The Red Cliffs of Zion (October 2021)

Hiking at Zion National Park. According to Google “Zion National Park is a southwest Utah nature preserve distinguished by Zion Canyon’s steep red cliffs. Zion Canyon Scenic Drive cuts through its main section, leading to forest trails along the Virgin River. The river flows to the Emerald Pools, which have waterfalls and a hanging garden. Also along the river, partly through deep chasms, is Zion Narrows wading hike.”

We checked out Zion National Park which is absolutely gorgeous! More red rock, varied plants and trees, and there ARE fall colors even in the desert. We went on a short hike and came across a Jerusalem Cricket that is described as a Frankenstein-like insect with a nasty bite. 

We saw Big Horn Sheep, Fall colors and that freaky Jerusalem Cricket (lower right) at Zion National Park.

The thing that cracks me up is the cow grates you pass as you enter or exit a freeway. They are designed to make the cows think they’ll fall if they walk on them. Very effective barriers.

Of course, we had to go Mountain Biking! We met people that traveled all the way from San Diego to come Mountain Biking here. See the top middle image is the cow grate which is at the entrance and exit of every freeway.

Hiking and Biking and Ghosts

We biked near our campground and looked for trails. We found an old cemetery with all the graves marked “Unknown.” The ATV trails had lots of loose rocks and were very steep. That was unsettling at times. 

After we made a quick smoothie, we hit a cool hiking trail called Red Reef. Again, I had to use my courage to scale tall rocks. One place even had a rope to hold onto. I’m scared of heights so Jeff walked me through each step. He is so patient and kind to me. 

We biked in St. George, Utah too.

For our evening entertainment, we visited a wild west ghost town called Silver Reef. They had 6 people impersonating ghosts from the Silver Mining heights during the late 1800s.  Each person researched their character in-depth and shared their adventures and lives. Some characters were exceptional and others not so much.  All the characters were male. It would have been nice to hear from females and maybe some American Indians, but I bet those are harder to research. 

This was such a cool Halloween weekend activity to do. We heard from Ghosts from the past in an old mining town.

Interesting fact: at one point silver was discovered in the sandstone here - a geological rarity.  They mined actively for 5-6 years and then stopped because the US government decided to value gold over the silver

Unknown gravesites for the Silver Reef Mining town. We came across a more recent gravestone for someone that liked to play golf. We climbed high mountains to get stunning views!

A Living Wall and Actual Dinosaur Tracks

We got up early to go to Zion National Park for some morning hikes because the parking lot fills up by 8 am. You have to take a shuttle bus to get to most of the hikes. We stopped first at the Zion lodge and saw the Emerald Pools with the baby waterfalls. 

Zion doesn’t have timed entry but their parking lots fill up quickly so we got there early the 2nd time we went. They also make you take a shuttle bus to get to the main section of the park. This also includes the Zion Lodge which is fun to check out.

After coming down the mountain, we said a quick hello to some horses and Jeff got coffee. It felt good to sit for a bit. We also saw wild turkeys near the Zion lodge while waiting for the shuttle bus. 

I didn’t see a tortoise. A hike at the Red Reefs.

We got off at the last stop and did the River Walk which is the same path as the Narrows Water Hike. We weren’t prepared for water up to our waist so we turned around. The amazing thing about the River Walk is that near the baby waterfalls there were walls of plants growing out of the rock. It looks like a living wall.

Look at those living walls! Fun fact: Zion was founded on my birthday on November 19th but in 1919.

On our last day we went back to Red Cliffs and hiked and mountain biked. We went on a short hike to see dinosaur tracks.

It’s hard to believe we were walking the same places as the dinosaurs 🦕 did! See the footprint in the lower right.

It is so great to have so many outdoor options.

I got some horse love across from our campground. I couldn’t believe how small the pen was for the horse but I was glad it had shade. The political posters looked primitive. We stayed in Leeds, UT.

More pictures from Zion National Park.I love the living walls and seeing wild turkeys.