Zion 2024 – Segment 3
November 17, 2024 § Leave a comment
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This post will over the last 2 days of our Transverse of the Zion Wilderness. If you have been following along, you will know that we are camped on the East side of West Rim mesa/plateau at what is probably one of the best sites in all the National Parks. It is Jed, Paul, Jim and myself, minus Mike who is hanging out in Vegas, we awake early, around 6:30 to get up and see what the sunrise brings us this day. We are in Mountain Time, on the West edge of that timezone, so Sunrise is about 7:21 with first light appearing at least 30 minutes prior. When I emerged from my tent there was the hint of a glow on the Eastern horizon. I grabbed my chair and moved down to the trail junction where we had a clear view. Unfortunately the sky was clear which meant that there would not be any colored clouds, and it would just be a clear sunrise. Anyone who chases Sunrises or Sundowns knows that the best versions involve clouds. We ventured from our viewing site looking for other opportunities I believe Jim got a Raven to pose for him a wee bit down The Grotto trail.
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November 10, 2024 § Leave a comment
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The second segment of our Zion traverse includes what I have called Death March 1, and Death March 2 based on how I felt at the end of each of those two days, which was exhausted. Just to be clear, this is not like a Solzhenitsyn march where you know from the start what kind of day it will be, but rather each day began just like any other day when you backpack and have to move camp pretty far along the trail. Don’t sleep in; Pack your sleeping bag, and deflate and stow your air pad before you exit the tent; Breakfast on oatmeal, and coffee drinks, water up, and pack the rest of the things; Groan while raise the potential energy of the pack, and start walking, a smile on your face, and nothing but happy “What will today bring?” expectations ahead.
We compared “steps” at the end of each day, where Jed and Jim were scoring around 3-4 thousand more steps than me, who marks out a fairly decent stride. More, when I go up hill. The two “Death March” days were 24,951 and 28,985 steps, and I still backpack in fairly traditional leather boots made by Zamberland (“Zambies”) that weigh in around 4 pounds so 2 pounds per foot. Jed and Jim wear something more like trail shoes that are a lot lighter. Mike is also more traditional, and I can’t remember what Paul was wearing. I think you see where I am going here. Each step moves that 2lb boot further along the trail, and as they add up, fatigue starts to set in, so that by the end of the day, you just want to get those damned heavy-assed boots off your feet and let those feetsies recover.
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November 6, 2024 § Leave a comment
The Grand Escalante Staircase. I am sure that most people have heard of it, but I am not really sure that most people understand what it means. Yes, its an area of the country, mostly in Utah, but it has importance in Geology terms when it comes to the age of rock. Now, though there are people that would like you to believe that the Bible has dictated the age of Planet Earth, the fact it is that it is much older. Orders of magnitude older. Bible Age is 103 and actual age is 109, but we are only talking about the last 120 million years. Over that time frame, the undersea plain that had collected 100’s of millions of years of various sediment layers began to be pushed upward, and over the course of time, rose out of the water, and continued its ascent as a flat plain, however once it was above the level of the sea, it began the process of erosion. In Physical terms, it was probably very light at first. The potential for erosion is dependent on the number of feet above sea level, so not a lot of erosion at first, but of course, the uplift continued. Today Bryce Canyon sits at 9000′ above sea level. That is more than 1 and 1/2 miles. Water boils at 193 degrees at 9K instead of 212 at sea level.
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November 3, 2024 § Leave a comment
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.
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Big Bird's Adventures 