The elements are in alignment. The weather, the location, the time. We are in Zion National Park, Utah. We woke this morning, to clear skies and sunshine. A frosty feel lingered from the night, but by the time we had finished a very satisfying breakfast in Wild Willies (!), any coolness was gone and the morning was warm and bright.

A couple of German hikers, that we met in Bryce Canyon, had recommended a hike to Observation Point, so we took a shuttle bus to the start. The route is steep. We found ourselves climbing, right from the beginning. Ever upwards, it zig zagged back and forth, steadily gaining height. On one side, the mountain rose sharply, a red rock wall, that gave way occasionally to slightly less steep openings of trees and shrubs, where deer scampered about, then stopped and stared. On the other side, the ground fell away as sharply as the mountain rose, to the canyon floor.

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After about an hour, we came to a narrow gorge, where the river bed had dried up, though locals warned of flash floods if the weather changed. At it’s narrowest, the walls were about fifteen feet apart and almost closed in overhead. We moved on out of that, and climbed another mile of zig zag track. The path was stone surface, sometimes bound with mortar of some sort and cracked, broken and stoney. It was three to four feet wide. One one side there was sheer cliff upwards, as far as I could see. On the other side, it was sheer cliff downwards. This eventually rose to over two thousand feet.

The last half mile was fairly level, along a sandy path through shrubs and bushes. It came to Observation Point. This was the prize. The views were amazing, right down the whole canyon, across the tops of nearby mountains and way into the distance, beyond Zion. Beyond Utah, for all I know. Half an hour’s break, then turn around and go down.

A wonderful days hiking. Beautiful weather, beautiful place. To my dear friend and long time hiking companion, Denis, (if you are reading this), let me say. “You would have appreciated the beauty and wonder of this hike. You would have recognised here, what sends us out on trails with packs on our backs. You would have understood the tired, hot bodies, pushing up, up, up. But you would have hated it. Every minute. You know what I mean”.  But to me, it was just a glorious day.