This past weekend, during spring break, Zion National Park was slammed busy in the main canyon area. But rather than deal with the crowds, we took off to the backcountry of the Wildcat Canyon Trail off of the Kolob Terrace. Despite waking up to temperatures in the teens and water vapor crystallizing in mid air to snow on us with no clouds in the sky, it was perfect weather for hiking. The lack of clouds and full moon didn’t help too much with photos, but I did manage to get some great panoramics of the Northgate trail and Left Fork Canyon areas. The trip was mostly getting Oklahoma Slim accustom to backpacking in the wilderness and test out some products. Mainly the Goal Zero Sherpa 50 and Nomad 13 solar panel kit were tested, as well as some of our other backpacking gear. Those reviews will be posted over the next couple of weeks.
Ultimately the Wildcat Canyon Trail is a connector trail with a few view points, but the dramatic views are at the southwest trailhead at the Northgate Trail. It isn’t until the 3.5 mile mark that you look south down the Wildcat Canyon, and that isn’t one of the more dramatic views that you see throughout the park, so be prepared to see a lot of Ponderosa pines for the majority of the trail. There are a lot of great areas along the trail that provide cover from wind and direct sunlight to camp along.
I took plenty of GoPro video along the way the 2nd and 3rd days of the trip. As well, I brought the a7s, the 55mm lens, and the Canon 100-400mm (which I only shot a few pics of a chukar with – when there are others with me, I usually don’t get much in wildlife) which packed pretty well into my Gregory Palisade pack with the rest of my gear. It was the most I have packed into that bag, with the best results so far. Take a look at the Zion Gallery to see some of the pics taken. And check back over the next couple of weeks to see product reviews in the field, as well as other photos and news.