High Desert Appreciation: Hiking the Sandy Bench Loop at Zion National Park

 

 

 

Date: April 7, 2021

Place: Zion National Park, Utah

Coordinates: 37.251013, -112.958019

Length: 6.8 miles

Level: moderate

 

 

On the second day of our family's 2021 visit in Zion National Park we chose to do a longer hike, combining to shorter loop trails. We started the hike at the same trailhead of the Emerald Pools loop that we hiked the day before, only this time we turned south after crossing the Virgin River.  

Along this part of the river there were in fact, two trails, one on each side. We crossed the river to start our hike on its western side. 

Virgin River, view south

While on the bridge I did take a moment to look both downstream and upstream the river. The water level was pretty low, although it was still fairly early in April. Winter wasn't very wet here. 

Virgin River, view north

The beginning of our hike was fairly easy. The trail was mostly level, wide and comfortable to walk on. Early spring foliage covered the cottonwood trees, which wasn't enough to cast any significant shade. We didn't need it though - the day wasn't as warm as yesterday was. 

Right from the beginning I was seeing the Zion milkvetch plants in bloom along the trail. By then I was already familiar with the lovely pink flowers. 

Astragalus zionis

There was activity below, at the river. A train of horse riders was crossing the water, the horses wading slowly to the east side. I wondered if that was an organized trip or a park working crew. 

A little further up the trail we got a nice look down at a grassy area near the river. In the open grassy area, under a large cottonwood tree, was a herd of deer. 

Mule Deer

On the other side of the trail towered the sheer rock walls of the Zion Canyon. Between the cliffs and the trail was a gentler slope of rock ledges and top soil where a nice low forest of junipers and pinyon pines grew nice and green. 

The trail started ascending on a mild slope, and separating little by little from the river bank. The soil was sand eroded from the red sandstone that made the Zion cliffs. It felt very soft under my shoes. 

Throughout our walk Pappa Quail and the elder chika were looking for birds. There weren't a whole lot of birds around but there were a few. Some of the birds we saw were very common and familiar, such as the American robin.  

American Robin

 

Others, although nit lifers, were of species we were not seeing regularly around the Bay Area. Of the kinglets we most often see he ruby-crowned, and it was nice to see its cousin, the golden-crowned kinglet. 

Golden-crowned Kinglet

The trail led us closer to the cliff and my eyes were attracted to a shinier part of the rock wall. That shiny rock turned to be simply wet - spring water was coming down the rock face.

I was surprised to see the invasive stork's bill thriving also in Zion National Park. There's lots of them in California, which is more similar  to the old world habitat where it comes from. The high desert of Utah where Zion Park is, is quite different. Yet, here was the stork's bill. 

Redstem Stork's-Bill, Erodium cicutarium

Pappa Quail and the elder chika stopped and focused on the thicket on the side of the trail - they spotted a bird there. That bird, which turned out to be a juniper titmouse, was a lifer for the elder chika, and possibly a lifer for Pappa Quail as well. 

Juniper Titmous

We reached the 3-way trail junction that would make the 'belt' part of our figure 8 hike. At this junction we continued straight ahead, to the Sandy Bench Loop trail.

At this trail junction we had a lovely view of the imposing cliffs that jutted into the Zion Canyon from the west. 

The trail junction was also at a crossing of a side creek on its way to meet the Virgin River. I looked at the water to see if there was anything interesting there but found none. 

At the same time my family birders were busy looking at a rock wren that was singing at the top of its voice while perched at the top of a nearby juniper. 

Rock Wren

 

A short distance after the 3-way junction the Sandy Bench Loop opened and we took the right hand side, choosing to hike the loop in the counter-clockwise direction. The trail curved a bit more southwest and ascended mildly, cutting deeper into the sandy top soil. 

Sandy Bench Loop Trail

There were cacti along the trail, quite a few of them. Not surprising, considering the arid and exposed terrain we were walking through. 

Golden Pricklypear, Opuntia aurea

When the trees and bushes opened up a bit, we found that we have ascended quite high above Zion Canyon. On the southeast, the canyon cliffs took the shape of ancient pyramids. 

Looking back to the northeast, we had the wonderful, striking view of Zion Canyon. It was easy to see why the Mormon settlers saw this place as the promised land. 

There was wildlife higher up the trail too - little lizards were sunning themselves on the rocks and darting off as we approached. 

Plateau Fence Lizard

The squirrels were also active, and most of them didn't mind us being near. Thankfully these squirrels were not habituated as those we've seen along the Virgin River Trail, and didn't approach us to beg for food. 

Rock Squirrel

Manzanita bushes were also plentiful at the height of the trail, and many of them were in bloom. They were of a different species of the manzanitas that grow in the Bay Area, but I couldn't tell the difference by sight. 

Pointleaf Manzanita, Arctostaphylos pungens

On our right hand side, on the west, the walls of the canyon towered, sheer and flat-faced, marked with the vertical lines of snow-melt runoff water. 

Swifts were flying very swiftly back and forth along the top edge of the cliffs. Pappa Quail was dubious about their ability to capture the photos of these swiftly swifts but the elder chika managed to get a decent photo of these hard to catch birds. 

White-throated Swift

It was much easier to photograph the turkey vulture that glided gracefully along the cliffs, searching for carrion. 

Turkey Vulture

The trail continued in a mild ascend. It was an easy enough walk despite the deep, soft sand that doubled the effort of walking. 

Sandy Bench Trail

Most of the vegetation in the area was of bushes and shrubs. There were nice stands of small desert trees too - mainly junipers and pinyon pines. The pinyon pine is a keystone species in that area, providing staple foods for the local wildlife as it did for the local Southern Paiute people. 

Colorado Pinyon, Pinus edulis

Despite Zion being a relatively arid place, the vegetation covered nearly all the soil surface. It was arid-adapted vegetation, naturally, but there was much of it. 

Sandy Bench Trail

Annul plants took advantage of the sandy spaces between the trees and the bushes. There were not many annuals, I assume because of the long drought, but there were some. 

Wingnut Cryptantha, Cryptantha pterocarya

Although it was fairly early in spring in Zion National Park, some of the plants were already done with the bloom and moved on to developing fruits. 

Great Basin Sand Verbena, Abronia elliptica

Most of the wildflowers we saw however, have not even peaked yet. I enjoyed seeing the shortstem lupine blooming - it wasn't a lupine I was familiar with from California.

Shortstem Lupine, Lupinus brevicaulis

A few tidytip daisies were blooming too. I love these little plants. They usually grow in large numbers but here there were but a few of them. Possibly because of the drought. 

Whitedaisy Tidytips, Layia glandulosa

I didn't think it was possible but the sand became even deeper and finer. Thankfully the trail also leveled at that point, then started a mild descend. At that point we started thinking about taking a mid-hike break to eat and rest. 

We wanted a place comfortable to sit, preferably in the shade, so we had to walk a bit further. Meanwhile I continued documenting the flora I was seeing along the trail. 

Rosy Gilia, Gilia sinuata

Between the junipers and the pinyon pines I was seeing also ephedra srubs. Ephedra is also a gymnosperm - a relative of conifers. It produces cones rather than flowers for reproductive organs. 

Green Ephedra, Ephedra viridis

Some of the plants I saw there looked a bit out of place. The Caraigre dock was one and I expected it was an introduced species. I was wrong about hat however. This dock species is very much native to the southwest of USA. 

Canaigre Dock, Rumex hymenosepalus

The western wallflower I didn't see much of in the sandy area, but I did see a good number of them where there were more trees and bushes. On that part of the hike I was also seeing more oaks, breaking the monotony of the juniper-pinyon society. 

Western Wallflower, Erysimum capitatum

Sometimes it was the rocks that attracted my attention. By color pattern, or erosion shaping, some boulders looked quite artistically unique. 

The trail started curving east as we neared a large rock wall on the south ahead of us. This large cliff had three levels and on top of the bottom two were ledges that from afar looked quite narrow. 

Looks can be deceiving though. These 'narrow' ledges were wide enough to support a stand of full size trees. 

In places, the cliff garden took shape of landscaped staircase slope, with each level nicely planted with trees and shrubs. In a different universe I'd be a rock climber going up there to explore those beautiful nature gardens. 

Cliff Garden

The trail curved again, turning north. As we left the large cliff on the south behind us we got an excellent view of the south part of the Zion Canyon where it widens and opens up.

Right below us was the central road of the park, leading from the south gate to the Temple of Sinawava, along the Virgin River. 

A bit to the south was the large park junction where the road that split off to the east side of the park and the east entrance. There was no natural pass to the other side of the mountains and the road disappeared into a tunnel cut into the rock. Some distance away a large tunnel window gaped into the abyss. I asked Pappa Quail to take a close up image of these tunnel holes. 

We continued a bit further then found a place to have our lunch break. There was a small grassy patch near the trail and the four of us sat down. I took off my backpack and pulled out the food when Pappa Quail got up as if stung - a dried piece of pricklypear cactus was hidden in the grass and he had the misfortune of sitting on it.  

The rest of our break passed with me patiently pulling out the thorns from Pappa Quail's tender area with my tweezers while the chikas ate, facing the other direction, and cracking jokes on the expense of their unfortunate father. 

Rockcress, Boechera sp.

I did the best I could but by the end of the day he was still finding tiny, hairlike thorns under his skin. Looking carefully where to sit, especially in the desert, can be a well learned lesson. 

Sandy Bench Loop Trail

We walked a bit more vigorously after the break. As usual, I found myself at the rear, trying to not miss interesting sights. The younger chika lingered next to me and shared her thoughts with me in a continuous string of words. She was the one who pointed out to me the lovely kingcup cactus that grew apparently right out of the rock that we passed on the way.  

I find it amazing how these plants can find enough space to grow in the tiniest of rock cracks. Plants also have the power to enlarge these cracks over time, and even split them altogether. 

Mojave Kingcup Cactus, Echinocereus triglochidiatus ssp. mojavensis

After some undulation, the trail started a slow descend back toward the valley floor. We weaved our way between the pinyon pines, junipers, bush and manzanitas, accumulating a nice insole of packed sand in our shoes.  

Sandy Bench Loop Trail

Pappa Quail was up ahead when he spotted a lizard. The lizard was already gone when I reached the same rock. 

Common Side-blotched Lizard

I called Pappa Quail back when I saw a butterfly in the sand but Pappa Quail was already far ahead and didn't wish to backtrack. I settled for my own limited zoom lens. 

Neumoegen's Checkerspot Butterfly

It was the northern part of the Zion Canyon that spread before us as we descended down the trail. Light feather clouds breezed across the sky, not thick enough to block the sunlight. 

Near the bottom of the canyon the trees were considerably larger. The cliffs looked larger as well. We didn't stop again but headed straight down the trail and completed the Sandy Bench Loop. 

Moving on to the three way junction, we chose to take the right turn and go down to the Virgin River. I glanced up to the large cliff that guarded the side canyon where the trail junction was. At the top of that cliff was a rock spire and the feather cloud was hanging just above it. It looked like that cliff had an angelic halo. 

We reached the river and crossed it on the narrow footbridge that spanned the water. The bridge was built right above a cascading drop and for a long moment I stood there and watched the water flowing down to the south. 

Virgin River

To the north, the Virgin River presented a much calmer flow. The river was too shallow for this time of year, another indication of the severe drought of the southwest. 

Virgin River

We took the river trail now, advancing slowly northward. We walked slowly not because of any trail difficulty, but because there were birds in the river. 

Common Merganser

Naturally, we would stop and observe the birds that we saw, with Pappa Quail and the elder chika taking a hundred photos of each. 

American Dipper

The water was greener in the deeper places of the river. One of these water holes was claimed by a pair of mallard ducks 

We passed another small cascade on our way. These were not quite waterfalls but hey did disturb the calm flow of the river with a short burst of whitewater. 

For the most part however, the Virgin River was calm. In fact, it looked very inviting. Pappa Quail didn't want to linger, and we saw no other people in the water and but I think a short dipping stop might have been nice.  

Virgin River

In the trees along the river we saw more birds. These were familiar enough birds, but it was very nice to see them. 

Northern Flicker

Some of these birds presented some challenge in photographing them - they were tucked away in behind too many branches and required some careful stalking around the tree to get a descent view. 

Cooper's Hawk

Then the trail separated from the river and became a wide dirt road. The road was very sandy and I couldn't imagine anything other than a 4XD going there. We did discover very shortly after going on that path that it was used by the horses and mules that were employed in the park. 

We didn't stop anymore until reaching the shuttle bus stop. The elder chika and Pappa Quail did pause briefly here and there however, to photograph birds. 

White-crowned Sparrow

A hummingbird waited for us near the shuttle bus stop and my family birders passed the time while we waited for the bus to watch that tiny bird. 

Black-chinned Hummingbird

This hike completed our second day in Zion National Park. On the morrow we would check out of our cabin and continue west to California. 

On our way out of the park I discussed with Pappa Quail the possibility of starting that drive later on the day - there was another part of the park that we could hike at in the morning before dispatching. That was all the way on the northwest side of Zion National Park, the Tyler Creek Trail