Zion Trip Report (10/07)
 

I recently got back from a quick few-day trip to Zion National Park, and I had a wonderful time! For those of you who’d like to take a look at some pictures, I’ve posted about a dozen photos online at this site:

http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u...tional%20Park/

Just click on the first thumbnail, then you can use the "next" button (upper right) to scroll through. All of these pictures were taken inside the park itself… and you’ll see I also got up close and personal with some desert bighorn sheep.

Here is some information and tips for those of you might be interested:

TRAVEL: I’m on the east coast, so I flew into Las Vegas, then rented a car to drive up to Springdale (South entrance of Zion park). It was about a 2.5 hr drive. FYI, I had a car rental reservation with Dollar… do NOT use them in Las Vegas! There was literally a 2-hour line at the Dollar counter, so I ended up going around to the other (mostly non-busy) companies and got a great deal with National. I thought maybe this was just the day I happened to arrive, but when I returned the car, I saw the same thing – a huge line only at Dollar.

HOTEL: I stayed at the Quality Inn in Springdale. I had hoped for a room at the Desert Pearl, but they weren’t available for my nights. I don’t really recommend the Quality Inn. My main complaint (and I’m not a complainer) was that almost all the rooms are adjoining rooms (with that door between) and you can hear even normal conversation through the door. I’m a light sleeper and so this wasn’t the right place for me. However, the staff was very friendly. This is just a really basic motel-type place, and if that’s what you’re looking for, you can’t beat the location or the views (it’s just outside the south entrance). It’s a bit confusing, ‘cause there is another Quality Inn further out in Springdale (just down the road). I heard this one is newer, but I didn’t see it myself.

ZION NATIONAL PARK: While I think most people concentrate seeing the park via Zion Scenic Drive (where the shuttle runs most of the year), I have to say that I found two of the most beautiful parts of the park were elsewhere! Since I had a car, the first day I drove into the park and went on Zion-Mt. Carmel highway (this is the road with the tunnel). This takes you into the East side of the park, which is incredibly beautiful… very different from the other side. The East has more of the huge, white sandstone formations, lots of fascinating geological formations, and (in my opinion) the best “easy to moderate” hiking trail in the park, and that’s the Canyon Overlook Trail. This trail is right outside the tunnel, and is a fun hike – a bit steep at first (but there are railings). I really recommend hiking this trail if you can do it (figure about an hour round-trip). I also drove out to see Checkerboard Mesa. (Scroll below for more).

The other part of the park that I was most impressed with, other than the East side, was the Kolob Canyon scenic drive. It takes about 45 minutes to get to this part of the park from the Springdale area (south entrance of Zion area). Fewer people go out here, but it’s a shame…it was breathtakingly beautiful! The scenic drive itself has a lot of pullover-spots for picture taking, and the huge red rock cliffs are amazing. There are several trails you can hike in this area (however, I only did the trail at the end of the drive -- a valley overlook trail… it was ok, not spectacular).

Within the park itself, I did some of the more popular easy trails: Weeping Rock, Lower Emerald Pool, Riverside Walk. I have to say I was not as impressed by these walks. Don’t get me wrong – it’s all beautiful, and they are nice, somewhat easy walks, but I was just more blown away by the East Side and the Kolob Canyon areas. I’m sure I would have loved hiking Angel’s Landing, but I didn’t have it in my legs by the time I got to it. This is because I had just spent a full day of canyoneering… this was the best part!

CANYONEERING TRIP: thanks to poster “crosner” who had posted here a while ago about Zion Adventure Company, I signed up for a half-day tour for some canyoneering. It was one of the most memorable days of my life. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you’re up for it, prepare to be challenged! I went into this thinking it’d be a breeze, since I have no fear of heights and had done some easy rappelling before. Well, I was still very challenged, since I hadn’t done any down-climbing in canyons before, and I had a few scary moments, for sure. I finished the half-day tour feeling like I had really conquered some fears, and had a blast at the same time. I loved it so much, I asked our guide if he could take me out for the remainder of the day so we could do some really high rappels, and thankfully he was available! So I went back out, did some of the scariest, craziest rock-climbing I’ve ever done in my life (I still can’t believe I did it…) and ended up getting to do two awesome rappels (over 100 ft. and 75 ft.) My guide was Scott, and he was patient and supportive and just a great guy. He took a ton of photos (they burn a CD of pictures for you at the end), and I had brought my videocamera, and he rigged it so we could rappel down together, as he shot video the whole way. Overall it was an incredible experience, and I highly recommend this company. If anyone out there is a little adventurous and wants to do something you’ll never forget, definitely check these guys out. It was the highlight of my trip to the area, for sure!

Thanks Carol M! We leave for Zion this Wednesday. We will follow many of your suggestions! Glad I'm not renting with Dollar...

Can't wait to scroll through your pictures. They'll probably answer my question if there's any fall color left.

Any restaurants you recommend?

Actually I think the fall color is on its way!

Can't help you out too much with restaurants.... I was traveling alone, so I largely grabbed sandwiches at the Zion Deli :) I ate at the Whiptail Grill, which was a small, "crunchy" type place with very good food. There seemed to be a lot of interest in the restaurant called The Spotted Dog, and it looked nice for dinner.

My daughter and I did some canyoneering @ Arches NP a few months ago. I agree with CarolM. If you get a chance to go canyoneering in Utah, it will be something you will always remember. For me, it rates right up there with rafting the Grand Canyon. I enjoyed your pics.

Great report, CarolM. Thank you. I will be there with friends a year from now to do some hiking. So the drive up to Kolob Canyon is only 45 minutes, and very scenic? We are thinking of hiking to see the Kolob Arch, but I was concerned about the long drive. Sounds like it's actually not bad.

Looking forward to seeing this beautiful place!

Yeah, it's really only about a 45 min. drive from the main part of the park, and it's really beautiful once you're in the Kolob Canyon part of the park. You'll have a great time!

spirobulldog, did you do your canyoneering with Desert Highlights? If so, which trip did you take? I'm thinking about doing Arches and Canyonlands, and definitely will want to do some rappelling.

Hello and thanks for the trip report CarolM! I recently spent 1 1/2 days out of 12 in Zion. A wonderful trip with perfect weather the entire vacation. I experianced a great alternative to the Angel's Landing hike and that was the Hidden Canyon, where the gain is 810 ft. I noticed most folks stop at the mouth of Hidden Canyon but if you walk up 50 yards where the trail is overgrown, the treat awaits. The views range from looking down to the Weeping Rock, sweeping past the big bend to the Angels Landing outcrop. Given more time, I would of visited Kolob Canyons as well. The mid morning drive out the east entrance with no traffic seemed to be the highlight of my brief visit. Very nice photos Carol!

Yes I did it with deserthighlights. They were great! We did Krill which is the toughest one. There is a lot of chimneying to do. The first rappel is straight down 90 ft. The next two are around 30-40 ft and you are up against rock with your feet for those. We want to do Plesdieades (7 rappels in waterfalls). And I am going to do the tryolean traverse on Medieval some day. If I were you, I would check out Medieval. It just looks killer awesome. The reason we did Krill was, because it is fairly cool in the heat of a summer day. Desert Highlights is the only canyoneering tour that has access inside Arches NP. A lot of their trips takes you right through the Fiery Furnace, so check on that. Arches was just incredible. We just flew over Canyonland in a 4 seater plane. That was pretty cool. Do drive out to Dead Horse Point. If you are into bicycling, there is a ton of that to be done there. We did a hummer tour, which is on a $150,000 military hummer, which I would not do again. It scared us to death. Several times it is on just two wheels. I really can't believe they let people conduct those tours. I don't know why I didn't get out and walk. The hike to Delicate Arch, and Landscape Arch are very nice. Do the entire primitive loop at Landscape. Arches NP is fairly small and you can pretty much see all of the major highlights in 3 days. Canyonlands is huge. There looks like some good canyoneering to be done around Escalante also. We are wanting to hike to "the wave" sometime in that area and do some canyoneering near there. Our guide did all three rappels a little differently. Different rope tying techniques and different ways of securing the rope. It was just my daughter, myself, and one other family.

hey spirobulldog, thanks for the info. i was looking at the medieval with the tyrolean traverse... not sure how physical that will be, but i'm thinking about it. i probably won't be able to make it out there until late spring, but i'll save all your great info. All the rappels i did in zion were down canyon sides, or inside caverns (with your feet on the wall) -- i'm not sure how fun it'd be to just dangle and lower yourself. hmm.

i'll be in costa rica this december and they have a tour where you can rappel down 3 waterfalls. should be fun :)

Westbound -- glad you liked the pictures. I was thinking of hiking Hidden Canyon, so i'm glad to have the feedback... next time!

I have seen those rappel in costa rica with the waterfalls on the Travel Channel. Looks like good zipline tours in Costa Rica as well. I think Medieval would be spectacular even if you don't do the traverse. And you might be right, it might be somewhat physical to cross. I think they allow a long time while there.

Thanks for the report CarolM. We arrived in Zion yesterday so your advice and tips will be helpful to us immediately. We hiked in the park today and also took the highway drive to the tunnels. It was so beautiful! We drove to the second tunnel, but turned around since it was getting dark.

We ate at the Bit & Spur for our first dinner. It was so much food that dd and I couldn't eat nearly the whole meal, although dh came close. The meal was very good and I'd recommend the restaurant. Thanks for the sandwich restaurant tips as that is my true preference. Dh and I more or less take turns picking. I'm sure we'll do the Spotted Dog before we leave.

We're at the Desert Pearl and it's lovely and very quiet.

Your pictures are lovely. I've already downloaded the ones I've taken to my laptop. The red rock is so red, yet it is not apparent in my pictures. I'm boosting some of the pictures to make the colors more true. Do you agree?

Thanks again for your report. You are so adventurous! I'm nervous about doing the Narrows. :-)

Carol,

Great report!!!

While I didn't do some of the things you did, I have to agree with you about Lower Emerald Pools and Weeping Rock.

They don't compare to the other sights. The Middle and Upper Pools are by far more satisfying. And steeper and longer and hotter.

I hiked the Canyon Overlook at the east entrance to Zion on my way in from Bryce to Zion. Quite the scenic drive.

I immediately noticed the difference in the trails in both parks. Trails in Bryce (the ones I was on anyway) appear to be wider and smoother. The trails in Zion appear to be narrower and steeper.

I saw a family hiking the Canyon Overlook and I was concerned as the kids kept jumping around. It doesn't take much to fall....

Claire,

When you look back at your photos, the idea is to bring back memories. In my opinion the photos should as closely as possible resemble what you saw. What you do to achieve this depend on your motivation and skill.

There are many approaches to this topic that have been well documented in threads here.

Have a great remainder of your trip.

Hi Claire,

I'm glad my report helped... and I'm so jealous that you're there right now! ;)

Regarding pictures, yeah, it's hard to get colors to be true to what you see, sometimes. I've found it's mostly about lighting. When you photograph the rocks during the brightest times of day, the reds usually look washed-out in the photos. I had the same problem in Sedona... it's normal. I haven't tinkered with the color in my pictures, but I take a LOT and choose the ones that I was lucky enough to get the best lighting with. Having said that, there's nothing wrong adding in a little technology, if you can! I just always keep in mind -- as I'm standing in front of these most beautiful natural sights -- that I will NEVER truly capture what it looks and feels like! Zion is just too tremendous and overwhelming to "fit" into your viewfinder :)

So, are you gonna do the narrows? The water is probably pretty chilly now (and I'm a Floridian warm-weather wimp, so I didn't want to try!) If you want to rent the proper gear to hike the narrows (and get some good advice, etc.), I definitely recommend that you go over to Zion Adventure Company and talk to them... they'll rent you hiking poles, dry bags, etc. They're right next to Zion Pizza & Noodle (the opposite side of the street from your hotel). They're the NICEST people ever.

Let me know if you do it!

Carol,
Getting rid of that glare isn't as difficult as it seems.

Glare is at the very bright end. If you have a software program that let's you reduces the "highs" somewhat without reducing everything that will help. Also, depending on the camera you may want to sharpen slightly.

If you want to see examples you can check out my photos from Bryce, Zion, etc or NYC & Philadelphia or Prague & Budapest at:

www.travewlaks.com

Those last three trip were taken with a digital SLR camera and post-processed in Photoshop. I typically spend less than a minute on each photo.

When you think about it, the camera is at an unfair disadvantage.

Your eyes adjust to the light as you scan a scene. As you move from bright to shadows your eyes adjust. You camera tries to capture the whole scene at one exposure. Not fair!!!

CarolM: Nice report and good photos. I drive through Zion 4-5 times a year to visit my son and his family in Bryce but I never seem to find the time just to visit Zion. Your report reminds me I need to do that. It should be simple since I'm less than 90 minutes from my home to the southwest entrance at Zion.

Hi Zion Fans,

If you get theopprotunity to visit more than once, do it in a different month than your first trip. Each and every month (each year) is different - since we are dealing with Mother Nature here!

My favorite times to visit are spring and fall. In the late spring - late May early June - all the "walks" in the valley - Weeping Rock, Riverside and Emerald Pools are blessed with wildflowers - lovely but short-lived! The hanging gardens on the rock walls where water seeps out of the rocks and drips provide the beautiful golden columbine, monkeyflower and others a perfect environment. This is when Emerald pools hike is really the best - a whole waterfall and "shower" of water spinkles down on the lower pool hike!

In the fall the colors of the leaves provide a spectacular contrast to the blue sky and red rocks. Awesome photo ops! Remember the scenes in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? Just below the Watchman is where these were filmed.

The very best of Zion are some of the more difficult hikes - Angels Landing, Observation Point, West Rim Trail. I know most visitors don't have the time for most of these, but if you get the change to go canyoneering - DO IT! The very best of all!

happy hiking

Thanks for the post, Dayle, about the different times of year. I loved Zion and hope I can make it back again soon (though other parts of Utah are calling my name!) Definitely, canyoneering is such an incredible way to really explore the beauty of Zion. The area I did my climbing/rappelling trip in was off of Kolob Terrace Road, past Tabernacle Dome... and I was amazed at how different the geology was in this area (from Zion Scenic Dr.) To be able to hike up into these formations, scramble over them and then rappel down into the slot canyons -- that was an indescribable experience!

As I said earlier, I wish I'd had the "legs," after so much canyoneering, to do the Angels Landing, Observation Point and Hidden Canyon hikes... they sound amazing. I gotta hit a stairmaster for a few months before I go again ;)

Hey Myer, can you re-post your photo website? It doesn't come up, because I think you've got a spelling error there... I'd love to see your pics!

I wish I had more time to mess with learning Photoshop... I have Elements, but can't seem to find the time to even get to it! :(

CarolM

Was your canyoneering in dry canyons or wet? You and I had discussed Arches Canyoneering options earlier. They have both wet and dry there. At the time I didn't really want to get wet, but it might be ok. The one we did was dry. On the one that has 7 waterfalls, they offer dry suits. These are different than wetsuits, as they keep you totally dry. I would think it would be hot in the drysuits while you are not in the water.

Carol,

I guess I should have spelled it correctly:

www.travelwalks.com

The Prague, Budapest
NYC, Philadelphia
and
Bryce, Zion, GC, Sedona
trips were done with a digital SLR camera. The photos were then worked on for well under a minute each.

Within Photoshop or Elements there are many ways to get the same results.

Go to your nearest major bookstore and take a look at some of the books. One of them will show you how to reduce glare.

Essentially you want to reduce the very high highlights.

Carol,
I'm not 100% certain but my sources say it's so.

I think current versions of Elements have 2 commands that will make all the difference in your photos.

1)
Shadow/Highlight
This command will allow to to bring back detail lost in shadows and glary highlights. The reduction of highlights without affecting the remainder of the photo will do a great job for you.

Select Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Shadow/Highlights
2)
Unsharp Mask (USM)
Add a bit of sharpening. I'm not sure how much control Elements gives you but if there are 3 parameters try:
Amount about 70
Radius .8
and Threshold 0

Select Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask

It won't take you long to decide which settings you like. With the Preview Option on you can see the results as you try it.

Let me know how you do with a few photos.

Myer, thanks for the photoshop tips! I'm pressed for time right now, but I wanted to be sure to say a huge thanks! I will definitely try this out soon.

Carol,
Just to give you an idea, I took it upon myself to slightly "enhance" three of your photos.

I hope you don't mind.

before
http://www.travelwalks.com/back/Carol_img_2578.jpg

after
http://www.travelwalks.com/back/Caro...2578_after.jpg

before
http://www.travelwalks.com/back/Carol_img_2615.jpg

after
http://www.travelwalks.com/back/Caro...2615_after.jpg

before
http://www.travelwalks.com/back/Carol_img_2663.jpg

after
http://www.travelwalks.com/back/Caro...2663_after.jpg

Myer, wow, this is amazing! Did you follow the procedures you showed above? I certainly hope my Elements has the ability to do this easily. I should probably mention I have Elements 3.0 (bought a couple years ago) and I'm working on a Mac.

I'll give it a shot when I have time to try it out :)

Thanks!

Carol,
Actually, I used a method that is not available to you but that's not really important.

Within Photoshop/Elements there are many ways to get the same results. I've just selected a certain approach and use it.

= = = = =
Simply put, there are 2 things you want to do.
a)
Reduce the very, very bright light but not anything else. That's where you cannot see the detail due to the bright glare.
The Shadow/Highlight command should help greatly (Highlights mostly and some Shadow for dark areas).
b)
Add a bit of sharpening.
Thats where Unsharp Mask (USM) comes in. What a bad name for a command.

That's it!!!

If your version of Elements doesn't have them, you should upgrade. I don't know the cost but I think the whole program is about $100.

Not very expensive for the memories of your trip.

Myer, I just tried it... I DO have the ability to do those things. However, I had no idea what I was doing in the Shadow/Highlight section... couldn't really get a feel for what settings to use to get even remotely close to what you did. If it's not hard to do, can you tell me what percentages you used on a couple different photos of mine (so I can get an idea)? Perhaps you don't have that info once the correction is made. I'm just having a hard time balancing the 3 options they give me when the Shadow/Highlights window opens.

Ok. I'll give you the English explanation.

**** Shadow/Highlight
There are 2 settings. Shadow and Highlight. (Do not select "other settings" as this will give you many detailed parameters and confuse matters)

** Shadow.
Reduces shadows (reducing a shadow makes the photo lighter in this area). This will make the very dark areas lighter so that you can see what's in the dark shadows. Set this to "0" if nothing is lost in shadows. Otherwise you can bring back detail lost in the dark shadows by setting this to between 10 and 20%. You don't want to use too much as the photo may become too flat.

** Highlight.
This is where you can make the biggest difference (the biggest secret in Post-Processing).

Look at your original of #2615. On the left hand side all of the detail on the hill/mountain is lost because it is washed out (too bright).

Look at your original of #2663. Look up at the top at the white part of the rock. It's all washed out because it's too bright.

You want to reduce the very, very bright light.

That's where Highlight comes in. By setting it at between 25 and 40% (or sometimes even more) you will reduce only the highs and it won't affect the remainder of the photo. You'll even get bluer skies as the glare in the sky will be reduced.

Keep Preview selected so you can see the effect as you adjust.

If you now find the whole photo is a bit too dark you can brighten it up using Brightness (another command). This will increase the whole image so only add a bit.

**** Unsharp Mask (USM)
Most photos have at least a bit of lack of sharpness. This is caused by many factors.

If you sharpen too much it looks artificial.

There are 3 parameters here; Amount, Radius and Threshold.

Try about 50 to 70% Amount, .7 Radius and 0 Threshold.

This will also improve the distinction between colors and items in the image.
= = = = =

I did a few other things but probably 75% of the improvement is described above.

It all sounds so complicated but really, if you spend a couple of hours learning it and then a couple of hours getting used to it, you'll be able to greatly improve an image in under a minute. That's how long it took me.

= = = = =
There are those who will say that the images should not be played with. To some extent I agree.

However, I'm not changing anything. I'm trying to bring the image back to what I saw.

You eyesight is fantastic. As you scan a scene the pupil opens and closes as required in order to see it best.

Your camera can't do that. It takes one setting for the whole image.

Nobody can complain if all you do is bring the image back to what you remember seeing.

Let me know how you did. If all else fails we may have to take drastic action (to be continued).

You're awesome! Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this to me in detail... I truly appreciate it :)

I will tinker with this for sure, as soon as I get a chance... and I will indeed report back!

I loved what you did to my photos... it was like taking a layer of "grime" off of them. Amazing. I have a lot to learn, and you've set me in the right direction, so 1,000 thanks!

Carol

Carol,
You are welcome.

I PP'd somebody's Italy trip for them and he described it exactly the same way.

Like I wrote. Let me know how you're doing. Hopefully we won't have to resort to drastic measures. I'd rather you do it than me.