Utah Trip - Part 3 - Zion Hikes Day 1

     Our first full day in Zion NP was much like our first day in Glacier NP last year - RAIN.  Fortunately it was not a steady all day type of rain - more of the shower, thunder shower type.  We had a great breakfast at the Harvest House which meant we didn't hit the park until past 9:30 A.M.  It was raining so we took the shuttle intending initially to go to the last stop hoping that maybe the rain would let up.  It didn't.  We decided to hike to Zion Human History Museum along the Pa'rus Trail. This is only a 1.25 mile hike, but it was along the river with some nice views.

After drying out for a bit at the museum, we hopped back on the shuttle bus and headed to the end of the line and hiked the river walk trail (2 miles round trip).  In drier seasons you can continue up the river for an additional 6 or 7 miles, but needless to say the water was too high for that type of trek.

After the river walk, we hit the Kayenta trail to hike to the Emerald Pools (Total mileage 4.5).  There are three separate pools cleverly named Upper, Middle, and Lower.  During the first portion of the hike we were bombarded by accumulating hail.  Nice touch by Mother Nature.  One thing the rain did do was get all the waterfalls running.  We went to Zion and Yosemite broke out.

As we reached the Upper Pool the weather lifted and we started to get great views of the valley.  We closed out our hiking day by finishing with the Watchman Lookout trail (4 miles round trip).

While on top we had the joy of listening to a man play a Native American Flute.  We had the summit to ourselves and just sat there listening to the flute and taking in the beauty of the park.  It turned into a rare beautiful spiritual moments, one that we could never expect to have experienced in a crowded national park.