The Rainbow Chasers: Zion, UT - Watchman Trail

A couple of days after our excursion to Emerald Pools our sore muscles were rested and so we opted to try a longer and steeper trail -- this time along Watchman Trail. The trailhead was close to the campground, so we just walked from our site. Here is Frank at the beginning of the trail pointing up to our destination. The red rock outcropping at the tip of his index finger marks the end of the trail.

While it doesn't look all that far away, the whole trek was about four miles round trip from our RV. The trail started off nice and easy with a stroll along the river, but as soon as we veered away from the river, the trail began to climb up and up and it didn't stop until we were at the top -- about a mile and a half, 50 minutes and 370' later. Whew, our legs and lungs were questioning our brains. This is looking back down to the trail after we had climbed a series of switchbacks.

Along the way, a few early-blooming paintbrushes sprang out from the rocks and, although more stunted than their Texas cousins, were equally pretty.

As we neared to top, we had great views across the valley floor to the peaks on the other side. A few shady spots were much welcomed on this unusually warm day.

Whew, we finally made it to the top and drank in the spectacular views and felt the cool breeze in our faces and decided it was worth it. If you look off to the mountain on the other side you can see a band of red rocks that are jutting out at about the level of the top of the cedar tree on the right. We are actually at that same level except we're on this side of the canyon. So, we only hiked up about 20% of the mountain, but it sure felt like more.