I recently took a trip with my good friend Sarah. We had both been wanting to visit Zion National Park for some time and after juggling our schedules we were on our way. Looking back I wish we would've chosen a cooler time of year to visit. I discovered that Utah experiences the same crazy monsoon weather that Arizona does.
The drive up was fine until we got to the park. The traffic was backed up and it took a long time to drive through the park to the hotel we were staying at. We decided to go to sleep early so that we could arrive back at the park and start hiking.
Even though we were up early the crowds to catch the bus into the park was unreal. We had to wait at least an hour before we could get on. The bus drove through the park and stopped at different points in the park for different hikes. Fortunately for us the bus stopped in front of the trailhead for Observation Point.
We had no idea how strenuous this hike would be! It was 8 miles long and the there was an elevation gain of about 2100 ft. One of the really nice things about the hike was the way it changed from being a steep trail to slot canyon and back again. There was so much color in the mountains, rocks and skyline. It was overcast for a good portion of the hike but then it cleared up and the sun was blazing hot.
The weather changed rapidly the way it does in Arizona during monsoon season. By the time we reached the top of Observation Point the storm clouds were rolling in and thunder was crashing around us. After eating lunch and enjoying the views Sarah and I started to hike back down. After we caught the shuttle back to the parking area it was pouring rain. People were running from the shuttle to their cars. Sarah and I pulled out our rain ponchos and walked back to the car.
The rain was coming down really hard. The streets were beginning to flood. It was hard to see out of the windshield and we had to drive slow. We could see traffic was backed up and there was a tree down in the street ahead of us. Sarah pulled out her phone and got the GPS up to look for an alternate route. We drove through side streets and finally got around it. It was just one of those weird things that happen when we go on our road trips.
The next day I was glad that we decided to take our time and set off for the Weeping Rock hike. This was an easy 4 mile hike to the waterfall. It was very crowded which made navigating around people a little bit difficult at times. There were so many people on this hike that it felt like we were standing elbow to elbow. The waterfall was pretty although there wasn't a lot of water flowing. The views were amazing. I would actually love to go back to Zion at some point to do more exploring in the cooler months. I'm grateful that even though we only had a couple of days there we were able to hike and enjoy some wonderful views of nature.
