Where can you visit a ghost town, hike to a secluded waterfall, and drive through a mile long tunnel carved through sandstone, all within a few miles of each other? Zion National Park, of course! And that’s exactly what I spent my day doing.
I started with a French toast breakfast at the Spotted Dog Cafe just down the street before heading into the park. I wanted to drive the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway and back to see the unique scenery on the east side of the park. Unfortunately, the cloud cover didn’t make for particularly good pictures this morning.
On the way back down into the valley, I stopped for a hike to Lower Pine Creek Falls. This was on my list because it is a lesser-visited trail (the trailhead isn’t even marked) and not particularly difficult. The trail follows Pine Creek all the way to the falls, with some rock stepping required to cross the creek in a few places.
I almost turned back near the end because I couldn’t see an easy way to keep going without climbing up some pretty steep rocks to get there. Fortunately, a gentleman coming back down told me if I could find a way to get up the first ledge, it leveled out after that. So I climbed up backwards and kept going. Just before the falls, I had to lay on my back to get through a pile of boulders.
It was all worth it, though, because when I got there I had the falls all to myself. The small waterfall drops over a ledge and then cascades down to the pool at the bottom. It was perfectly quiet and serene and I sat on a rock for quite a while just enjoying the view. I could have stayed longer but another group showed up and I left to give them room.
On the way back to the car, I stopped several times for pictures of the creek and interesting rock walls surrounding it.
I had visited Grafton, Utah on a previous trip to Zion many years ago. Located on a well-maintained semi-dirt road just east of Rockville, the ghost town of Grafton includes five preserved buildings and a small pioneer cemetery. Wandering among the buildings is like stepping back in time. There is a school/church, a couple of homes, and the cemetery. The primitive headstones in the cemetery include inscriptions such as, “Killed by Indians”.
It was back to my hotel for some R&R this afternoon, which included a snack on my balcony and some reading by the pool. Dinner tonight was a quesadilla at the Whiptail Grill, a gas station that has been converted into a restaurant with a great outdoor patio. Bonus: chocolate tres leches cake for dessert! I need to turn in early tonight because tomorrow is a big day (stay tuned)!
Traveling with Laura 