After our short hike on the Zion Canyon Overlook trail, we wanted to hike the nearby Shelf Canyon Trail. The trailhead is just a few hundred yards up the road from the Zion Canyon Overlook trailhead. According to Alltrails, the trail begins near the rest-stop parking lot. The trailhead isn’t marked and is not a managed trail, but it is rated 4-stars on Alltrails.
Shelf Canyon Trail
We found a path down into the start of the canyon next to the road that appeared to be the start of the trail. Using the Alltrails app on my phone, we followed the footpath along the canyon bed and appeared to be on trail. But after about 1/4mi, we hit a dead end or a recent rockfall that clogged the canyon. We scrambled over the first slab incline but boulders blocked the canyon. Either we were not on the trail, needed to scramble over these boulders to where the trail flattened or there had been a recent collapse into the canyon. I could not see any obvious way around and the height of the scramble was more than we wanted to try. So our Shelf Canyon Trail hike was short. According to Alltrails, the trail leads into a slot canyon but we were unable to make it past the boulders. It’s possible the ‘real’ trail was higher up along the canyon wall but no trail was obvious. We were low on water so headed back. There is no running water at the rest-stop or Zion Canyon Overlook parking lot restroom so bring plenty.
The biggest challenge of this hike, because of its location & popularity, is parking. Just beyond the Zion Tunnel’s east exit is a tiny parking lot. There’s also sparse parking up the road a few hundred yards. Since the hike is fairly short, there are people leaving quite often so you can get lucky. But, this is also where traffic backs up for the tunnel queue – where they stop traffic in one direction so RVs can travel through the middle of the tunnel for clearance. The overlook gives you a panoramic view of Zion Canyon & some of its signature peaks. But I found the trail to be more interesting than the overlook. Perhaps sunrise or sunset would be more spectacular; mid-day was beautiful but not as photogenic. The trail follows the side of the canyon and has diverse & narrow sections that make for a fun hike.
The Emerald Pools Trailhead starts at the Zion Lodge shuttle stop. It’s considered a moderate trail because it starts in the canyon and heads uphill to a series of three pools – Lower, Middle, & Upper Emerald Pools. The hike to the lower pool is actually pretty easy and accessible so the trail can be crowded. This late in the season and with the drought, the water level in the waterfall feeding the pools is low. This makes for some rather unimpressive pools, still the hike is scenic with beautiful vistas of Zion Canyon at various viewpoints.
Lower Emerald Pool
Middle Emerald Pool
The trail to the Middle Emerald Pool is less crowded but still busy. It is just a short vertical hike from the Lower Pool and opens into a wonderful panorama of the canyon.
Upper Emerald Pool
Hiking to the highest Emerald Pool is the most challenging section of the trail. Earlier in the season when the water level is higher, I’m sure this hike is more worthwhile. But our expectations were pretty low since this was our first time and we enjoy hiking the less crowded sections of trail.
Our favorite RV campground in Springdale is Zion Canyon Campground and RV Resort. The same campground we stayed in 2021. Its location just outside the park and availability of river-side campsites make it our favorite place to stay.
Last year we hiked Zion’s two most popular trails – the Narrows and Angels Landing. So this trip we wanted to explore some of the other trails:
We used our Starlink internet during our stay and it worked well with an unobstructed northward view of the sky. Zion Canyon Campground is still rebuilding their main lodge and have added cabins. They should be finished by 2023. We had a torrential rain storm blow through the 29th afternoon and we worried about flash flooding. We imagine the Narrows hikers might have some serious issues. Fortunately, we did not hear about anyone having trouble. Most of this squall hit downriver.
We had a great time – late September is a great time to visit Zion since it’s starting to cool down. The park is still busy and the shuttle is still taking full loads into the park mid-day. Hiking early can help quite a bit with less crowding on the trails. But by 10am, the traffic entering the main entrance is backed up and parking is scarce.
In September 2021, we took our first RV trip out of California to St. George Utah & Zion National Park. It was such a great trip, we decided to visit southern Utah again in 2022 to explore the many places we missed. Utah is a RV and hiker’s paradise with so many diverse and amazing national & state parks. It’ll take years to see all that Utah offers.
Oceanside>Vegas>Zion>Bryce>Kanab
26 Sept 2022 – Thousand Trails, Las Vegas We bought a Thousand Trails Camping Pass during our Yosemite Trip in July 2022. So we stopped for a one-night layover at their location in Las Vegas. The annual membership allows us to stay at any Thousand Trails campground in the southwest region at no additional cost. Driving 6 hours from Oceanside to Las Vegas is the longest single-day trek we’ve done so far. After a food & fuel break in Barstow, driving a few more hours to Vegas was no problem. We would not hesitate driving this distance again, although heavy traffic in Riverside between the 215 to 15 & in Vegas can be challenging. Thousand Trails Las Vegas is east of the Strip in central Vegas (see map below). It was busy for a Monday & looks like a popular campground. Sites are pretty close together with relatively narrow roads & turns. Site 112 was a level, loose gravel site with full hookups & only one neighbor. This location is the only Thousand Trails RV park between SoCal and Utah and we were glad to find a vacancy on our route.
27 Sep – Oct 1 2022: Springdale, Utah – Zion National Park After one-night in Vegas, we drove to Springdale, the gateway into Zion National Park south. We booked a full-hookup, riverside site for 4 nights at Zion Canyon Campground & RV Resort where we stayed last year. A fantastic location that’s 1/2mi from the entrance to Zion National Park.
Emerald Pools Trail – popular trail near Zion Lodge that treks up to three pools – Lower, Middle, Upper – fed by one waterfall. Pools were small due to the low water level this late in the season.
Zion Canyon Overlook Trail – short popular hike just east of the Zion Tunnel. Great short hike along a mid-canyon trail that ends is a panoramic view of Zion Canyon. Bring plenty of water since none is available anywhere close.
Shelf Canyon Trail – slot canyon trail near Zion Canyon Overlook Trail – looked blocked by recent rockfall(s) so we didn’t make it very far.
Lower Pine Creek Waterfall Trail – lesser known trail that end at a waterfall, a short hike that requires scrambling along the creek bed.
The Narrows Trail is still our favorite hike but it was great to explore other parts of Zion NP. Each of these trails have unique aspects, different terrain & scenery. There are plenty of Zion trails to still to explore, especially the eastern trails.
Driving from Zion to Bryce Canyon The second leg of our trip was to Bryce Canyon and there are a couple routes from Springdale. The shortest route (~1.5hr 75mi) takes you on the winding scenic road through Zion National Park. This route has the historic 1.1mi Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel with a maximum height clearance of 13ft. Taller RVs have to take the longer route around the west side of Zion NP through Hurricane than north on the 15. Towing Howie (~10ft tall, ~3400lbs) with our Tacoma to 8000ft is always a concern since it struggles on long inclines. But since Springdale/Zion is already at 4000ft, the additional 4000ft climb to Bryce was doable. So we took this winding eastbound route on UT-9E through Zion National Park & its mile-long tunnel. For a $15 ‘toll’, they stop oncoming traffic between 8am-7pm – these hours vary seasonally. Towing Howie was a piece-of-cake without any high transmission temperatures issues. It’s a beautiful scenic drive & we were tempted to pull over many times.
Leg 2 Bryce Canyon: 01 – 05 Oct 2022 We booked 4 nights at Ruby’s Inn, an RV resort a few miles outside the park entrance. It’s a huge, full-amenities RV and hotel resort that’s a town in itself – Bryce Canyon City. We reserved a full-hookup, pull-through site that was rustic, in a grove of trees, beautiful but extremely uneven. We repositioned a few time to find the flattest section and it still required 4.5″ to level Howie. The new section of RV sites numbered in the 200s are more spacious, flatter, with fewer trees. If you want more room with more open-sky (for Starlink), definitely consider booking one of theses unshaded sites.
Bryce Canyon National Park has uniquely spectacular vistas. Photos cannot do it justice & capture the wonder of this place. Hikes into Bryce Canyon:
Near Tropic, a nearby town, we hiked the Mossy Cave Trail. After the hike and lunch, we took the scenic drive through Bryce Canyon.
Bryce Canyon is an amazing place with some great hikes. Most take you down into the canyon, which can be vertically challenging. If you are visiting Zion National Park, adding Bryce Canyon to your itinerary is a must. Bryce Canyon was the high point for me this trip.
Leg 3 Kanab: 05-08 Oct 2022 To be honest, after all the hikes and driving, by the time we arrived at Kanab, we were tired. Although retired a few years now, I find it hard to sit & relax by the RV when there are so many unexplored places to see & photograph. But we shortened our 4 night stay to 3 at Kanab RV Corral. Since we shortened our visit by a day and arrived fairly early Wednesday. We spent the afternoon hiking to the Sand Caves just north of town. We also entered the lottery for a Friday permit to hike the Wave. We didn’t get selected so we drove to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. It’s about 75mi south of Kanab but a great drive for fall colors. We had a great day exploring the north rim & enjoyed the panoramic canyon view at the lodge restaurant. We wanted to continue exploring so we drove Cape Royal Road to all the viewpoints. Another high-point was photographing sunset at Cape Royal/Angels Window, although the drive back to Kanab in the dark was challenging.
We wanted to make Day 2 of our drive home shorter so that meant driving further from Kanab Day 1. Stopping at Thousand Trails Las Vegas again would make the Day 2 drive home 6hrs or more. So we opted to stop in Las Vegas to fuel and take a break then continue to Barstow. We stayed at the Barstow/Yermo KOA in 2021 and found it to be an acceptable stopping point from Zion-Utah to Oceanside. So we reserved a pull-thru spot this trip. The site assigned to us this trip was a lot nicer than last year’s. We had trees shading our site and the restrooms were much closer & cleaner.
After two-days in Yosemite Valley, we spent our third day on Yosemite’s Tioga Road. The drive takes you to higher elevations than Yosemite Valley so it’s much cooler. The only challenges were the 20-30min road construction delays at places along the road. These significantly slowed our progress exploring this part of Yosemite. But this area is much less crowded and a lot cooler so definitely a nice change from the past two days & worth the trouble. Olmsted Point is a must-stop along the Tioga Road. It’s a viewpoint with a spacious parking lot, docents (the day we stopped), and an easy trail. A short hike will take you to breath-taking views of Tenaya Valley & the northside of Halfdome.
A mile down the road from Olmstead Point is Sunrise Lakes Trailhead & Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park’s largest lake. Unlike Mirror Lake, Tenaya Lake water level was not low and refreshingly cold. A 0.35mi hike from the parking lot took us to a rocky beach where we waded & enjoyed the beautiful lake-view. A great place for a packed lunch picnic.
The hike to Soda Springs is an easy hike through Tuolumne Meadows over the Tuolumne River. The Soda Springs ‘cabin’ is an opened-roof square surrounding small, rust-colored carbonated springs. There is a field of carbonate bog surrounding the multiple springs and cabin. There is also the Parsons Memorial Lodge nearby with information and history of the area. A fun easy hike through the meadow with panoramic views of the surrounding mountains. Marmots live under the Tuolumne River bridge and Flycatcher birds nest in the tree by the lodge.
The iconic Yosemite Valley is always a great place to visit. With national park visitation so popular, we are glad they’ve implemented the 3-day pass ($2) requirement. Fortunately, we were able to take advantage of our July pass somewhat last-minute, booking our campsites just a month before traveling.
July can be hot in Yosemite with 95-100°F mid-day temperatures. Starting hikes early, picking shaded trails, and bringing plenty of water and sunscreen can help make the experience enjoyable. The free shuttle buses stop frequently but many riders do not comply with the mandatory mask mandate. So we chose to drive & bike to the trails and lodge for lunch. Parking becomes scarce by noon so biking around Yosemite Valley, once you find a parking spot, is an ideal way to see the place.
Because of the heat, we picked shorter hikes – Day 1: Mirror Lake, which we mostly biked to, was pretty low but Half Dome was reflecting in the pools.
and Day 2: Mist Trail to Vernal Falls, a somewhat challenging 4mi hike because of the 1279ft elevation gain and 600+ often slippery steps. Like Angel’s Landing in Zion, this is a must-do especially during summer since many waterfalls are low flowing. This was one of the few falls in late July to have a decent flow. In Spring, this waterfall is normally much fuller with mist showering the trail & hikers. Here is the website that tells you what the flow rate is: Should I Hike the Mist Trail Today? (yosemitehikes.com) This one is worth the hard upward effort but, like Angels Landing, crowded by noon.
Our last RV trip was in February so by mid-June, after our new grandson’s Jun 2nd arrival, we were ready for a road-trip. Fortunately, Carol made a July reservation for Yosemite and accepting the $6/gal fuel costs and 90-100°F temperatures forecast. We found a campsite available for a week at Bass Lake at Yosemite RV Resort so we decided to go. All campsites inside Yosemite National Park were booked and with hot weather expected. We wanted full hookups or at least electric so we could run the A/C. Bass Lake is ~18 miles from the south entrance, and 90mins from Yosemite Valley. A bit of a drive but doable, plus we could drive through the sequoias at Mariposa Grove.
Washburn Fire – change of plans
Unfortunately, the Washburn Fire (see map below) started the week before we were to leave. This resulted in the closure of highway 41 and the south entrance to Yosemite for civilian traffic. To avoid driving 2hrs via highway 49 & 140 from Bass Lake to the west entrance three times in three days. We found an opened campsite at Yosemite Lakes RV Resort and rescheduled only 2 nights at Bass Lake and added 4 nights at Yosemite Lakes (on the Merced River – no lake). Our 3-day pass into Yosemite National Park started Monday so we used the three days at Bass Lake to enjoy the lake & surrounding area.
Bakersfield One Night Layover
This was our first road-trip on I-5 over Tejon Pass aka the Grapevine, so I was concerned how difficult our tow was going to be. We packed lightly as usual, had empty tanks, brought our lighter Zizzo folding bikes (vs e-bikes), and the inclines turned out to be no problem. This was our 1st trip after installing Sumo Springs to the rear of our Tacoma. They helped reduce the Tacoma’s hitch sag when hooked to Howie, our 3400# travel trailer w/ 420lbs tongue weight. Plus these taller ‘springs’ improved the tow angle and ride. We stopped midway at Bakersfield River Run RV Park. A Good Sam RV resort w/ full hookups so we could run the A/C and keep cool during our 1-night layover in 104°F heat. River Run is a convenient location close to highway 99, Starbucks, Costco (fuel), & Temblor Brewery so we stayed here on our way home too.
Bass Lake at Yosemite RV Resort
We enjoyed three days at Bass Lake RV Resort: beating the heat in the cool but boat-busy waters of the lake; renting a pontoon boat and doing a little early morning cruising & fishing; and taking the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad Moonlight Special Saturday night. Sunday we moved to Yosemite Lakes RV Resort, driving the switch-backs of highway 49 then 140 for 90mi (~2.5hrs).
Yosemite Lakes RV Resort – 1000 Trails
Yosemite Lakes RV Resort is a 1000 Trails campground with campsites available to anyone, not just members. But since a new annual membership was roughly the same price as the cost of 4 nights, we decided to join. Figuring we’d end up ‘ahead’ if we booked an additional stay at a 1000 Trails campground, like Palm Springs, within a year. There were prime sites on the Merced River but they are closer together than other sections of the campground. There is the ‘Sun Valley’ section, which has no trees, so great for Starlink reception but unshaded & hot during the day. We opted for site 57, on the end, across from the river, partially shaded. Starlink worked okay although partially obstructed. Still we were able to watch the Home-run Derby and All-Star game after spending the earlier part of the day in Yosemite Valley. There was zero T-Mobile or Visible cell reception (July 2022) and wifi costs $6/day. We were told by the office the wifi wasn’t very good but their only option. So having Starlink was a wonderful solution and worked fine, although we did not stress the bandwidth. This campground is only 5mi away from the west entrance and ~40mins to Yosemite Valley. Expecting long lines to get in since the south entrance was closed due to the fire. We were pleasantly surprised that at 9ish am, there wasn’t a queue to get in.
Washburn & Oak Wild Fires
Other than fire fighters in town, fire engines on the road, aircraft in the sky. We never smelt smoke or saw any signs of the Washburn Fire. Another wildfire – the Oak Fire – broke out the day after we left Yosemite. The Yosemite area is extremely dry and with the heatwave & strong afternoon winds, it is easy for a wildfire to spread. We were fortunate to not be affected and had a great trip.
We got a much earlier start today, President’s Day, and had a much better experience with smaller crowds. There were plenty of hikers, just not the insane number yesterday. The weather was clear and sunny but the wind had picked up significantly. Although sunny, it was cold and REALLY windy. But once on the trail, there was plenty of shelter from the wind by the rock outcroppings. Most of the popular trails in Joshua Tree are short, easy & family-friendly so you encounter more families on the trails than more challenging hikes. Still, there are plenty of side trails and boulders to scramble over if you want more of a challenge and fewer people.
Some landmarks like Skull Rock & Hall of Horrors are close to the road. Today, Skull Rock was uncrowded so we stopped for a quick photo, but didn’t hike the nature trail loop. Next stop was Hall of Horrors – we had to stop just because of the name. It’s a really short 0.6mi loop hike around some great climbing walls. We did not find the namesake ‘hall’ between the two rock faces I read about later on Alltrails.com. Next, was Barker Dam, another short 1.5mi hike that loops by a small dam built by cattlemen in 1949. A great short hike but the dam’s water level was very low. Bighorn Sheep & other wildlife are said to visit this watering hole but we did not see anything or signs much had been around recently. On the way back, there are Petroglyphs in an alcove. Most are at eye-level & higher so they are easy to miss without the trail marker or people gathered. With such short hikes, we wanted one more and Hidden Valley Nature Trail was real close. It’s another short but beautiful Joshua Tree hike (1mi loop) surrounded by the beautiful rock outcroppings & plant life.
That was enough of Joshua Tree for this trip so we exited through the West Entrance and stopped at the very popular iconic (and crowded) Joshua Tree Saloon. Dining outdoors was a real challenge with the gusting afternoon winds blowing through the patio. But it was a great way to finish the day and worth the wait.
It should have been no surprise to us that Joshua Tree National Park on President’s Day weekend would be crowded. But the number of cars & people was insane – I know national parks are more popular than ever but today was nuts. Even the north entrance had a queue of 20 cars. We have a lifetime pass and fortunately they opened a 2nd lane & waved us through. We got into the Split Rock Loop Trail parking area around noon. It was full but we were able to park on the side of the road that fed into the parking area. It was busy but with everyone dispersed, we had a nice hike. The weather was great, not hot, so hiking conditions were perfect.
Since we were staying in 29Palms, close to the north entrance, we should have got an earlier start. By 2pm all the landmark destinations were packed, with cars overflowing along the road. We tried to stop at Keys View at 3pm and ended up just turning around. We decided to get an earlier start tomorrow, hoping Monday, even though it was still a holiday, would be less crowded.
