Definitely a premium site in Watchman.
What a great day! We pulled out of the KOA early and split up. Richard took off on his bike to ride the 34 miles to Zion while I went to the day use area of Quail Creek State Park and put in my boat. It was going to be a hot day, and by that I mean low 90s, and perfect weather for getting in the water.
Quail Creek is a spectacular place to go boating. You are surrounded by kayenta colored mountains for a stunning backdrop. If you head all the way to the far end where the river inlet is, you will see a forest of beautiful trees that you can paddle through for quite a way. There were lots of kayaks and SUPs in this part of the reservoir. The area nearer the dam was home to all sorts of powered watercraft. I was out there a good couple of hours before Richard texted that he was close to Zion.
Quail Creek SP has some awesome kayaking.
I packed up my boat and drove up to meet him before the kiosk so that we could both enter with a new annual National Parks Pass. There was no wait to get in, despite the holiday weekend, and we scooted right into our site. What a premium site this is too! With views of Watchman and right by the Virgin River, we didn’t really want to leave. It was the hottest part of the day too, so we found some shade and hung out in our Nemo chairs until it was a decent time to think about dinner.
Before we left, we ordered our last box of Blue Apron to be delivered Thursday. We specifically selected four meals we thought could be done on the road and two of them were designed for grilling. We had the most amazing spicy Italian sausage burgers with sharp cheddar cheese and grilled onions, along side a salad of arugula and cherry tomatoes. Richard is not allowed to make yummy sounds at home when we have Blue Apron because it annoys the “kids.” But he had full permission and we both took advantage of the “YUM!” freedom.
That’s points for at least one time on the bike!
After dinner, I did in fact get on my pretty blue bike. Go me! We rode the popular Pa-rus Trail and up a section of the canyon road that is closed to most traffic. When I say “up,” I didn’t realize how steadily uphill it was until we came back. At that point, I was very impressed with myself for having done so much up. It was not steep, but it was a lot for someone who has not been on a bike in quite a long time. To say it was spectacular doesn’t capture it. I did this ride when we were here before, so I didn’t take pictures with quite the same level of overkill this time. Everyone else seems to have E-bikes these days and I certainly do see the appeal. Downsides (besides cost) would be weight and the need to recharge them. But it sure would be fun to zip up an incline without working up such a sweat that the shuttle drivers appear worried about me.
Perfect day! It’s a one nighter here, but so so worth it!
Total miles: 34, ? mpg. ? time. Site B 46. Amazing site. Riverside with shade and hookups. 1-2 bars of LTE for both. Got an “Undersize Vehicle Pass” at the entrance to go through the tunnel without paying to go one way. Might want to pay anyway. Gassed up in Virgin before heading to the park. Looks like a good dump here with water fill up.
