Southwestern Utah
Zion National Park, Utah
November 29
2022
This adventure was Exciting Different Fun
Today I finished my contract with the Zion concessionary that I worked part-time for. We had our end of season party and afterwards I went for a few hikes in the park.
Today was the official day that Zion Shuttles stopped service, so you could drive your personal vehicles into the park. This was VERY nice and to my surprise it wasn’t crowded at all.
I decided to start off with a hike up to Canyon Overlook Trail. It’s a nice short trail that gets you to an amazing overlook of the canyon below. I saw a bunch of big horn sheep along the trail! I was taking pictures of the sheep when a lady and guy turned the corner and the lady was yelling “LOOK AT ALL THE CUTIES!” and she walked right between the sheep.
They seemed confused and a little agitated, but eventually settled down. The lady kept yelling at the sheep when finally, a lady who was standing behind me told her to “shut up!” This had no effect though.
I probably saw about a dozen people total during my time at Canyon Overlook.
I came back down and got in my car to drive down on the Zion Scenic Drive. The drive was beautiful and not busy. I drove straight up to Weeping Rock to hike around there. This was nice to see again since it has been closed since 2019 from a major rock fall that happened then.
The only trail open here now is the Weeping Rock Trail. The East Mesa Trail and Hidden Canyon Trails are still closed from that rock fall. It’s not clear when they will open again.
After Weeping Rock, I drove up to Big Bend for some pictures of Angels Landing and I was hoping to see a California Condor and I did! It was soaring high above Angel’s Landing. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my 300 mm lens, so I couldn’t get close.
I then drove around and explored some more. I visited some parts of Zion that have been on my list for a long time. While hiking around I saw a ruin! Or, at least, I think it’s a ruin. This looks like an ancient hunters blind to hunt for big horn sheep and deer. I was more than surprised to see this as there aren’t many ruins in Zion!
I hiked to another location that has been on my list for a while. It’s a pictograph panel that I have dubbed the King Panel. It’s faded, but still completely amazing to see. This appears to be Paiute, but I could be completely wrong. It looks similar in design to other pictographs that look similar.
After this it was time to head back home! What a great few hours in Zion!
