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Last week I headed up to Zion National park with a stop through Vermillion Cliffs up from Tempe where I was for a comedy show. On the way through, I made a brief stop at the Navajo Bridge. Once I reached VC, I stayed for about 1-1.5 hours watching the Condors at the viewing site. I wish that I was able to capture one closer, but I still enjoyed watching them.
After leaving the Condor site, I headed to White Pocket trail to capture it at sunset. There were about 6-8 carloads of people out there. I was planning on camping out in the area, but I wasn't feeling very well. So I thought it may be better to just head out and get closer to a main road in case I started feeling worse.
I made my way back to House Rock Rd and ended up staying at the Stateline CG. When I pulled in, I got the last spot. I was setup and asleep within 10 minutes. It was definitely a cold night, when I got in the morning, my truck read 30 and it took a while to warm up. I was feeling a little better, and wanted to continue my trip, so I packed up quickly with the intent of going for a hike in Bucksin Gulch. As soon as I left camp, the deer sightings began, and I saw at least 20+. Also, I figured out that it was busy because the area was full of hunters. Once I reached the trailhead, there were 2 trucks of hunters scoping out a group of deer near the area. I decided to just skip the hike, as the area was too crowded with things that go bang, and carried onto Zion.
At Zion, I stayed at the Watchman CG at the entrance of the park. I got in just before I could take my spot, so I walked around the visitor center and made a plan for some hikes for the day. After setting up camp, I headed into the park to do the Weeping Rock trail and the Emerald Pool trail.
The next day, I was able to get a permit for Angel's landing, so I head out early for that hike. The trail is filled with chipmunks that are fearless, and I even heard someone say that a little girl got her skin ripped the previous day by one trying to get her snack. The views were amazing from the top.
After some lunch in town, and a brief rest, I headed up the Watchman Trail, which ends on a mesa that can overlook the entrance into Zion. I was alone up there, and unbeknownst to me, the Northern lights were visible that night. I did see some red, but I initially thought it was just the long exposure picking up some of the brake lights of the cars going into the canyon. It wasn't until I was headed back to camp that a friend called and let me know that it was visible even back home. Great trip, but unfortunately it had to come to an end, so I hightailed it back to ABQ on Wednesday.
