Zion- Day 2, Messing About In The Park

We had taken off from home and taken our kids, EV and new (to us) trailer to Zion National Park over the Thanksgiving Holidays.  Not much worked on the trailer (as we discovered the first night).  But now it was morning on our first real day in Zion….so we took off for coffee and breakfast to figure out the lay of the land.  Here we go.

After breakfast, our first stop was Zion Outfitters, as we didn’t know how busy things were or if we should get our gear then….go up the Narrows that day or could we wait?  The folks at Zion Outfitters were patient with the tourists and well versed in the questions they get about the Narrows.  They advised us perfectly.  The advice was to come get our gear in the late afternoon….then get the earliest shuttle we could (from the Visitors Center- free) up to the Narrows.  This would ensure less tourists to start with and would ensure we had the best chance for the hike into the canyon.  We took their advice.  So we would come back in the afternoon for our poopie suits….leaving us the day to explore.

First, we wanted to explore more of the park and see the sights, so we headed up the Zion-Mt Carmel Highway.  There’s some tight roads, gnarly switchbacks and tunnels on this road, so make sure you pay attention when you start up it.  Here’s a map to show you how far we went and where some of the sights are:

Our original intention heading up the road was to find the turnout for the Canyon Overlook Trail as noted on the map, so we could go check it out and take some pictures, but once we got up the switchbacks and through the tunnels, we realized the small parking lot for the trail was soooo crowded that trying to park would have been dangerous, so we just kept driving.  That was a good decision, because we were able to see far more of the park by driving up a ways, finding a safe turnout and getting turned back around without worrying about the crowds.

We drove up the Zion Mt. Carmel Highway some ways, but not as far as Checkerboard Mesa.  See, we had to keep driving until we could find a turnout large enough to allow us to turn around.  Once we turned around, we retraced our drive back down…..but we got a surprise on the way down…and had to turn around again just before the tunnels.  Then we raced back up the highway, to slow down and stop in time to see real, live wild Bighorn Sheep….like they were posing for us on the rocks.  Check them out: 

On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at a larger pull off to get photos of the Great Arch….but got another surprise.  As we were hanging out, another group of Big Horn Sheep were just off to the side of the parking lot, under cover of trees.  We did NOT disturb them with our photos, I think they were used to people doing this anyways.  

After our drive up the Zion Mt. Carmel Road, we headed back to Zion Outfitters to get our suits for the next morning, when we would head into the Narrows.  Once you rent the gear, you then need to try it on, making sure it fits and will cover everything.  Especially important are the boots, making sure you get a decent fit, misery will ensue if you don’t size the boots well.  

After getting our gear, I dropped the gear and the family at the trailer and took it to charge.  Of course the chargers were full but I went back later….nearer to dark and was able to put the truck on charging.  Right before bed a few hours later, I came back and moved the truck back to the campsite.  

Next week….Braving the Narrows on Thanksgiving Day. 

Here’s other posts in this story: 

Zion- Day 1, Getting There

Early Winter Camping In Zion National Park….A Primer