More Utah travels, September 2020 – Cedar Breaks National Monument; Zion NP; Goblin Valley State Park, Sego Canyon

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Cedar Breaks National Monument

Today we are on our way to Cedar Breaks National Monument.  It is a smaller, less visited, version of Bryce Canyon, and is only about an hour away from Bryce Canyon.

On the road between Grand Canyon and Cedar Breaks we see many areas where wildfires have burned.  They are in various stages of self-restoration; grasses, aspen, and small pine refilling the areas.  Prior to entering Utah we stop at Le Fevre overlook.  This is the area where the wildfires burned only a few months earlier.  The entire valley is blackened.

Continuing on to Kanab we make a stop to restock the refrigerator and dry ice for the cooler.  At this point the only time we were not able to find any was in Holbrook AZ.  The food in the cooler is doing well, most of it still frozen.

Full cooler we drive on to Cedar Breaks.  The road is a continuous climb from Kanab to the park, ending at over 10,000’ in elevation.  Cool nights ahead.  The campground is only a half mile from the visitor center with a trail snaking between.  We are able to leave the truck sit for a day while we hike several trails starting from the visitor center.

Cedar Breaks National Monument

All the formations are in a single west facing amphitheater.  Erosion has created natural features in the limestone; hoodoos, arches, fins, spires and canyons.  Multiple overlooks provide different perspectives of the amphitheater.  Facing west provides great lighting as the sun sets.

After our initial visit we head back to the campground for dinner.  Being conscientious we start washing dishes; looking at the time we realize sunset is in 15 minutes.  We drop everything, pick up cameras and almost run down the trail to the visitor overlook a half mile away.Running is not as easy as it used to be having relocated to an elevation of 800’.  We are huffing and puffing at 10,000’.  We do make it with a few minutes to spare, witnessing the sun disappear behind the horizon.

Winter mittens

The high elevation and remoteness of the park provides another opportunity to photograph the Milky Way.  Skeletons of trees surrounding our campsite provide silhouettes for the Milky Way.  We make the effort shooting for an hour or so the cold helping us make the decision to call it a night.  We continue using the sleeping bags.  We hear elk bugling and coyotes howling on and off throughout the night.

Today we hit the trail to Spectral Point then on to Rampart Overlook, a four mile hike.  Each of the overlooks let us look into the amphitheater from vastly different locations.  Bristlecone pines line the top of the amphitheater between Spectral Point and Rampart Overlook.  They are the only trees that are tough enough to grow under these conditions.  The gnarled wood twists and turns holding on to rocks, the ground, anything available, providing life for the small shoots showing the tree is still alive.  All the other trees stay back, hiding from this scene.

Hanging on

More hanging on

New growth -
following dad's
footsteps

Zion National Park

Zion was not on my initial list when planning this trip.  We already know we want to return to this area several more times so I planned to visit Zion some other time.  But for some reason I was persistent in checking recreation.gov, the online camping reservations website, for an opening at the Watchman campground.  Several times all I found was a full campground, then one evening one site opened; with a bit of schedule juggling I could make it fit so I grabbed the site, four nights in Zion!

We enter the park using the east entrance.  From this direction the park is cleverly disguised.  Up until the last two miles before entering the park I would have never guessed anything like Zion, with its monumental walls and valleys, could emerge from the rolling hills with native vegetation we were driving through.  It made me think of walking from your small, comfortable bedroom directly into a huge cathedral; totally different; unexpected - a place to be revered.  The road winds back and forth clinging to the canyon walls working its way to the bottom of the canyon.  We go through a mile long tunnel with the occasional window.  We are small enough that we do not need to be escorted. Larger vehicles have to wait for their turn to go, while the road is two lane it’s not large enough for two large RV’s to pass each other.  We emerge on the other side to more switchbacks before the road turns paralleling the North Fork of the Virgin River.  We have gone from 10,000’ to approximately 4,000’ so the temperature has risen to the mid 90’s.  No sleeping bags tonight.

Virgin River

To-do list in hand we exit the park looking for a laundromat, an easy find; propane, not as easy; dry ice, not as easy; and a grocery store, not as easy.  A few phone calls later we are on our way to Hurricane, UT for all the ‘not as easy’ items on our list.  Talking with the woman at the propane center I find out that a few weeks earlier it had been over 110°.  Full refrigerator and restocked dry ice we return to Zion.  We notice on our drive back we leave the, flat open desert, entering a broad valley where Zion NP is.

Lower Emerald Pool

Finding our campsite we set up, a 10 minute walk puts us at the visitor center allowing us to find out the best hikes and ways to get there.  Zion instituted a shuttle system in 2000 because the roads could not handle the amount of visitor traffic the park was receiving.  Today, due to the pandemic, the shuttles have halved their capacity by removing every other seat.  Early tickets for the shuttles, before 3 PM, are awarded by the quickest computer.  Just think of the process to get a Southwest Airlines boarding pass.   If you miss the time by a few seconds or minutes you may not get the shuttle time you want.  Since I was not aware of how the system worked we were not able to get the early shuttles.  The cost for a ticket is $1.  After 3PM the shuttle ride is free on a first come first served basis.  The last shuttle down is around 815 PM, we are reminded that we do not want to miss the last shuttle.  Masks are required.

Water fall between
Emerald Pools

We take the afternoon shuttle just to get a lay of the land.  Several of the stops are closed.  At least one of them we were able to see the large rock slide that came down on the trail.  We saw a video of the actual rockslide.  A shuttle was just leaving the area as it was happening, the shuttle driver just kept on going, finally emerging from the cloud of dust and debris.  Several other hiking trails are also closed; Angels Landing is one.  It is impossible to keep a six foot distance between hikers when the trail is only 2’ – 3’ wide.  You understand if you are familiar with the Angel’s Landing trail.  If not, pull up an Angel’s Landing hike video on YouTube.  We are able to hike to Scout Lookout, the last stop before heading to the famous chains section of the Angels Landing trail.  The Narrows hike is officially closed due to an cyanobacteria outbreak in the Virgin River.  That did not stop people from hiking up the Virgin River.  On another hike up to the Narrows we saw hundreds of people hiking the river.

Front of Zion Lodge

On our return shuttle ride we see bighorn sheep feeding alongside the road, turkeys, and mule deer.  There are over a dozen mule deer feeding in the lawn area in front of the Zion Lodge.  We spot several more mule deer walking through the campground.

After breakfast we hike the Watchman Trail.  It is a 3 mile roundtrip trail near the campground.  It winds around one of the canyon walls climbing several hundred feet providing views of the formations up the canyon.  It is quite crowded, we pass scores of people coming and going.  Valley views are spectacular, it is a great hike to do.

Start of Scout Lookout trail

We catch one of the afternoon shuttles, we exit at the Zion Lodge to hike the recently opened Emerald Pools trail.  There is a series of three pools all on different levels of the formation making up this portion of the canyon.  The upper pool, surrounded on three sides by 1,000’ walls is crowded with visitors.  No meditation beside the calm water today.   Waterfalls from the top two cascade into the bottom pool.  The trail passes behind the waterfall at the bottom pool, sprinkling us with occasional drops of water.  The waterfalls are just a trickle given the drought conditions in September.

View from Scout Lookout

Several of the 21 switchbacks

Angel's Landing trail

Launch point for
Angle's Landing

After another unsuccessful try for early morning shuttle tickets we decide to hike the Scout Lookout trail today.  It is sunny and warm and the 11:00 start means a warm hike.  The shuttle is packed, fortunately only a few disembark at the Grotto stop, the one for our hike.  We have 21 switchbacks climbing 1,000’ over two miles.  The switchbacks are paved making the hike easier.  Part way up I lose count of the switchbacks so I have to believe there are only 21; but it seems like there are more.  The actual hike up is harder on the lungs than the legs.  We stop several times catching our breath before continuing.  We pass a few fellow hikers and are passed by other fellow hikers.  There is a flat area where the trail follows a slot between the canyon walls.  

Notice the shuttle in the
lower right corner

Once we emerge on the other side we ascend another series of switchbacks before arriving at our destination.  A lot of people are here; eating, visiting, relaxing and photographing.  We do the same.  We are up 1,000’ from where we started.  We see the road with tiny little shuttles dropping off and picking up even tinier tourists.  The Angles Landing portion of the trail has a large closed sign.  We see the posts and chains hikers use for assistance continue up and along the ridge disappearing over the horizon.  The final destination is a half mile farther with another 500’ elevation gain.  After a long rest I would have tried it; next time.

Returning from
the Narrows

The hike down is quicker, definitely easier on the lungs, but harder on the quads.  Overall we did the four mile hike in three hours including our stop for lunch and sightseeing at the top.  We will do it again.  After a break and lunch at the Zion Lodge we board the shuttle for the last stop, Temple of Sinawava.  This is where the Narrows trail begins.  The first half mile of the trail is paved, from there it is up to a four mile trek in and along the Virgin River.  The return shuttle stop is packed with hikers from the Narrows Trail.  I mentioned earlier that the national park service has closed the hike, it is still closed.  The line for the return shuttle is hundreds of feet long, it’s not because people are standing six feet apart either.  We note we don’t want to rush back because we will get to stand in the same line.  Starting up the dry portion of the hike we come across an endless mass of people returning from the hike.  The indicator is; wet, red, ankle high water proof shoes and walking sticks.  I ask about the shoes, they are rentals from a company just outside the park in Springdale.  For $25 you get the shoes, neoprene socks and a walking stick, for the day.  That place must have made a fortune this day for all the shoes I saw.  We stop at the end of the paved trail watching the many happy hikers continue upstream and equally happy, but tired hikers returning.  We shoot images of the phenomenon, another hike we will be doing the next time we are here.

Canyon View
at sunrise

Returning over an hour later the shuttle line is equally as long as when we arrived.  We leave our masks on for the 45 minute wait for the return shuttle.  In speaking with a park ranger organizing this horde of hikers – “Today was a light day!”

You are being watched

No shuttle today.  Instead we get up at 5AM heading out to Canyon View Point a few miles east and a drive through the tunnel.  The parking lots are already half full.  The trail varies from large rocks to sand, a footbridge to cross, and an alcove with a low overhang that I have to watch very closely given my 6’2” height; Nicida has no such problem.  Catching sunrise here is quite nice.  Looking back towards the sun we spot a bighorn sheep giving us a nice silhouette on the ridge.  We tour through Sprindale visiting a few more tourist shops before returning to our campsite then catching a ranger talk in the evening.

The Watchman

Travels

On the way out, just before leaving Zion we have to stop at several more pullouts for even more photos of this picturesque park.  We even spot a little fall color in a few of the bushes along the way.  We continue our trip to Hanksville, UT passing Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks, (we saw them last year) and other smaller equally interesting and beautiful areas.

Goblin Valley State Park is our next goal.  Arriving mid-morning the next day we discover there is much more to see here than one finds on the internet.  The hoodoos are packed in a valley, everywhere we turn we’re within a stone’s throw of another hoodoo, or group of hoodoos.  There is no real trail in the valley so everyone wanders, heading towards whatever catches their eye.  After two hours of wandering the wind starts picking up, the blowing sand kind of wind, we decide to move on to our next place of interest.  Given all the things we found in and around Goblin Valley, we will be back.

Sego Canyon has a few walls of large petroglyphs.  It is east of the I-70 turnoff to Moab.  It is a short detour but well worth the trip.  Most of the petroglyphs can be seen from the road but stop and get out to view them up close.

Stay tuned....

Thank you for stopping by,

Mark