Day 2 in Zion and I wanted to get at least one big hike in. With the Hidden Canyon trail still being closed from a slide in 2019 I was looking for an alternative that would be moderately difficult with good views. My initial plan was the short version of the Sand Bench trail but after reading reviews it sounded like it lived up to the sand part of the name so instead I aimed for the Watchman trail.
The trail starts right at the park entrance with a short walk along the campgrounds before starting the ascent. The 600ft climb is spread across most of the full 1.3 mile hike in so not anywhere near as steep as the Cohab Canyon trail was. The views of the valley get better as you go until making a right turn and getting the full view of the Watchman formation and a clear view all the way into town. There’s a short loop at the top before heading back down the way you came.
There were so many different types of wildflowers blooming along the trail adding different colors that were more apparent on the way down than up. I think that’s one of the things that really makes Zion stand out. I love Capitol Reef, it’s certainly quieter and smaller, but there’s so much life in Zion owing to the very active river running through it. Trees, wildflowers, all the critters running around.
Of course since that river is being fed by an abundance of snow melt one of the park’s more famous hikes, the Narrows, was closed due to the risk of flash floods. So for the afternoon instead of trying to take on another long hike I decided to hit a couple of the shuttle stops and wander around. I started at the river walk at the final stop in the park where high up on the one cliff there was a small temporary waterfall, possibly from the recent rains. There’s definitely a risk of getting a sore neck here, walking around and looking up at all of the cliffs overhead.
After that I had an extended stop at Big Bend, which is the shuttle stop right below Angel’s Landing. There’s a nice short walk down to the river here with views around the bend in the canyon, hence the name. About halfway down the trail the distant thunder turned into a proper rainstorm so I headed back up to the shuttle stop and took cover from the rain. After half an hour the skies were brightening again so I made it back down to the river for pictures. The mix of bright clouds and blue sky made some of these more challenging. I had an odd thought while checking the exposure histograms, something seemingly important about how they’re calculated, almost like from a past life or something.
It was getting late so I made a final stop at the Court of the Patriarchs for the short walk to the overlook of the three peaks named after Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There were lots of last looks and pictures as I was leaving the park. The late afternoon rain had cleared the haze and the lighting was really quite good but the shuttles to town don’t run indefinitely so I reluctantly headed out in search of dinner.
Tomorrow is primarily a drive day, 440 miles to Bishop with a couple quick pauses in Death Valley.
Drive stats: Same as yesterday, none! 😁
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