Monday, September 18, 2017

The Rain Narrowed Our Options

For the last day, we were supposed to hike the famed Narrows in Zion, but with the high possibility of flash flooding because of the rain, Amanda made the command decision to move to plan B, a rather tame hike up the Watchman Trail.

I totally understood the decision -- there is no point taking an undue chance (well, besides the Scary Hike of Death the day before!) with the possibility of a bad outcome.  She was surprised the Park Service had not closed the Narrows, and noted she would not have done it on her own given the conditions, much less taken a group in.

Well, I will just have to go back to get to do the Narrows.

Watchman's Trail was a nearly 400 foot elevation gain across a mile and a half hike, so it was just like Angels Landing in no way at all.  Given the occasional rumbles of thunder, and the threat of rain, it was a good way to spend the morning before hitting the road back to Vegas.

A stone seat on the way up.

One website refers to it as "not the most exciting hike in Zion, and it's not the most stunning viewpoint either, but it is a pleasant little hike, especially if you have a few hours to kill. . .or on a cloudy day."  That's a pretty good description.

On the way back down, near the bottom, Rich took a step and as I was about to follow,  my Spider senses tingled.  Looking down, I noticed a huge tarantula less than two inches from his foot.  It was neat to watch for a moment, and I think we found the one thing Amanda is squeamish about.
We let this dude pass without
any harassment from us.

After the spider, we piled back into the van and headed into Springdale, a decidedly-Midwestern sounding town on the western edge of Zion (town fathers: spiff up the name a bit -- something more exciting!  Just trying to help!).

We had a good last lunch at a park down by the river, and then it was time to wrap up the trip.  Farewell to Zion and Bryce.

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