The Upper Emerald Pool Trail in Zion National Park

We began our Journey to the Emerald Pools, planning on only taking the easy 1.2 mile trail to the Lower Emerald Pools. But after talking to some of the hikers about the upper pools and our curiosity getting the better of us, we continued on to the Middle Emerald Pools.

I am so happy that we did. It challenged us physically and really gave us a sense of accomplishment to make it to the top.

We also fell in love with the incredible views. The Upper Emerald Pool was one deep pool, but my favorite part of that pool was the colorful rocks about the pool.

Just amazing colors created by the sandstone, the water seeping down the rock, the plants growing on the wall, and I believe the Bees that we could hear humming behind the falls.

They do have warnings that there are bees near the falls, so if you are allergic to bees be sure to pack the necessary medicine in case you do get stung. It would be a very long walk out of there if you had any issues.

I was really happy to find the little photo ops along the trail to the upper falls. The purple flowers above just caught my eye. I love to find those picture taking opportunities even more when I am hiking. Because it gives me a few seconds of rest!

But seriously I love the flowers in Zion's Canyon, so unique and beautiful against the rock.

It was spring when we visited, during the month of April. Lots of water that time of year running the rivers.

It really is a good time of year to visit, but you also can't make the trek through the Narrows, the water is too high and too cold to try it.

We will leave the narrows for another trip. May be summer or fall.

The Trail to the Upper Emerald Pools is about .6 miles round trip. Not far, but still steep.

The Trail leads you right below these beautiful rock mountains.

You can look out over the Valley.

From this path you can also see the Kayenta Trail that leads down to the Grotto. You can actually take a loop trail that combines the Emerald Pool Trail with the Kayenta and Grotto for something like a 3.6 mile loop.

The Kayenta Trail however from what we saw is in the Sun a lot, so I would suggest starting there early in the morning.

The colors of the rock seem to change with the different hours of the day too. So many times the same place or view in the morning will be a whole new place in the afternoon, and another in the evening.

I love the look of the flat top rock that you see in the photo above.

It is almost irresistible to pass up.

There were some girls on the way up posing on this rock, one sitting on top the other taking photos. Good picture opportunity for them.

So many times we get caught up on "getting there". Many times I have so many good memories of our trip or hike getting somewhere rather than the destination.

Don't forget to stop and take in the beauty on your hike...the journey sometimes is the destination.

Just when you think you must be there, because you reach the summit, you go back down into the Upper Emerald Pool area.

Filled with nests of Bees or Hornets, you can hear them humming. I was hoping they wouldn't get angry that we were there and come out.

Mike had to mention Killer Bees too.

Like the Pools below it really wasn't the Pool that brought the beauty to this area. It was the surroundings.

I could not get far enough back to get what we were able to see all at once.

The pool, the rocks, the colors, the reflections, the blue sky. Just imagine the above rocks, and this pool below.

The shade we were sitting in was just perfect. We decided to each our lunch at the top. We found ourselves a rock as many people did.

i was surprised at how quiet everyone was as they came to reflect on the beauty of the upper pools. Not a lot of conversation.

Not sure if you can quite tell what you are looking at in this photo, but there was this tree going right in the water...or where the water rises to some times. It has these rounded knees. Almost like a tree grows burrels, this tree has knees!

For some reason the colors in the rock remind me of Apache Indian Blanket patterns.

The water runs in streams inside the Sandstone, when it find a place to seep out it does and creates these incredible colors as it does.

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