Canyon Interlude

"How do you like my office?" the shuttle driver asked.  It was a little after 7:00 AM in southern Utah, and the sun was jumping above a series of red sandstone peaks, one after the other.  "I see two sunrises a day," she continued, a reference to the hide-and-seek game being played with the canyon wall.  We had left the Zion National Park visitors' center moments earlier, and turned onto Scenic Drive.  No private vehicles are allowed on this road during the majority of the year, so the only way to get to most destinations in any sort of timely manner is to utilize the shuttle.  Even though it was early, the seats were mostly full, and just about all of us were headed to a place called The Grotto...which also happens to be the trailhead for Angel's Landing.

**

Zion Canyon was carved by the north fork of the Virgin River, whose brownish waters continue on for nearly 200 miles through the states of Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.  The river provides a lush habitat for numerous plant and animal species, while the towering surroundings take on an ecology of their own.  It is quite a visual tapestry - and in 2015, 3.6 million people visited the park to take it in firsthand¹.  My own trip involved a flight to Las Vegas, a trip to the rental car center, and a three hour drive to Springdale, the town directly outside the park's gate.  There, I picked up some supplies and checked the weather forecast one more time: rain again all weekend, with the exception of a six-hour window on Friday morning.  That's all I needed; I'd wanted to do the Angel's Landing hike for several years.  Any other activities in the area, weather-permitting, would take a backseat to this.

**

Angel's Landing is a narrow, fin-like rock formation that rises about 1,500 feet above the riverbed below.  Climbing it is one of the signature activities in Zion, and one of the world's riskier day hikes.  Imagery of the final ascent, steep, precarious, and guided by chains drilled into the rock, is quite captivating.

Two miles of steady inclines get you to a point known as Scout Lookout; this is where the chain work begins.  A storm from the night before had somewhat cleared when I got to this marker, but there were still clouds swirling in the north part of the canyon, blocked to a degree by the protrusion that Angel's Landing makes in a west-to-east fashion.  After navigating a humpish formation - hanging a little off the side of the rock to do so - I came into a clearing and thought I'd reached the endpoint...only to realize that the beast still lay in front of me.

This last part was a good time to think about each individual footstep and handhold, and where to put my weight.  The morning was quiet, save for the sound the wind made coming up and down the canyon.  Maybe it was the precise focus, or maybe a very small bit of adrenaline, but I have learned to love moments like this.    

The reward at the top: incredible.

  

**

Thunderstorms returned Friday afternoon, and into the night.  The next morning I decided to cut my trip short - there was more to do in Zion, but probably not in this weather.  I had breakfast in Springdale² and then made the trip back to Vegas.

If you every fly from Las Vegas to the Bay Area, try and get a seat on the right side of the airplane.  One hour into the flight, you fly over the Sierra mountain range, and are treated to breathtaking aerials of Yosemite Valley and its environs.  I thought back to chatting at breakfast with a young couple who were on a tour of the southwest, and our conversation about some favorite hiking trails outside of Zion.  Looking down on the south wall of Yosemite Valley, where some adventures await this summer, any lingering disappointment from the ending to this particular trip melted away.

¹This is the reason for the road closure from spring through fall - and it makes sense seeing firsthand the number of people who merely ride the shuttle.  And the 2016 visitor numbers, by the way, are already on track to surpass 2015, which was the park's biggest year on record.  On the return trip from The Grotto, my driver said they had just hired 15 new employees on to the shuttle system.

²The Parkhouse Cafe, which has a $1 "credit card fee" and a $5 "bitch fee".  I am pleased to report I was only assessed the first one.