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Jay, Weihaw, and I hiked the East Rim Trail, from the Weeping Rock
parking area to Stave Spring, at Zion National Park.
The temperature climbed into the low 90's as we started our hike
at 3:45pm. We immediately started climbing up switchbacks, seemingly
toward nowhere, while we had views of the main area of the park
below. Day hikers passed us in the opposite direction.
Then, suddenly, the trailed turn in toward the mountain and we
were going through this Narrows-like canyon. Cool! Literally, too.
The shade was a welcome relief from the hot sun. I think it must have
been on this part of the trip or the next day when I slightly
sunburned the top of my head. Yes, right through my hair. Next time
I'm wearing a hat!
Canyon on the way up the East Rim Trail
After going through the canyon area, we seemed to be in the middle of
nowhere. We passed one pair of hikers coming the opposite direction,
and then saw no one else for the next 16 hours. At the 2-mile mark we
saw the trail for Observation Point -- that would be our destination
the next day. We continued on the trail toward Cable Mountain and
Stave Spring.
At some point we started hearing loud noises emanating from the
top of a plateau near where we were hiking. We weren't quite sure
what it was, but Weihaw suggested it might be rattlesnakes. We
proceeded cautiously, following the trail into a rocky bowl which I
felt was the perfect place for an ambush. Eventually, the trail
headed away from the noises, and our fears abated.
The trail deteriorated into a series of rock stacks which marked
the "trail" along the rocks. Then the climbing started again. More
switchbacks, including some along a precarious drop. Until we finally
reached the top, some 2000 feet higher and 4 miles later, a little
over 3 hours into our hike. There are no designated campsites on the
East Rim, so we stopped at the first promising site -- a flat, dirt
area amongst trees, which happened to be about 20 feet from the edge
of a cliff. We didn't think we'd find anything better, so we dropped
our packs there and started to set up camp. A rabbit stopped nearby
briefly before it disappeared just as Weihaw reached for his camera.
Weihaw and I continued on the trail toward Stave Spring to get
water. A mile later, slightly uphill, we found it. The skies were
darkening with clouds and a setting sun, and as we sat there
filtering about a gallon and a half of water, mosquitoes constantly
attacked us, pestered us, threatened to overwhelm us. But eventually
we got our water and raced back down to camp.
Return to Zion/Bryce/Grand Canyon trip report.
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