DAY 2 OBSERVATION POINT, ZION NATIONAL PARK

Archived TRs for ranges outside California.
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Girl Hiker
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Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:46 am

Post by Girl Hiker »

This morning I met the group at the Zion Visitor Center.
The plan was to visit Weeping Rock, HIdden Canyon, Observation Point and the Narrows at the end of the day.
Knowing that this was going to be a long day, my main objective was to hike Observation Point. On a previous trip with Sean about 3 years ago, we hiked the other trails, so I really wasn’t interested. The rest of the group had similar feelings, so we divided up went our separate ways and then decided to meet at the end of the day and have dinner together.

My friend Steve and I hiked up the Hidden Canyon Trail. As we passed the portion of the trail where it divides, we headed left towards Observation Point.
All I can say is WOW! Another beautiful trail. Mostly a paved trail we were surrounded by red rocks, beautiful green trees, and a really cool canyon below.
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We could see Observation point from the trail below and at one point we saw Angels Landing.
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The trail steeply ascends and the trail is wide making it very comfortable to stand at the edge and admire the drop offs below. The trail has many switchbacks.
We spotted a male Big Horn sheep.
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We passed some pretty yellowish rocks.
This trial is so beautiful that one easily forgets the steep, sometimes exhausting climb. I would say this 4 mile hike up to the summit is a bit steeper than Angels Landing.
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As we passed one part of this trail we passed by some really cool pools below and had to hike through a really cool narrow. I found a benchmark which I have never seen before, so that made my morning. I did not anticipate finding a benchmark on Observation Point.
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Somewhere along the trail I lost my sunglasses and never retrieved them.
As you get closer to the summit the trail becomes less paved and has this beautiful reddish color as dark green trees align the trail. After this gorgeous part of the trail, it become single track trail up to the summit.
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At last Observation Point!
And guess what there is a Benchmark! Whooohooo
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We ate lunch and admired the views. Across from the summit we admired the views of Angels landin and the canyo below us
Angels Landing is 8 miles round trip.

I hate the fact that we are limited to photos. I would have liked to add more.
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dima
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Joined: Wed Feb 12, 2014 1:35 am

Post by dima »

Whoa. That is a cool area!

(What's this about the limited photos? What does it say?)
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Girl Hiker
Posts: 1318
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:46 am

Post by Girl Hiker »

dima wrote: Whoa. That is a cool area!

(What's this about the limited photos? What does it say?)
When one is uploading photos to a report there is a limit. its kind of annoying, even though I have re-sized them. Also the first time I tried uploading photos with TapTalk, I noticed that when I deleted a photo from add files at the bottom, it deleted my pictures from my report. I didn't realize this until I went to look over my report. I am not the only one who has encountered this problem. :(
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Sean
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Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:32 pm

Post by Sean »

Beautiful pics and report. I'll have to look into this attachment limit. I suggest breaking up the report into multiple posts if necessary.
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