Mountain Spring Water

In hopes of dodging the snow, Mary and I decided to travel southward and landed in Zion National Park. We planned on hiking the West Rim Trail for two nights/three days. Most people pay for a shuttle to drop them off at one end of the trail and then proceed to hike (downhill) to the other end that’s in the heart of the park. Well, that option was $70 and we decided that was just a little too much to splurge on a backpacking trip. Instead, we went against conventional wisdom and planned to hike up the trail and then back down again. Woops. The six miles up to our campsite on the first night were absolutely brutal. It was hot, steep, and heavy since we had to carry more water than usual (given the whole desert thing).

We were told by the ranger that there should be a water source near our campsite. A spring. Well, there definitely was a water source. A spring. A festering pool/puddle of stale water complete with flies and yellow jackets. THANK YOU DESERT!!





The water wasn’t bad tasting and we didn’t get sick (some other people we ran into said they filtered from the other spring on the trail and felt ill). Needless to say, we only made it one night on this one. On the second day, we day hiked up the trail a bit further for some views and then made our way down. Two things played a role in our wussing out early. The "fresh" spring water and a nearby In-N-Out burger. Best decision of the trip thus far.


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