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Ben, Jay, Weihaw, and I hiked the Middle Fork of Taylor Creek
at Zion National Park.
A series of steps lead down to the trail, which soon reaches the
creek itself. The temperature was in the 70's and the sky was
clear as we started our hike. Strong gusts of wind would occasionally
blow into the canyon and then disappear, but otherwise it was
a perfect day for a hike.
The trail follows the creek for less than a mile before it starts
criss-crossing the creek itself. We must have made at least two
dozen creek crossings, if not more. I'd known this, and was prepared
with my sandals, but the creek was shallow enough and had enough
rocks that they were unnecessary. In fact, the hike basically
turned into an intellectual exercise -- trying to cross the creek
by stepping on rocks, getting as little water onto our boots as
possible. That apparently was not the case for a couple kids who
came trudging at us in the opposite direction, happily stepping
straight through the middle of the creek. The creek was their
trail!
Ben carefully crosses the creek
We ran into a fair number of day hikers on this trail. If you're
looking for solitude, you won't find it on this trail. But it's
not too bad. No mountain bikers or vehicles to contend with, and
if you go late enough (like we did), you'll be at the turnaround
point of the hike after everyone else has already left.
You can't see the water bugs in this picture, but you can see
their big shadows under the water!
My best close-up of a lizard yet
Me, standing alongside Taylor Creek; Weihaw in the background
Along the way to Double Arch Alcove, which is at the end of the
trail, we passed a small waterfall, a few lizards, strange little
water bugs, all the while marveling at of the Finger Canyons
of the Kolob -- high red rock walls towered above us on either
side. The walls closed in slowly until we finally reached Double
Arch Alcove -- and what a treat that is. After fighting through
a narrow section of the trail which is overgrown with brush, we
turned the corner and there it was -- a huge alcove with water
seeping over the top high above us, dropping like rain onto the
ground in front of us, occasionally spraying us with mist as if
from nowhere.
Words and pictures don't do the alcove justice. I regret that
I didn't have a wide enough lens to capture the entire alcove
from either the inside or outside. Yes, you can go right inside...there's
kind of a trail that leads up to the back wall of the alcove...just
be careful not to slide down like Weihaw did.
Double Arch Alcove. That little dot close to the center is Weihaw.
At bottom right, Jay and Ben look on.
After enjoying the alcove and having fun with echoes, we set back
toward the trailhead along the same path we'd taken. I forgot
to mention there are two supposedly historic cabins along the
way. I didn't see any interpretive signs, however, and the cabins
looked uninteresting.
As we neared the end, we ran into two hikers just starting the
hike -- after 6pm! I doubted they could make the 5.4 mile trip
before sundown, but they went on anyway. Without flashlights,
of course. Some people just need to plan more. =)
Return to Zion/Bryce/Grand Canyon trip report.
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