POPULAR PUNISHMENT
20.5 Miles | 9 hours 53 minutes | +/- 8,022 elevation
Overview: By 2010 I had visited Zion National Park nearly 30 times and had become familiar with just about every popular trail in the park. In April I scored some time away from work - along with a clear weather window - so headed up to the park to try and hike the Narrows in one day. However, I wasn’t able to secure a last minute permit so I pivoted and instead came up the idea to run from the Museum of Human History to the Temple of Sinawava and take every “popular” trail along the way. In full disclosure, I was in pretty bad ass shape back in 2010 and was doing all kinds of insane challenges, but this was pretty ambitious, even by my standards. So to ensure I didn’t push myself too far, I set a time limit of 10-hours to see if I could pull it all off within that amount of time. With plenty of water available along the route, I was able to travel extremely light and nearly pulled it off; falling just short in the end, but loving every minute of the process.
April 28, 2010 | Zion National Park, UT
CHALLENGE MAP
CHALLENGE SPLITS
CHALLENGE INSIGHT
Zion Human History Museum: Over the years I have always used the museum parking lot as my basecamp for all my Zion adventures. It was easy to hop and off off the bus, and you could usually find a parking spot (at least you could pre-Pandemic).
Pa’rus Trail: Came out of the gates slowly and jogged my way down one of the only paved trails I’d have all day. Passed a family on bikes, but other than that I had the trail to myself up to the Canyon Rd bus stop. From there I had to hop on the road and hug the shoulder to avoid the passing buses.
Court of the Patriarchs: Blew through here pretty quickly and was stoked to drop off the road and onto the Sand Bench trail. Stayed on the south side of the Virgin River and made my way to the bridge over to Emerald Pools at a pretty good pace.
Bench Trail: This is the main trail that the horse tours take, so I was fully expecting to be run off by a heard of tourists in faux cowboy hats, but never saw a soul until I hit the corral just before crossing over the Virgin and on and up to Emerald Pools.
Lower Emerald Pools: Without a doubt, this was my least favorite section of trail. It was choked with slow moving gawkers and people walking 4-wide making it impossible to pass. Walked or all-out sprinted this section in a herky-jerky manner.
Kayenta Trail: Blew through this section with ease. Supper flowy terrain with great views of the Virgin. Short lived though as it quickly narrows near the bridge and collides with droves of Angels Landing hopefuls who just got off the bus. I made a quick detour to The Grotto to refill my bottle and let the crowds spreadout.
West Rim Trail: Only filled one water bottle so that I could stay light for the ascent. I actually hiked Angels Landing yesterday (as a warm-up) and was feeling good once I reached the first set of switchbacks. Able to stay in a jog all the way up to Walters Wiggles.
Angels Landing Trail: Walked the Wiggles and majority of the first section of Angels Landing. Lots of people making an attempt today. Was able to jog the top chain section. Tagged the rock and then waited for a large group to reach the top so I could safely run back down.
Walters Wiggles: Ran past a lot of very freaked out people on my way off the fin and hit Walters Wiggles at full sprint. Slowly cooled my pace on the way down as I knew Observation Point was on the horizon. Jogged that last stretch to The Grotto where I topped off both water bottles.
Grotto Trail: Never tried to connect these sections before and got turned around near the maintenance shed. Had to bushwack a bit and ended up following some animal trails that eventually dumped out onto the Zion Canyon Rd. Paced myself through this section in anticipation of what was ahead.
East Rim Trail: Started slow and speed walked all of the switchbacks on the way up East Rim. Saw a few hikers and a herd of Big Horn on the way up. Felt strong and was feeling good about my pace as I was still pacing under 7-hours by the time I reached the summit.
Observation Point: That last section of trail probably has the most exposure of any trail in the park and was stoked to not have to negotiate it with anyone. Saw one person at the summit and decided to take a long break since I was ahead of schedule.
East Rim Descent: Departed just short of the 7-hour mark. Not gonna lie, feeling a little tired. The long rest was needed, but probably not the best idea. Drank electrolytes and downed a few salt tablets. Felt better on the descent but wished I had brought my poles to help prevent all the knee banging.
Big Bend: Dragging ass and falling behind time, but could care less. This is one of my all-time favorite sections of trail in the park. To walk along the river in a cathedral of high sandstone cliffs is a dream come true. For some reason no one ever hikes this section of the park, which is great, because I always have it to myself. I dunked my head in the Virgin River, slowed my pace and celebrated another epic day in one of my favorite places on Earth.
Temple of Sinawava: I rolled into Temple just shy of 10-hours and bailed on the idea of hiking the final 2-miles (round-trip) out to the end just to say I hiked the Riverwalk Trail. At this point it seemed arbitrary to me and besides I wasn’t gonna finish in under 10-hours anyways. So, I hopped on the next empty bus, propped open the window in the backseat, sat with feet propped up on my well worn backpack and basked in the cool breeze as I was escorted back to my car.
Post Challenge: Living the good life, post river soak. This photo was taken the morning after completing Popular Punishment and is one of the few images I have from that day.
