Emerald Pools, Zion, UT - Mar 2009

Since our hiking muscles had been neglected for awhile, we opted to go on an easy hike for our first outing at Zion. The Emerald Pools trail looked like a good choice -- not a long distance (between 1 and 3 miles depending on how far we wanted to go) and not too much uphill climbing involved. The trail began at the Zion Lodge and the first thing we did was cross a bridge over the Virgin River. It was so picturesque that we were tempted to just quit there and spend the day enjoying our picnic lunch. You can see that the trees hadn't begun to leaf yet, but soon I hoped, for a more colorful photo.

The park is a habitat for over 200 species of birds. We saw an American Dipper diving into the river while here at the bridge.
As we began the climb up to the first pool, we were treated to a great view of the valley below.

The first part of the climb was pretty easy with most of the trail being a paved walkway. The Lower Pool was pretty, but not much water was in it. Mostly, the rocks were green with algae -- hence the name "Emerald Pool".

Further up the trail (and a little more climbing) was Middle Pool. This pool was large enough for these kids to do some wading. The icy water (about 40°) didn't tempt us, but the view out over the sheer drop off (just beyond the big boulder) held our attention while we enjoyed watching the youngsters splashing in the water. Note the chain in the lower right corner -- it's there to keep people from getting in the water -- ha!

To get to the Upper Pool required the most difficult part of the climb. Lots of stairs and rock hopping and our legs felt unused muscles being exercised.

Every so often, the sheer rock walls would sprout some kind of plant. This miniature pine looked like a perfectly manicured bonsai tree. Thank you Mother Nature.

After, several stops to let our bodies recover, we made it to the Upper Pool and were rewarded with a very tall, but wispy waterfall. The grotto was in the shade for much of the day and so there were still patches of snow. Here is Frank admiring the height of the waterfall and colorful canyon walls.

The views from the Upper Pool were awesome. We ended up going the whole three miles on this trail and it was worth it.

On our way down, the sun was just right for the sky to look this deep blue -- wow, what a view!