I got to my destination for the day... Zion National Park...around 8:00 am. It was still pretty early. I had no problem finding a parking space. Zion utilizes shuttles to transport visitors from one end of the park to the other. They are numerous, so you never have to wait more than 5-10 minutes at each stop. I opted to ride the shuttle to the final northern stop to hike the popular Riverside Walk. When I started out on the paved trail, I noticed it was a little chilly! I'm thinking low 60s with a breeze. Actually, it felt pretty good to this Northwesterner who prefers temps like that!
It was about 1.5 miles round trip and pretty much flat...I like easy trails. As I was making the return trip, the serenity was broken by the sound of chattering...kids! There is no such thing as a quiet child! It was a school group going in the opposite direction. I'm glad I got there early!
I took the shuttle south to the half mile Weeping Rock trail...short, but a bit steep. As I was going back down, I couple of older women greeted me. They had seen me on the Riverside Walk, and noted that I walked faster than them! They were cheerful and very friendly. My final hike of the day was the Lower Emerald Pool trail. This one was about a mile in length. By now, it was getting rather hot, and this trail didn't have as much shade. There was a humorous moment when I saw the two ladies again...and again while I was leaving and they were arriving. Again, they made note at how fast I walked! Oh, I guess I should mention Zion is most famous for its steep canyons and beautiful red rocks. And, I DID take a lot of photos!
After lunch and a visit to the small park museum, I was ready to leave. When I got to my Blazer, it was blazing in the hot sun. The door handle was very hot...ouch! As soon as I opened the door, I knew something was wrong. I didn't hear my auto cooler operating. Sure enough, I tried starting the engine and the battery was dead! Great! My cooler drained the battery in the five hours I was away. My other auto cooler actually had a feature that turned off the cooler rather than drain the battery...obviously, this one didn't do that! I knew it would take AAA awhile to get to the park, so I decided to ask the park staff for help. I went into the visitor center, and asked the ranger at the information booth if I could get a jump start. To my relief, she made a call, and told me another ranger would arrive in about five minutes. I returned to my car, and in no time, he arrived. Hmm...he was kinda cute! His truck had a built in plug in the bumper and a couple minutes later, I was in business. Oh, I must mention he saw my FFF FAN license plate, and asked me what I was a fan of. I explained to him... Five For Fighting...musical artist...Superman and 100 Years? The nice ranger was totally clueless. Oh, well. That's nothing new. Not everyone knows who Five For Fighting is. I guess I should have played my 100 Years CD? On the other hand, he probably had other visitors to rescue.
I had one more place to go before my nightly pitstop. Kolub Canyons is officially part of Zion National Park, but since it is in the far northwest corner and away from the main area, most people bypass it. They really shouldn't. The Kolub Canyons overlook is only five miles from the interstate, and provides equally awesome views of the red rocks.
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