Wild West road trip - day 9 - Zion National Park

[TrueBlue]

We had a bit of a lazy morning today. Didn't wake up till 7.30 but watched tv in bed before deciding to get up and organised for another day in Zion.

Today's plan was to try and do a bit of hiking then come back about 3pm and relax around the pool for a while. It didn't quite work out that way though ...

We went to Wild Cat Willies for breakfast. We had free breakfast included in the price of our room (which we didn't know about until we checked in). Instead of a buffet breakfast though Wild Cat Willies you order from the menu. I can't remember what we all had but I do know we had pancakes with various other items included like egg and bacon

I really wanted to hike up Walters Wiggles - the bit before you reach Angels Landing. I knew i'd never be able to go up Angels Landing as i'm not very good with heights and I knew this was a dangerous hike up to the top. Walters Wiggles looked really tough though

In the end we decided because of the heat that this wouldn't be a good idea. It was already gone 11am and by the time we got there i'd be really struggling with the mid day heat.

So we decided to head for the Emerald Pools instead.

We took the shuttle again from our hotel to the visitor's centre. This time I remembered to take our annual pass with us.

We walked through the entrance to the park and got on another shuttle bus into deepest Zion again. This time we were getting off at Zion Lodge as this is where the Emerald Pools hike starts.

There is a restaurant at Zion Lodge so we said we'd stop here for food on the way back down again. There was lots of huge tree's where people where sitting under them in the shade just relaxing

We crossed over the road and crossed the bridge and you are now on the path to Lower Emerald Pools

You follow the path along the Virgin River and it's all up hill

The scenery is stunning and there was lots of people playing in the river and cooling down.

This was what today's weather outlook was to be...

110 degrees! It was sooooo hot and it didn't take long for it to start to affect me. We brought 2 bottles of water each with us but I was already thinking this wasn't going to be enough.

I was struggling with the heat and trying to walk up a hill. I was really feeling my age but an extra 20 years on top.

We eventually reached Lower Emerald Pools which isn't as amazing as it sounds. There's a wee puddle and that's about it You walk under a hanging cliff and there's a bit of a waterfall coming down. You walk underneath it and it gives you a bit of relief when the drizzle falls on you. It really cools you down.

We sat under the shade for a bit to catch our breathe

Lower emerald pool - more like a wee puddle

We saw a sign for middle Emerald Pools so we decided to head there as it wasn't much further.

Again though as soon as we started walking up hill again it didn't take long before I had to stop for a breathe.

If I was disappointed with Lower Emerald Pools I was even more disappointed with the middle ones. It was literally a tiny trickle of water. But I splashed it on my face and it was so refreshing and cold.

We saw the sign for Upper Emerald Pools and we decided that we'd come this far so we should just continue. We bumped into people on their way back down and they said it was nice and cool at the top as there was some shade. You can also go into the pool at the top and it was really cool

So off we headed again - and again I was exhausted within a couple of mins.

The last part of the hike from Middle to Upper really took it's toll on me. At one point I didn't think I was going to make it. We had been walking up hill in 110 degrees for 20 mins now and we bumped into someone coming down saying we were almost there.

It took another 10 mins for us to reach to top and when we finally got there we could see the water.

We sat on a rock in the shade for a few minutes first. Just catching our breathes and drinking our water. We then took our trainers and socks off and headed into the water.

OMG this was bliss ! I've never felt so relieved to go into a cold pool before in my life. We weren't the only ones. There was a few other people in there too.

We stayed in the water cooling down for a good 10 mins

We mustered up the energy to start walking back down again. I knew it wouldn't be as bad going down as what it was coming up.

We made it back to the middle pools and there was people heading in the opposite direction. I honestly didn't envy them at all. They already looked exhausted and the worst was yet to come.

We then made it back to the lower pools and again we sat under the waterfall to cool down a bit before making our way to the bottom again.

The scenery is absolutely stunning there. There's no doubt about it.

I was never so happy to see that bridge again!

We walked back over it and headed to Zion Lodge for food.

By now it was gone 3pm. Although the hike was only 3 miles in total it took much longer than we expected.

We do a bit of walking back home so i'm used to walking up hills but have never done it in this heat before. That was really a killer

We all sat with an ice cold drink once we were back at Zion Lodge and shared a pizza too.

After this we went back to the shuttle stop and got on the next one back to the visitors centre. From here we picked up another shuttle back to our hotel again.

It was now gone 5pm and Scott wanted to go back to the room to charge his phone and get wifi again. Me and DH went to the grocery shop a couple of minutes walk away.

We got more cold drinks for the fridge and nibbles for the room

We then headed back to the room (passing by the swimming pool which looked so tempting).

Once we got back to the room we decided to give the pool a miss and do some laundry instead. There is a laundry room at the hotel.

Whilst we were waiting on the washing we chilled out on the balcony for a bit and caught up with family and friends back home through facebook.

At 8pm we decided to go for dinner. We noticed a chinese restaurant when we were on the shuttle bus which was just down the road so headed there .

The food was amazing! We all scoffed the lot

We walked back to our hotel again and were back in bed for 10.30.

Tomorrow we leave Zion and head to another place I couldn't wait to visit ... Monument Valley!

[Melbatb]

It looks glorious but it must have been hard work in that heat!

[abiknox]

Beautiful day but I feel tired & hot just reading along

[orlandosgr8]

Wow Zion really does look stunning, I can only imagine how tough that walk must have been in that heat. Really enjoying your trip report

[georgemac]

You are having a really amazing trip - and doing amazingly well in that heat.

[Guest]

Beautiful scenery but at 110 degrees my day would have been by that pool!

[Puddle5]

Great TR so far. Really interested in this as we are going to be in Zion about the same time of year in 2019. Didn't think it would be that hot, we'll make sure we go prepared!

We want to walk the emerald pools but from the Kayenta trail. Your pictures are fab!

thank you

[florida girl]

We are just back from Zion stayed at the same hotel it’s now Porters for breakfast. What a spectacular place. Unfortunately only the Lower pools are assessible due to a big rock fall which was disappointing.