Fall 2024 Back to the Southwest, 10.19.24 - 11.13.24, Part 7, Zion National Park/Pa’rus Trail/Observation Point, UT
On the morning of October 28th we left Page for a seven day stay in Zion National Park. Since it is only a two and a half hour drive from Page, we took our time that morning. We had never driven the road into Zion from the east so I was looking forward to that drive. We took 89 back to Kanab and up to Mt Carmel Junction where we turned off onto 9 and headed west. Since we had the Navibahn, there was a fifteen dollar fee to go through the Mt Carmel tunnel. They have to stop traffic and make it one way if you are a certain size or larger. We were the first vehicle through and just drove in the center of the tunnel. Popping out the west side is an incredible sight with big walls of rock all around you. From there we had a short drive out the west entrance and camped at Zion Canyon Campground just outside the park entrance. This was the same spot we had camped in on our first trip to Zion in October 2022.
After settling into our site, around four we drove the Jeep into the park and parked at the Human History Museum. From there Bridgit and I took a very leisurely walk up the paved Pa’rus Trail about a half mile to the Canyon Bridge. The trail follows the Virgin River and crosses it a couple of times on bridges.
The Canyon Bridge is a spot that photographers have been going for years to capture one of the most iconic views in all of Zion. It is a gorgeous view looking down the Virgin River to the pointed peak called The Watchman. Catching the setting sun on the west side of the Watchman with the leaves in peak fall color lining the banks of the Virgin River is the holy grail of Zion photographs. The Canyon Bridge has no sidewalks so there is really no safe place for anyone to stand. Over the years it got so popular that it was causing traffic issues so for several years now there have been signs on both ends of the bridge stating that it is now illegal to walk across or even be on the bridge.
Bridgit and I arrived at the bridge and the light was starting to get pretty good for the shot I envisioned. I knew about the bridge restriction but hadn’t known it was illegal to even cross the bridge. I had been hoping to shoot the scene from one side of the bridge or the other. The Pa’rus Trail ends on the east side of the bridge and there was nowhere on that side of the bridge that offered a good view. I decided I would wait for a moment when no cars were coming in either direction and cross over to the other side of the bridge and try from there. Bridgit would have none of this. Being the good law-abiding citizen that she is, she not only wanted no part of breaking the law for a stupid picture but was not overly keen about me risking a life sentence for a stupid picture either. Once she realized that my desire to be a lawbreaker could not be swayed, she took a walk as far away from me as possible. I waited for the perfect moment and when it arrived I ran faster than Usain Bolt to the far side of the bridge only to discover there were no good views of the river from that side either. In fact, the only spot that would provide the view I was looking for was smack dab in the center of the bridge. So once again, defying the law, I dashed back across the bridge, stopping for one brief moment to snap one quick photo of the scene I was looking for. Much to my surprise, the results turned out quite well.
The shot hanging on the wall of my cell
Once I was safely back on the east side of the bridge and reunited with my wife, she could relax and we had a lovely walk back down the trail to the Jeep. Along the way we did find a trail that dropped down to the river so I got some interesting shots of the Watchman and the river from there. The evening light in Zion is always incredible and the whole row of peaks from Bridge Mountain to The Watchman were ablaze with orange light on our way back.
Three bridges along the Pa’rus Trail (bridge, Bridg and Bridge Mountain)
Selfie with 6,660’ Bridge Mountain
6,545’ The Watchman
It started raining around eleven that night and rained all day the following day. This turned out to be the only day scrubbed by weather on the entire trip. We ended up taking a well-deserved rest day and it felt good. Bridgit did some shopping and laundry, I caught up on some writing and played some guitar and we got in a mid-day nap. That night we met up with our friends Gary and Wanda who drove up from Virgin to meet us for dinner. We swapped stories of various adventures and shared information on upcoming plans. We’re all avid explorers so it’s always fun to get together with them.
The day after the rain it cleared up and though it was a bit chilly (18 degrees) it was sunny and we were dressed for it. We drove back through the Mt Carmel tunnel and met up with Mike just above the North Fork Road roundabout. Mike had been camping on the east side the night before. We piled into the Jeep and drove up to the East Mesa Trailhead, which is how to get to a spot called Observation Point. In the old days, the main route to Observation Point was from the Weeping Rock Trailhead at the bottom of the Zion Canyon. It involved a stiff climb along a narrow cliff-blasted trail. A large rockfall closed it in 2019. The trail reopened in 2022 but another rockfall closed it in November of 2023. The East Mesa Trail is a shorter trail (6.4 miles rt) with far less elevation gain (200’).
We arrived at the trailhead very early and were one of the first parties up the trail. The first stretch mainly goes through a large forest of scrub oak whose leaves were beginning to turn. Overall, the colors on the east side of the park were a bit farther along than in the main Zion Canyon. However, it still seemed to me like they hadn’t hit their peak yet.
Fall comes to the scrub oaks
After about a mile we began to get some views and a very short side trail led us to a nice view of Mystery Canyon to the north.
Mystery Canyon
Now that the sun was up it began to warm up and soon we were shedding layers. After a gentle climb over the first two miles we made a gradual descent over to the end of the trail at Observation Point. Wow, what a view! We were perched way above the floor of Zion Canyon. Straight below us was the Temple of Sinawava and the beginning of the River Walk to the Zion Narrows. Right in front of us yet much lower than we were was Angel’s Landing. And of course the entire Zion Canyon stretched out before us with its amazing walls rising high on either side.
In preparation for her upcoming attempt, Bridgit used the binoculars to study the route from Scout Landing up to the top of Angel’s Landing. As we hung out up there, quite a few other people began to show up. The combination of more people and hundreds of extremely voracious chipmunks shortened our stay so once we’d gotten our photos and had a quick bite to eat we headed back.
Zion Canyon from Observation Point. Angel’s Landing is right of center in the sunshine.
Pano from Observation Point
The upper section of the now closed Weeping Rock Trail
After dropping Mike off at his truck, we took our time driving back to our campground. Driving through Zion is just so pretty and there is so much rock everywhere. I stopped at several pullouts just to try and capture some of the grandness that Zion offers. The leaves were still not in their prime yet, but there was enough change to add a nice splash of fall color to the scenery.
Hwy 9 east of the tunnel
The view coming out the west side of the Mt Carmel tunnel
Rock wall coming down the switchbacks
Fall color in Zion
Fall color in Zion
Fall color in Zion