Big Bird's Adventures

The last time I went to Zion National Park was to do the Trans Zion Trek. Not the entire trek, as few people ever do the Eastern portion. It was one year after I joined my Brother-in-law Walt E for a 4 day Grand Canyon adventure that I joined him and his friends in Zion for a truly wonderful 4 days in early May 2011. I didn’t own a digital camera then, and I recall borrowing one from Ed who, for some reason, brought 2. In those days you applied directly with the park staff for permits, and the permit process was pretty simple. You submitted a request with your dates, group size, and preferred campsites as most of Zion had fixed campsites and only 1 at-large area. I think the queue was FCFS, and if the sites were available, then you got your first pick, if they weren’t, then they’d suggest alternatives, and give you a day to respond.

Today it is a wee bit different. First of all, almost everything in Zion requires a permit now, especially the famous Angel’s Landing. A certain number of sites were opened to long term planning back in March, which is when I would have had to apply to get both the back country permits as well as an Angel’s Landing permit, but I didn’t get the date straight (again) and was left with the second option which was to be ready at 2AM Mountain Time on September 5th to see if I could get a permit for up to 12. I was staying in Bend, OR with D2 and her husband Will, and you may recall my adventures in the Three Sisters the previous weekend, so I was an hour behind, and I set an alarm for 12:50 am.

Whether I slept or not (probably not) I don’t recall, but the alarm did its job, and I was online, eyes cleared of sleepies, and I was refreshing the recreation.gov page for Zion Overnight Wilderness Permits. So the way it works now, is you kind of work with a shopping cart, and select a campsite for a date or range of dates (there is a limit per site), and how many people, and you incur a charge for the night as well as for each additional person, and then you move to the next night. First up was Kolob Canyon sites on La Verkin Creek. There are 13 sites, 10 of which are South of the main junction with the other 3 up Willis Trail. Some sites are 1-4, 1-6, 1-8 and 1-12. Last year I had 11 people in the High Uintas, and though I wasn’t expecting that level of turnout again, I wanted all who wanted to go to be able to go.

That desire turned to disappointment super fast as I couldn’t select any of the 2 1-12 sites they had. I couldn’t choose any of the 1-8 sites either, but I could choose a 1-6 site, camp 4. 6 in better than 0 so 6 it would be. The immediate problem I saw was that camp 4, the site chosen was only 4 miles in leaving the water source 2 miles away. More on that later.

If there is one thing I have learned from running these trips it is this: Don’t push your friends too hard in the early days. No one rides their bike like I do, and it takes a couple of days to get the muscles working, and pushing them too hard just subtracts from the overall enjoyment, so with that in mind, I chose 2 nights at this camp. We would day hike the Kolob canyon the next day, and then to keep it as simple as possible, I chose Horse Camp A in the Hop Valley for the 3rd night. The main reason for this is I remember vividly the 2011 long day from La Verkin Creek to Wildcat Canyon, hauling my Kelty Tioga Condo pack, on failing boots, and how exhausted I and everyone was at the end of that day, so by taking an easy day into the Hop Valley, that would make the trek to Wildcat a little easier. However, you can’t use the water in the Hop Valley, so the only water source was Beatty Spring which was at the junction of La Verkin Creek, Willis, and Hop Valley trails, 2 miles back from the Camp site. Fine.

The fourth night would be an At-Large permit in Wildcat Canyon. I am not sure why the Park Service hasn’t developed fixed sites in this area yet, but they hadn’t, and so you basically just choose the date, and how many people, and add it to the cart.

One part of the 2011 trip that really stuck with me was the West Rim Trail section of the park. There is a loop up there, and some mighty fine scenery, so I felt that another 2 night stay was in order on the tail end of this adenture, and the only camp available was Camp 8, which was 4 miles from the only water source. We would deal with that later.

With my shopping cart full (more on that later), I paid, got my confirmation, and sent out a post on our group Facebook page that the permit had been secured, but only 6 people were going, which meant me and 5 others. I knew Jed was in, so really 4 others. Alyson was out of V days so that meant others could come. Mike chimed in, Kevin out, Walt out, Dan in, Jim in, and finally Paul wanted in. That was our 6.

I chose Zion when we were in the last days of our High Uintas trip last year. Mainly because I and Walt were the only ones that had been there, and I already knew Walt was out, so it was an opportunity to take people to a place that I was a little familiar with already, and that it would be new to everyone else. Anyway, some people just want to make their plane reservations, and since I didn’t have any permits yet, I kept telling them “Wait until I confirm we have a permit”. I told the people that couldn’t sleep at night because this was gnawing at them, “Pay the extra fees and make your ticket changable/cancellable. Then you can adjust when I have the permit. You know the dates, so commit if you want to.” I wasn’t buying my airfare until I had the permit.

So, the plan as I saw it, was fly in on a Friday, in this case Friday October 18th; We get a rental and drive to the Zion area and car camp for 2 days; We get shuttled to Lee Pass for the start while our rental sits in the Visitor Center; Do the TZT and then catch a local bite and drive back to Vegas for the night, fly out Sunday the 27th. Seems pretty simple but they were re-doing the Zion campgrounds and there was limited availability there, so I had to go outside Zion to find a place called Kolob Gate Gardens, a minimalist car and tent private site up off of Kolob Terrace Road, the road to Lava Point. By minimalist I mean 1) No flush toilets, 2) No Electricity, and 3) No running water, but it was conveniently located. I reserved 1 site that would accomodate 8, and then Walt called. “Brother! Here’s what I can do for you. Get another campsite, and Kevin and I will drive up and meet you for Car camping, and I’ll feed and take care of you all, and get you shuttled to the trail, and afterwards Kevin and I will hit Bryce before heading back to Phoenix.” “Great!” I thought. That is perfect, so I rented an additional site.

On the back end I reserved two rooms in Harrahs on the strip. As most of the attendees hadn’t been to Zion, neither had they been to Vegas, and why not give them a taste of that hell as well? Now we have the front and back of the trip covered. Still needed a rental car and decide about provisions. That is, should I just buy everything and hand it out, or should I delegate and have people take care of themselves? One advantage to Walt driving up is that we could order our supplies and have them shipped to his place and he would bring them up, thus keeping our luggage just that much lighter. I found, over the years, it’s best to let people take care of themselves. Tell them what they need to do, and then let them do it, so I laid out the instructions. You will need to order 6 dinners. You will need to order or bring something that we will call lunch, but equates to food you can eat along the way as we hike. Breakfast will be Oatmeal and fixings that we will buy in bulk but everyone will assemble their own portions so we don’t have to hunt around for the bags to prep for breakfast. Everyone should carry 1 dessert, I would order them. I was not making my own bars this year. As good as they are, they weigh down my luggage.

All was set. As we all waited on October, there was a lot of discussion about 3 main subjects: Water, Subway hike, Temperatures, and -. 4! 4 main subjects: Water, Subway Hike, Temperatures and Poop. Almost forgot that one.

Water: Almost every page in the portfolio of NPS Zion had a warning about the rivers of Zion. Cyanobacteria. Not so much the bacteria itself, as that is what filters are for, however, this bacteria, also known as blue-green algae releases a toxin when exposed to the sun, or as it blooms. One thing Zion has is sun, and there is no treatment for the toxin. Boiling concentrates it, and filters are worthless, so don’t drink it. The leves go up and down as the sun cycles, so before the sun comes up, it might be that most of the toxins have cleared the faster moving waterways, but who really wants to take that chance? So, there were only 3 Springs that would be flowing, and these are safe because they are not in the sun, and are therefore Cyanobacteria free. But there are only 3 of them, so carrying water would be a part of this trip, and water is heavy.

Subway Hike: There is a famous day hike called the Subway. It can be hiked bottom up, or top down, though the top down requires ropes and repelling and this hiker is repelled by repelling, so we wanted to do the bottom up, however the lottery for that hike opens 2 days prior to the date you want to enter. I would apply on Thursday the 17th, and all I knew was that it was a hard hike down to the river/creek, and then it would be a river/creek hike up to the slot canyon area known as “The Subway”

Temperatures: We started pulling temperatures from the NP site as well as Weather.com and these predictions were for the Canyon proper which sits around 4600′ and hovered in the high 80s during the day and low 60s at night. Our lowest point starts along La Verkin Creek at 5300′, Hop Valley 5800′, Wildcat Canyon 7200′ and Telephone Canyon 6800′ so the temps would be cooler, but a lot of the hike is in the sun, and being in the sun always makes it feel hotter. In any case, I told my crew to expect some nightly lows into the high 30’s, and daily highs probably high 60’s to low 70’s, though again, the sun will add 10 degrees in feel.

Poop: I have never had to carry poop. In fact, that is the one benefit we always look to as we get into these hikes, is that we eat food, and our packs get lighter, but if you have to carry out your poop, then there is no weight savings, or very minimal unless you come across a place to throw that shit away and lighten up a bit. They have these bags that can take 2 poops, however 1 might be enough if you know what I mean.

I did a warm-up weekend the end of September down along the AT in the Roller Coaster section with some friends that included Jim, and Dan. One thing I learned was that Terry O was considering joining Kevin and Walt for the car camping. The other thing I noticed was that Dan was not his normal self. He seemed to be struggling on the day hike, which is very unusual for him. I didn’t ask him specifically, but I tucked it away, and then I wasn’t surprised when 3 days after that he reached out to our group and said that he wasn’t feeling good, and that he would not join us. At the time he thought it was panic attacks, but has since learned that it was simply his BP was too high, and they put him on some medication for that and now he feels recovered. Unfortunately that didn’t get figured out in time and I tried a few avenues to see if I could rustle up an extra. That effort did not succeed.

Let us now talk about the big mistake. “Mistake?” you ask? Yes, a mistake indeed. As the date approached, I started going through my paperwork so I would have everything I needed, and I needed to verify that I had to pick up my official permit from the Visitor Center and what I had in my e-mail was NOT the permit. However, there was an itinerary and as I ready through it, one thing, okay two things caught my eye. 1) It said we were exiting on Friday the 25th instead of Saturday the 26th, and 2) Where was my Wildcat at large reservation? I couldn’t believe I didn’t see that weeks ago or better yet, when I made the reservation. I must have missed adding it to the shopping cart. I informed the group of my error, and for the time being we simply assumed that we would still camp in Wildcat, however we would only have the one night on the West Rim, and we’d hike out a day early.

Thursday came, and I applied for the Subway permit, I made sure I was packing everything I wanted to bring, which for me is usually more than I intend to bring, but with the car sitting at the Visitor Center, I could make final decisions there, instead of here, and so I was prepared with 1 checked bag, a carry on, and my knapsack. Sleep? Not much. I was up at 3 and got to Jed’s by 3:45am and together he, Mike and I got ferried to Newark by Mireille and all was good. That is until it came time to land. As we descended it got bumpier and bumpier and looking out the window you could see the dust. That was the roughest landing ever for me. Never has the plane jumped off the ground again, and fallen with that much force, but it did, and the pilots kept the vessel on the straight track and soon we were comfortably taxiing along buffetted by the wind. “I sure hope this is local” I thought as we navigated the streets with our rental to pick up Jim at the MGM Grand. Just picking up Jim should have been enough of Vegas for all of us as it took forever to get to him, and then the short distance to 15 North. So much traffic and long lights.

Once on 15 I was pretty sure that the wind wasn’t simply local, as we were buffeted on the highway as we drove North. Missing the last opportunity for lunch on the outskirts of Vegas we set our sights on the Muddy River Bar and Grill 35 miles up the road. That is 35 miles of nothingness, which went by fast enough. The MRB&G was an outpost along 15 that didn’t look like it saw much in the way of business traffic, however it was on the same exit as the dump, so maybe when the taco truck isn’t there then the drivers hit this place for lunch. I had a late breakfast, everyone else had lunch. Coffee sucked as bad as you would expect but the service was good, and fed, we were back on the road. Another quick stop at Lee’s Discount Liquors brought into our possesion a 10 yr Bourbon for the trail. Better to get that in the sin state of Nevada than the supposedly sin free state of Utah.

I forgot that to get to Utah you actually drive through Arizona first, and that is where we entered the Virgin River Gorge, a 6 mile ascent where the river and 15 share limited real estate as the highway winds back and forth across the river while high winds rush down the gorge. Fortunately no trucks flipped over, but I did see some towed homes suffering the ascent. At the top we entered Utah and Saint George where my friend Steve Gerrard retired to. He was on the hook to help Paul get to the trailhead on Monday, as I think I left out that work got in the way for Paul, and he was going to join us Monday by driving to Steve’s, and Steve would ferry him to Lee Pass.

Our goal at the moment was to get to the Visitor Center to pick up my permit, so onward until we left 15 for Hurricane (Hurra cahn) on Route 9 which climbed further into the higher elevations of Zion. We reached Springdale, the official town of Zion, and by some lucky chance we found a parking spot at 445. The VC closes at 5. While the general information line was long, the line at the back country information was not, in fact it was empty, and the nice ranger seemed happy to have a customer. No, we would not be able to get our permit until the morning, however when he was reviewing my permit he saw my dilemna immediately “Whoa, that’s a long trek from Hop A to the West Rim”! “You see my problem. I could swear I selected Wildcat, but I must of failed to add it to my cart.” He told me I wasn’t the first, and that we could fix that the next day if I got there early pearly.

We said our “See yas” and we headed back to Virgin where our campsite awaited. Walt was also in the area, and asked me to pick up some ice, which we did before leaving Springdale, and soon we pulled into Kolob Gardens where it wasn’t immediately clear where campsite 2 was. There was a sign with message written in chalk that said “All Campsites on this side of the creek” while there was another sign that said RV site 2 on this side of the creek while tent site 2 was on the other, and the only way across the creek was to drive through the creek. Reviews for this place mostly said it was a nice quiet spot though the porta-johns were written up as bio hazards. I didn’t want to cross that creek, and th #2 site was too open with the wind, so we grabbed the #7 site which offered up a little bit of protection though with the wind as it was, there wasn’t going to be any fire on this night, even though Terry and I spent some time getting wood from Buffalo Bill’s Trading post in Virgin. Btw that place looks to have a very promising Burger for anyone interested in good burgers. We have sites 4 and 7, the wind is blowing, but we have our tents set up and Walt is trying to figure out how we are going to do dinner. He brought is grill all the way from Arizona however we had to build an obstruction to the wind in order to get it lit so we could cook. Walt brought Brats (including some vegan brats for me) as well as some toppings and other things to eat, chairs and beers and so, settled in we sat and Walt took care of us. A late addition to the car camping crew was Andy Shoneman when Larry Butler decided he could not make it happen, so we were four backpackers and four car campers for a very nice overall grouping of friends having a fun night in the wind. Yes, the wind blew, but we cooked, we ate and we had fun that night, and when it was all over we cleaned up and went to bed when it got too cold.

In the morning I was up early and on my way to the Visitor Center again. In tow I had Jim, Kevin and maybe Jed. As it so happened the same Ranger was on duty and recognized me and we got down to business. First on the docket was to add Wildcat and push our West Rim by a day. That was easy, however he offered us Camp 1 on the West Rim which was right next to the Spring, instead of Camp 8 which was 4 miles away. I was also thinking of the Sunrise at Camp 1 and I said “yes, we will take that”, and as I thought about it I asked “What about La Verkin Creek? Can we move closer to the Spring?” to which the reply was a simple “Camp 10?”. Sold. That went so well. Now we were camping closer to water for our double nights, however it meant for a longer hike between Wildcat and our WR camp. I’ll take it. I asked about a water cache, and the rangers advice was to use Hop Valley TH, mark the cannister with name and a date and they will leave it alone until the date passes. Sweet.

When we returned to camp, Walt had fed most of the crew already and we all sat down for our helpings of blueberry pancakes with butter and maple syrup. Though we stopped for coffee on our way back from the VC, I was ready for more and Walt brought up his coffee press to cover that need. Fed, we kind of lazed a bit, cleaning up, and going about the tasks we would need to get done before entering the wilderness on the morrow. We had to apportion our breakfasts, make final decisions regarding equipment and clothing needs, and pretty much get ourselvs ready to go. I have found that the best way to cover breakfast was to use the snack bags and pack that with 1/2 cup rolled oats, and then add to it all the things that make oatmeal better, like raisins or other dried fruits, granola, which yes is just oatmeal, but it has a different texture. Brown sugar, almond slivers, and some banana chips pack each snack baggie tight and makes for a filling morning meal. Looking at the weather report, the temperatures didn’t warrant my down vest, nor my down socks. I elected not to use my 500ml bottle for my bourbon but instead emptied a powerade bottle that allowed the entire 750ml to be brought along. The trip was 6 nights, and all that bourbon would be nice to have. Besides that, my pack was complete except for the fact I was using my tent and sleeping bag.

We did not win the lottery for the Subway, which in hindsight was probably too much to do on this day, but it would have been fun to give it a go, so instead we drove to the VC where we learned just how hard it is to park there unless you get there early. We drove around for a while before Walt found a spot, and we double parked him in while we discussed options. While we were discussing we heard Andy say “There’s a spot” and Jim ran over and grabbed it for us, and we were in. When I was asked what we were going to do now, I looked at Andy, and said “We will do whatever hike you pick”, and I pawned that off. Andy chose The Grotto hike, which is a very busy hike, but most of it is out and back people, and once you get to the Grotto and continue on the crowd drops to practically nothing until you get back out by the river. We killed the rest of the afternoon on the hike, and then took care of our final needs for that night’s car camp and heading back.

With the winds gone, we got the fire started, and prepped for dinner which on this night was hamburgers, impossible ones for me. All the fixings and various other acroutements were laid out for our consumption. And of course, plenty of beers and a little sipping whiskey to boot. With the fire we were able to stay up later and enjoy the evening more, but as we are all mostly over the age of 60, the bed calls, and slowly people wandered off to get some shut eye. Walt, Jim and I were the last stragglers, and eventually we all called it quits.

In the next installment, I will go through the first 3 days on the trail, and what that entailed. This tale so far is what goes into the planning, and then the execution of one of these trips. I like organizing them because I know my friends like attending them, and having extras come out to car camp just increases the fun for all. Until the next installment, cheers.

Tagged: Camping, Hiking, national-parks, Travel, Utah, Zion 2024, Zion National Park