Zion West Rim

[Cody]

On the way home from a great Death Valley frontcountry trip with the kiddos, I tagged on a little Zion backcountry. My wife shuttled me up to Lava Point (as far as the road was clear of show) and then she headed into town to relax poolside a couple of days while I hiked.

Still too snowy to drive all the way into Lava Point, but at most it only adds about 2 miles of road walking. Trees are mostly still bare of leaves. A few more weeks and I'm sure the route would have been much more green, but down in the canyon, the flowers are going. Lovely.





I pulled a permit for Site 2. Only a few hundred yards from West Rim (Cabin) Spring. Had a nice clear trickle.



Site 2 has great views to the south and west. Fine place to watch a sunset from camp.





A bunch of these guys showed up for breakfast. They hung around for a while as I moved around and packed up camp and then headed over to the spring.



Big views all the way down.



Detoured up onto Angel's Landing on the way down. Wasn't too crowded.






Flowers! Lots.



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[powderglut]

This hike is definitely on my short list!!!! Sweet!!!!

 

[Jammer]

Very nice.

I'm really surprised by how little snow there was up there.

- Jamal

 

[Nick]

Love this route! That's crazy how little snow there was. Also crazy you had to start a couple miles early because of the snow! Way to get on it early!

 

[Laura]

Very cool to see this side of Zion! I gotta get out of the canyon and explore the rest of it.

 

[JamesM]

I can't believe all those flowers up there. I better put this hike on my list soon.

 

[jonmessina]

I did this back in April 2007 in another light snow year. Awesome hike. Great views from the get go. Really liked the little ledge you hike along, we called it the side walk. Your wildflower pics are beautiful.

Sad note on my trip, as we were coming down off of scout lookout a ranger stopped us and said there was a medical emergency ahead on the trail and that it was closed. A guy had a heart attack on the way up. After they finally did open the trail we followed a body bag back to the trailhead. Brings you back to reality real quick.