Zion National Park

Did you know that Zion National Park was once named Mukuntuweap National Monument?

Yep, that’s right. But more on that later.

Zion NP is one of America’s most popular national parks. It gets upwards of 3 million annual visitors. This is a hiker and rock climbers mecca with its amazing views and towering cliffs. There are some pretty crazy hikes here to include one that involves swimming through the cold Virgin River for a good part of the way. While we didn’t participate in the swimming hike, we did swim and hike. Does that count? I think so!

view of Virgin River from Middle Emerald Pool Trail

This park was a place where crew member and teenage daughter Alaina seemed to begin embracing this whole exploring and hiking thing.

Finally! I had planned to go two days and give them one down day.  However, by the end of the first day they were asking if we were going to come back tomorrow. Of course my youngest was intrigued by the chance to come back and swim in the Virgin River.

behind the little waterfall at Lower Emerald Pool

And so we returned the next day. This time we hiked the Riverside Walk Trail and the Lower Emerald Pool (70 feet elevation – easy). Both hikes were pretty breathtaking. The Riverside Walk Trail has a beautiful hanging garden and water was seeping out of the rocks. The Lower Emerald Pool had lots of flora and fauna. There were also mule deer climbing on the cliffs.

pretty limber mule deer eating choice greens on a cliff

After our hike we went to find a place for the girls to swim in the Virgin River.

They had a blast as it was moving swiftly enough to take them a small way down the river. But not fast enough to be a danger. The girls earned yet another Junior Ranger badge.  As we were departing on the second day, both kids were asking if we could return again. So, instead of a down day we ended up spending it at Zion. Score two for mom!

Cooling off in the Virgin River

The plan was for the youngest to stay back with my brother swimming in the river. My oldest wanted to hike the Middle Emerald Pool (150 feet elevation – moderate). However when we got up there, there really wasn’t much to see and she wanted to go to the Upper Emerald Pool (350 feet elevation – strenuous). If you’ve noticed, I’ve listed the elevation of the three Emerald Pools so you can get an idea of what my daughter talked me into. It was rough climbing and pretty much all uphill. The views along the way were pretty spectacular. When we got to the top this is what we saw:

for comparison, see the person standing to the right of the boulder?

Since we had hiked so far up, the towering cliffs seemed pretty short compared to the view from the bottom. Alaina hiked all around like a Billy goat on the rocks lining the cliff. Hiking down wasn’t nearly as bad as hiking up. But you still have to be careful that you don’t slip and fall. Of course my daughter made it down long before I did. I was busy checking out tarantulas hiding in crevices. Zoom in on the picture below, do you see it? The web is pretty cool too.

We had a great time at Zion and of course like always we didn’t get to do everything we had hoped. But it was time to leave Utah and head towards the Pacific coast.

do you see what looks like witches hands?

Now onto the story about how the park went from Mukuntuweap National Monument to Zion National Park.

It seems, as usually is the case, that the land belonged to Native Americans. They were known as the Southern Paiute Indians. They called it Mukuntuweap, which translates as “straight canyon” or “straight arrow”. There is debate on the translation.

Riverside Walk Trail

And then the Mormons came. They named the area Zion, which is ancient Hebrew for sanctuary or refuge. After they arrived the Indians were plaqued by disease and the few that didn’t die moved further south. When explorers were on an expedition to the area they originally named the area Mukuntuweap National Monument. They felt that was the proper thing to do.

more hanging gardens

However, the Mormons were upset by the name and fought to have it renamed Zion. They argued that no one would come visit a place with a foreign sounding name like Mukuntuweap. Eventually they managed to get the name changed to Zion National Park. I think Zion Mukuntuweap National Park has a good ring to it, don’t you?

near Middle Emerald Pool – the metal stakes and chains are barriers at the cliff edge

At our next stop, Nevada, we extend our stay to avoid a total meltdown. Then we end up finding ourselves on what is dubbed, “The Loneliest Road in America”.  We’d love it if you’d join us, then it won’t be so lonely.

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{HUGS} from the Crew!