My Visit to Zion NP (and why it's relevant to Bears Ears)

I will admit that we got a late start, but since it is the middle of the week, I didn't think parking would be an issue. We are now entering Springdale, the border-town to Zion National Park, and signs are warning that parking within the park is full!

Our only option is to park alongside the road in Springdale and take a complimentary shuttle into the park. We find a place to leave our car and pull all our packs and water bottles and other gear out of the vehicle, then walk up the sidewalk to the shuttle stop.

Our wait isn't too long, and within five minutes we are stepping onto a long white bus with other tourists like ourselves. They carry all their gear also, and some speak a foreign language. Many wear t-shirts that announce to everyone the places they've been like Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, Mount Vernon and Las Vegas.

Our ride to the park entrance is short, passing the lodges, diners, galleries and coffee shops. We get off the shuttle, walk to a little booth to pay our entrance fee, and then walk a short distance to wait in another line to catch another shuttle.

Now I am blown away! This line is long and doesn't appear to be moving. A park ranger walks past and advises us that the wait will only be 45 minutes!

To enter Zion National Park during summer, one must ride a shuttle.

Beginning in 1997, Zion National Park went to a shuttle system to handle the mass amount of tourists visiting the park. The shuttle runs during the summer and is the only way for the common visitor to enter the main canyon of the park (unless they would rather walk or ride a bike).

No one else in line seems to be as agitated as I am. For the tourists coming from Germany or France, what is another 45 minute delay? It is probably par for the course where they come from.

Finally—after waiting one hour—we step onto another shuttle, this one with a second coach pulled behind. It feels like we are cattle inside a stock car being hauled to the slaughter house.

Our driver is a local man, probably in his sixties. I can tell by his accent.

The shuttle wends through the canyon, halting at other stops to pick up passengers. The situation quickly becomes standing-room-only, each person grasping to their gear while clenching the railing. 

Forty minutes later we arrive at our destination and step off the shuttle. A large crowd disembarks with us. Today I am hiking the Zion Narrows with my two daughters, Kaitlyn and Jenna. Although I knew it would be crowded, there are some things in life that need to be experienced.

Large crowds enjoy The Narrows at Zion National Park.

The Zion Narrows are world-famous. To hike the entire length, a permit is required and only about 50 of them are issued every day. But to hike the lower three miles of the canyon, anyone can do that. That is what we are choosing to do today.

After a mile-long paved trail, the path disappears and gives way to the Virgin River. For the next three miles we hike in the river most of the time, always up to our knees, and sometimes up to our waists in water. I hand my walking sticks over to my daughters and enjoy watching them maneuver through the gentle rapids.

This hike is shared by literally hundreds of other hikers. There is never a time while in the main canyon that I am not in view of at least a dozen other travelers. Just as I am doing, the Asians, the Europeans, the Americans, all have their phones out taking selfies of themselves “hiking the narrows.”

Despite the crowds, it is a pleasant hike—a nice respite from the sweltering July heat. The constant cool water on my legs and the towering sheer cliffs create an enjoyable atmosphere.

A group of kids jump from a rock into a dormant pool in the bend of the river. Others stop to watch them. Jenna and Kaitlyn take a few minutes to swim in the deep water.

We stop and take a five minute break to eat trail mix and drink from our water bottles. I can't help but to ask myself a few questions about the masses: Where are they all going to flee if there is a flash flood? What about the bits of trash that is bound to be left or forgotten along the way? And most important, where are all these people going to be using the bathroom? They can't all be holding it! (I think the obvious answer is that they are peeing it in the river.)

The canyon eventually narrows up and the sandstone walls are so close together that they create a sort of eerie gloom. A funnel of wind cuts through the canyon as the temperature seems to drop a few degrees. We take a detour into Orderville Canyon. Although the crowds have lessened in this side canyon, we are still not alone.

On the canyon wall, about the level of my eyes, I notice graffiti etched into the rock. It is recent, having a date of 2016.

Graffiti in Orderville Canyon. 

During this entire trip to Zion National Park, I can't help but to constantly think of the Bears Ears in my beloved San Juan County, Utah. The area around the Bears Ears is very isolated and largely undiscovered. There are no crowds, no paved trails, no shuttle buses, no entrance fees. But if President Obama decides to use his executive power to create the “Bears Ears National Monument” later this year, all that could change.

I will admit that a comparison between Zion and the Bears Ears is a little harsh, as there are many differences between the two. Although I do not rule out the possibility that some day down the road there will be little difference from the Zion of today and the Bears Ears of tomorrow. It is a slippery slope.

One thing that will be certain is that the Bears Ears will receive far more visitors than it does now. This will happen from the monument designation alone. I remember when Bill Clinton designated the Grand Staircase Escalante as a National Monument in 1996 (this is a much fairer comparison with the Bears Ears). All of a sudden, people came from all over the country to see this “new” place. They reacted as if it never existed before. Magazines highlighted many of the hiking trails in the area and many of them are now world-famous. In 2014, the monument received an estimated 878,000 visitors.¹

Now I ask the question: Is this how we preserve the land? I promise you that if it were never made a National Monument, beautiful places like Coyote Gulch, Calf Creek Falls, Grosvenor Arch, and the Toadstools would be in a much more pristine state than they are now—because few people would ever go there!

Where does it end? Last year, Zion Nation Park received 3.6 million visitors. In the month of July alone (the month that I went), there were 599,961 visitors. Yet the tourism bureaus throughout the state and nation continue to vie for more tourists. The state of Utah spent 12 million dollars during the last three years to promote the state's “Mighty Five” National Parks to people both nationally and internationally.² I understand that it is a boon to the local economy and state coffers, but where do we draw the line? When St. George is as big as Las Vegas? Will we sell our birth-right for a mess of pottage?

The trail to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park.

Blanding and Monticello (the two towns closest to the proposed monument), do not want to become another Moab. Moab, which has boomed due to the tourism industry and its proximity to Arches National Park, is no longer the small town it once was. It is over-run by tourists, souvenir shops, and restaurants. I don't care to stop in Moab. There is nothing authentic about it. The demographics have completely changed from what it used to be. It has been hijacked by out-of-state environmentalists who are more in-line with San Francisco than old-time local residents.

Another scenario is that the tourists will come, but business will not. I recently met an old-time rancher from Boulder, Utah (a border-town to the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument). You could tell he was the real thing from his button-up long-sleeved shirt and leathery face.

Without knowing his opinion on the subject, I asked him how the monument affected the community near Boulder. Instantly, his demeanor changed and a bitterness swept his face.

“It devastated the whole place,” he said. He went on to tell that he used to be a cattleman over in that area. He explained that there used to be fifteen of them, but now there are only three. “They didn't necessarily reduce the number of permits,” he went on to say, “but they put in so much red tape and regulations that you couldn't afford to stay in business.” Someone else bought him out.

“But they promised us that the jobs lost would be made up from tourism. That was a bunch of bull!” Now he became very sore. “Those hikers and mountain bikers come in and they don't spend anything. They might go in the store and buy a loaf of bread, or some hot water for their tea. Then they end up breaking the bathrooms because they try showering in the sink!”

The old man now lives in Cedar City, 150 miles from his hometown of Boulder.

[I fully understood what the man was saying when I recently went hiking in that same area (we camped out one night and therefore did not spend money on a hotel). On our way home we made only one stop and that was at a gas station in Escalante. We put only enough gas in the tank to make it to a cheaper town. I also spent 50¢ on a Pepsi, and we got a couple cups of free ice. We then went outside and made sandwiches from food we brought from home and ate on the tailgate.]

Delicate Arch has become iconic throughout the world.

With the proposed Bears Ears National Monument, much of the management lies with a coalition of Native American tribes, most of whom have no representation in the local area. I can't help but to notice the management of some of their own parks and wonder if the same thing will happen with ours.

Both Canyon de Chelly and Navajo National Monument lie within the Navajo Nation. Access to both is very limited. There are a few short trails that lead to view points of some of the key sites. In order to explore deeper into either canyon it is necessary to hire a Navajo Guide and pay for a half or full-day tour.

Havasupai Falls in the Grand Canyon is much more accommodating, but even they have allowed their plot of paradise to be over-run by hikers. The campsite eight miles down the canyon is the closest thing I've ever seen to Woodstock.  For almost a mile between Havasupai and Mooney Falls there are tents and hammocks and backpacks and laundry lines scattered throughout. 

Beautiful turquoise water runs between campsites at Havasupai Falls. (Russ Eyre photo)

The Hualapai have built a skywalk over their section of the Grand Canyon. To stroll over this glass walkway that juts over the rim, one must pay $76 for a Legacy Gold Package.  This deal also includes entrance into tribal lands, a meal, and free photos with Hualapai members. 

Monument Valley, world-famous from the days of John Wayne, is a circus of tourists. People come from all around the globe to witness the monolithic spires and wavy sand dunes. It costs $20 per vehicle (up to four people) to enter the park. At a view-point that overlooks the Navajo Mittens, one will find a visitor's center and restaurant. Try taking an unauthorized side-road and you will be immediately stopped. Monument Valley certainly is not preserved in it's former pristine state.  

A convoy of vehicles at Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park.

I don't intend to be derogatory toward the native cultures. I am very fascinated by them and am proud to be a neighbor to the Navajo. But what could their management mean to a Bears Ears National Monument? Will jeep tours into Arch Canyon be offered only by Navajo guides? Will access to the thousands of Anasazi ruins in the area be shut off, with a fine to anyone who violates this edict? Will a skywalk be built over the sheer walls of Mule Canyon? Will the Navajo and Ute have unlimited ability to hunt all the lands within the monument? Will the natives be allowed unlimited access to gather their herbs while the Anglo is forbidden to cut down a Christmas tree? Will there be booths along Highway 95 that sell turquoise necklaces and Navajo tacos?  The truth is, there is a lot about this monument we don' t know.

I mention all of this because the way to preserve something is NOT to designate it as a monument and put it on a map for all to see. We, the locals, want to preserve this land in a pristine state also. We don't want development on it (which is impossible since it is already all publicly owned). We aren't worried about any strip mines ravaging the landscape. That won't happen!  As far as other possible mining, let it be regulated in a responsible way that will insure the integrity of the land while also providing jobs.

A group of Japanese tourists visit with an American from Wyoming at the Grand Canyon.

Now it is three weeks later, and my family is making the loop over Elk Ridge via the Causeway, Round Mountain, Duck Lake, through the Bears Ears, and out on Highway 95. (If you're a local, you know exactly where I'm talking about. And for you non-local anglers, don't get too excited about Duck Lake. It's usually dry.)

Our entire drive is within the proposed National Monument boundaries. We take a detour and drive past the Glade Pit and toward Mormon Pasture where I tell my kids stories about their ancestors and some of the crazy things that happened here over the years.

At an unmarked place we pull the vehicle over and walk to a view point. Our feet crunch over pine cones and I can smell the pungent fragrance of ponderosa pine trees. We find a fallen log and sit down to eat a few sandwiches for lunch.

We drive for ninety miles before finally leaving the proposed boundary near the old Hite Marina. I have counted all the cars that we have seen, and there were only eight. I also counted all the oil rigs and uranium mines along the way, and there were none. I didn't see any off-road tracks made by four wheelers. Also, the looters must not be out today.

I am in full agreement that the Bears Ears area should be preserved for generations to come. The best way to do this is just to leave it alone. ♠

Notes

1. Bureau of Land Management. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Manager's Annual Report. FY 2014, p. 9.

2. David Demille, “Zion, Bryce Canyon Mark Record Visitation,” The Spectrum & Daily News, August 25, 2016, 1.