Day 1 - Off to Zion National Park

Date 6/20

Weather: Clear and Hot

Expense
$10 on suveniors
$25 on gas
$50 on NP card
$32 on camping fee
$117 for Total

Mileage: 387 miles

Beer: 0

Pictures: homepage.mac.com/cenya/PhotoAlbum38.html

I got up extra early today. I am not sure if it is the excitement of traveling, but I woke up at 3:30 A.M. unintentionally. Oh, well. I went through my list one more time and cross everything off, including turning up the AC to 85°F. I wrote an e-mail to most of people that knows I was taking an extended road trip. I said a good-bye to my little girl, Cenya. I hope my parents will take good care of my dog.

It was a cool morning, but I guess 4:16 a.m. would be a cool time of the day. I started my Honda and off I went. Radio was playing Don McClain’s “American Pie.” I was off to a good start.

First place I stopped was at Flagstaff. I took care of number one and filled the gas tank. The gas station attendant was a cheery of sort. He greeted me so politely before I even purchased any gas. In fact, I first went to the restroom. Flagstaff’s morning temperature is quite chilly. I suppose it is a relative thing, but I felt kind of nippy on the chest area.

I was off to Page, Arizona. It took another couple of hours. It was quite a boring drive. I stopped at Glen Canyon Dam Visitor Center, which was nearby, for a quickie tour. I noticed the guide talk giver woman had a nose stud. I don’t know why I noticed that so much. I did not even think she was cute. I was thinking our employers are getting less of a stick in the mud. I bought an over-priced patch. I am not sure why I bought it since I did not really hike or take an extended tour of anything. What a waste!

The last stop for today was the destination, Zion National Park. It was quite a short drive from Page. I guess this is also relative, but it took just over two hours I think. I entered the Zion through the East entrance. Supposedly, the East entrance is a scenic drive and it is named Zion-Mt. Carmel Hwy. It was pretty awesome to see the tunnels and Checkerboard Mesa. I drove down into the canyon unlike Grand Canyon.

First thing was first. I set up my base in South Campground. I paid for two nights as soon as I found my campground 102. I was ready to explore the Zion, but I was famished. I ate pita with ham and drank some water. It tasted mighty fine.

I walked over to the visitor center where all the shuttles were. During the busy season no private vehicles are allowed in the Zion Canyon. I started with viewing a 22-minute video about Zion at the Human Museum. It was your everyday informative thing and nothing spectacular.

I went to Court of Patriarchs after the video. It is three gigantic (I thought about ginormous) rocks. They are Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. Apparently, a Methodist minister named much of the Zion. The Patriarchs were impressive, but I’ve seen better.

After the Patriarchs, I stopped at the Zion Lodge. This is where the pampered visitors come to stay. It has a snack shop, a gift shop, and a full service restaurant. I made a reservation for dinner for next day. Emerald Pools Trail is at this shuttle stop. This is a nice trail where three green looking pools are at three different levels. I made it to the top only losing the trail once. The park service forbade swimming at the top pool. Middle pool contained harmful bacteria, so I did not drink the water. I did wet my feet. I don’t think that was a good idea in retrospect, but I was hot at the time.

I stopped at Weeping Rock next. It was a real short hike to where water slips out between two rock formations. One is porous and the other is much harder, Shale. Water comes out between the two layers. It was nice to be under the mist of water, as the day seemed hot.

The last stop for the day was Riverside Walk. It was longer hike then I thought. It was nice to walk in shade along the Virgin River. Yes, the river is called Virgin. I washed my face, hands, and feet at the end of the trail where there are river access areas.

I went to the Visitor Center, where I purchased postcard postage and two postcards. I was hungry so I came back to the campground. I ate a peach, three Oreos, and ham rolled up in a wheat tortilla. I wrote the postcards to my folks and my sister. I hoped they like them.

With daylight savings, Utah does not experience sunset until 9 pm or later. I was bored so I took a free shuttle in to the town of Springdale. It is a little dink of a town serving Zion, which is made of shops along 89.

I looked forward to exploring more tomorrow. I was pooped out. I brushed my teeth. Sayonara, I was out.