Outside of the "main part of the Park", the Hop Valley Trailhead is 37 minutes away:
and Google Maps will even show you walking directions:
I checked out of the Zion Park Motel at 9:30 this morning:
The Park is beautiful on this lightly-snowy morning:
I parked on the road because I didn't know if the rental car could handle the snow at the trailhead:
I'm not really sure about these distances - I admit I did a "side-hike" (?wrong turn?), but got back on track shortly thereafter. I did 16.5 miles in 6 hours 42 minutes. Google Earth (looking north):
It is best thought of as 3 hikes - the first part is 3 miles to get to Hop Valley:
This first goes through flat land with waist-high sage brush:
with cool cliffs-in-the-fog:
After 1.5 miles you go through a gate onto private land, and that's where it got a little funky for me:
I started northeast (in the snow, with no tracks) and didn't like that. So I turned and headed along the fence for a while. That felt uncomfortable, and when I looked at MapMyWalk, I knew there was no part of the trail here that went west. So I headed back, then up across the field and kept following a path down:
It worked great, because at 11:30 I got my first glimpse of beautiful Hop Valley:
Which gets us to the 2nd part of this hike - through Hop Valley (Google Earth, looking south from the mouth of the Valley):
It is a really cool place to hike. The Valley is about 3 miles long, and the trail is easy to follow on this early-December day. There are several crossings of Hop Creek, but this time of year the water is low, and rocks and logs are available. Many (summer hiking) bloggers have written about cows grazing, and cow poop, and how this is a horrible place to hike - all I can say is when I did this, it was beautiful and majestic and awesome. I was the only person I saw this whole hike, and although I saw numerous animal tracks, I didn't see anything alive (well, the birds were nice).
After the Valley, you go up-over-and-down to get down to La Verkin Creek:
Although don't ask me why they just didn't put the trail going down Hop Creek - springtime runoff might wipe it out?
This is the 3rd part of the hike - from the sand plain up-over-and-down to La Verkin Creek, then left for 0.3 miles, then right up for 0.7 miles to see Kolob Arch:
Of course, La Verkin Creek Canyon has its own beauty - looking northeast:
and looking southwest:
I made it up to a great viewpoint for Kolob Arch at 10 minutes before 2 (look up to the left from the trail):
and there was a nice view back down:
It took 3 hours 30 minutes to get here - I made it back to the car in 3:12. the sky cleared in some spots, and the walls of Hop Valley were Beautiful:
I finished a little before 5, still with daylight. Returned my hiking poles back up in Springdale, drove down to Las Vegas, and flew home. Thank You God for these WONDERFUL Adventures!
And Thank You to my Wonderful Wife for letting me go off on this trip!
Shameless Plug: Thank you for coming along on this trip - if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking in New England (the 4,000 footers; the 100 Highest; WATERFALLS)
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/
Driving Music today:
random music in the morning, but for my drive down to Las Vegas I listened to:
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy, 1973
Lyrics - "Over the Hills and Far Away":
Many have I loved, and many times been bitten
Many times I've gazed along the open road
Dave Matthews Band - Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95, double album released 1997
Jackson Browne - Lawyers in Love, 1983
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