able to have my own original Zion experience.