September 14th: Hoover Dam & Zion National Park
Our next stop was Hoover Dam (HD). We picked some take away breakfast from Starbucks at the rental at Las Vegas airport, picked our rental car and started our drive. HD is about 45 min drive from Las Vegas airport.
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| Hoover Dam |
Our first stop was the walk across the Hoover Dam View Bridge. It's a 5 min
walk from the car parking to the bridge. Though it was hot, the strong
wind made it tolerable. We got some breathtaking views
of the dam and the Colorado River from the Dam View Bridge.
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| Plant Tour |
Following this, we parked our car at the visitor center and purchased tickets to Plant Tour,
a 30 min guided tour. The tour starts with a short movie covering the
history of the dam, followed by the guided tour to the generators
through the tunnels. This short tour, gives a good overview of the dam.
Post the tour, we walked on the dam. The dam is so deep, it's quite scary when we bend to see at the view points. We then grabbed a quick lunch at the visitor center cafe. They did have a couple of vegetarian options which was a relief of us.
After spending about 3 hours at the Hoover dam, we set off on a scenic drive towards Zion National Park (ZNP). ZNP is about 190 miles - 3 hour drive from HD. ZNP is in Utah and in different timezone than Las Vegas (Nevada). The drive is through vast open landscape pretty much nothing around.
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| Drive to Zion National Park |
All national parks in USA have an entry fee. We can either pay per national park or buy a annual pass at 80$ which will give access to all the 63 national parks. Since we were planning to visit multiple national parks, purchasing the annual pass was best. The annual pass can be purchased at any national park or REI stores. Once pass gives access to one car/people in the car.
Zion Lodge is the only place within the national park. One needs to book very early to get accommodation here. There are a bunch of good options in Springdale which is the close to ZNP and easily accessible by shuttle.
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| Bumbleberry Inn, Springdale |
Around sunset, we arrived at the charming Bumbleberry Inn in Springdale, our stay for the night. The orange/red colors of setting sun added more to beauty to the rocky mountains of ZNP. After checking in, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Oscar's Café, indulging in the local flavors. A quick stop at Sol Market allowed us to stock up on snacks and essentials for our road trip before a restful night.S
September 15th: Exploring Zion National Park
Morning started with a hot & yummy breakfast at the Inn. They have a nice cafe where our complimentary breakfast was served. After breakfast we picked trekking poles from the Inn. Most lodgings here provide complimentary trek poles which are to be returned at the end of the day after the hike.
Springdale shuttle stop to ZNP visitor center was right opposite the Inn. We tool the shuttle to ZNP visitor center and there boarded the ZNP shuttle. These shuttles are every 5-10 min and are most convenient to access all the points on ZNP. Infact, ZNP can be explored only via the shuttle.
While restrooms and water filling stations are available at all ZNP shuttle stops, there are no food joints/cafes on any stops other than the visitor center and at Zion Lodge. So good to carry food depending on how much time you want spend in the park.
ZNP scenic drive is one of the most beautiful drives and is only accessible by the shuttle. Choose a window seat to get some amazing views on this scenic drive.
Our first stop on the ZNP shuttle was Stop #6. We planned to do the lower and middle emerald pools on the Grotto/Kayenta trail. This is approximately 2.5 miles/4 KMs easy hike and it took us about 2hrs to complete.
We planned the Emerald pool hike in the first half of the day to avoid the heat. Heat in south-west America is at a different level. The sun is sharp and the wind is cool. So cap/hat, sun glasses, water and light jacket are a must when in outdoors.
On this trail we got some great views of the gigantic rocky mountains and a thin stream of virgin river flowing along the trail path. Unlike the view points, hiking gives an opportunity to get fully immersed in the surroundings and be part of it.
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| Emerald Pool |
Emerald pools are nothing but a tiny pool of water formed from the flowing water. Because of the moss/algae in the water, the pools look green and hence the name. There is nothing great about the pools as such, it's a great break-point on the hikes as the water flowing over the rocks to form these pools is very cool and refreshing.
The hike offered us beautiful views of Zion’s waterfalls and pools. We spent some time at the pools soaking in the surrounding and started hiking back to the trail head. The trails here are rocky, uneven and muddy. Having good shoes and trekking pole helped.
Unlike the trails in India, the trails here have no litter, there are washrooms, water and rest area facilities, people are mindful about co-hikers, nobody is playing loud music and more important no place is as crowded as in India. Hiking experience in USA is very different and serene. To get a similar experience in India, we will have to hike an unknown trail :)
After a small snack break, we headed to our next hiking - 'The Narrows'. This is a 16 mile hike in the Virgin river. The trail starts from the last stop of the shuttle - the Temple of Sinawava. From here it's a 1.2 mile / 2 KMs Riverside walk (mud pathway) before we enter the river/narrows. Doing the entire 16 mile hike is full day activity of walking in waist level water. Generally people do the riverside walk and then walk about 30-40 mins in the water/narrow and return. We decided to follow the same trend.
While early mornings have lesser crowd on the trail and the narrows, the water will be super cold. It is better to hike in the afternoon, when the water temperature is slightly higher. It was great that we planned this in the afternoon, the water was slightly cold but not bad. We hiked on the riverside walk and walked in narrows for 40 mins. We walked in the water until it reached our knee length and returned. Walking in fresh and cool flowing water between the huge rocky mountains was an amazing experience.
Water proof shoes and socks are available on rent at the visitor center. However, we did the narrows with our regular shoes (sneakers). Some people were managing with sandals as well. The water bed is full of small stones, which are slippery in some areas. A good pair of shoes (even if not water proof) and trekking pole helps a lot to navigate into the water. Also, wearing dry fit clothes works out better. We had also carried an extra pair of footwear to change into post our hike.
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| Narrows |
It took us about 3 hours to return to the shuttle stop. It was around 4pm when we returned to the visitor center. We were super hungry and went to the first cafe we came across. Late lunch at the Zion Canyon Brew Pub was a perfect break before heading back to Springdale. We had some amazing Mexican food. Since it's very close to the visitor center, this place is very crowded and the service can get slow. We had to wait for 20 mins for our food to arrive. There are a bunch of other restaurants at a couple of minutes walk from the visitor center. We saw them only after we finished our lunch when we headed back to Springdale.
We dropped our trekking poles at the Inn and started our drive to our next destination - Bryce National Park (BNP).
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