Another Week Passes

 

Hard to believe our month at Zion River Resort has reached the halfway point. Mark and Bobbie and Boonie have been keeping us busy with all the hiking and biking we want, and yesterday we had the pleasure to meet another fulltime couple, John and Susan (from RVino blog). They’re boondocked about a mile from Boonie in a beautiful BLM area just a few miles from us. They are avid hikers and are planning to join us on some adventures this week.

Here’s Jim relaxing in a rock armchair we discovered on our walk yesterday. Mark wants to come back and get it for a yard ornament.

Wednesday night the RV park had a “Welcome Snowbirds” pizza party consisting of appetizers, salads, pasta, and various pizzas along with wine. A nice gesture! And as much as we enjoy boondocking, it’s been a luxurious two weeks not having to search for trash, water, dump, laundromat, etc. Been getting lots of use out of the microwave and crock pot, and we really like taking long showers for a change. And Sophie loves walking along the river behind our site. Now if we just had about a half mile between neighboring sites this would be perfect!

On Friday Jim, Debbie and I took a drive into Zion National Park for a hike on the Emerald Pools and Riverside trails. We’ve camped in Zion twice before, both times in the spring when the shuttle buses were running and cars were not allowed to drive into the canyon. During November the buses only run on Saturday and Sunday, so this was our first time driving in. We were afraid it might be really crowded but were pleasantly surprised.

Interesting Swiss RV in the Emerald Pools parking lot.

Virgin River from the trail bridge.

Although there wasn’t nearly as much water in the river, pools and falls as in our previous visits in April and May, it’s still a beautiful hike.

The upper pool had the most water, and it was a great place for some reflection shots.

We got to talking to a young couple and Jim jokingly asked it they would go stand by this giant boulder across the pool so he could get some perspective in the photo. They said they would if we emailed them the photos, so we agreed and they scrambled on over. They have five kids, so we were hoping they didn’t injure themselves getting there and back!

The Riverside trail is a mile long paved trail along the Virgin River that takes you to the start of the famous Zion Narrows hike.

 We were considering trying to hike in the Narrows but wanted to see what the river looked like. You have to rent boots, neoprene socks and dry pants if you want to be comfortable at this time of year. We talked to this father and son as they were coming out from their hike. They said it was fun but just didn’t sound all that enthused, having spent $50 each to rent the gear. I think we’ll pass this time and just stick to hiking on dry land.