Zion NP, Again (2025)

Orion above The Watchman on a Bright Moon Night

November 2-10, 2025

I arrived at Zion National Park on Sunday, November 1. It was a beautiful day. I went for a  bike ride up Zion Canyon that afternoon, but I kept it short, only doing one loop. It is about two miles from Watchman Campground to the entrance of the canyon road. From there, it is six miles to the end of the road. It stops when the canyon becomes too narrow. There is a walking trail from that point that goes another mile and ends at the beginning of “The Narrows.” The Narrows is where the canyon becomes so narrow that only the river can fit through it. Hundreds of people hike into the narrows daily, braving the rock-lined riverbed, mostly with special shoes, a thick wood hiking pole, and water-proof pants.

I took a few photos of Angel's Landing from the road. There is a trail that goes to the top of it. It's quite the interesting and challenging hike. I've posted about it before in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

I turned around at that six mile mark and rode back to the campground. I did not ride the next four days, despite the beautiful weather. I did some short walks into town, to the visitor center, and around the campground. A few friends had “encouraged” me to take it easy for several days, to take a break from my consistent cycling and hiking. Here is why.

On Saturday, October 18, I was camping at Hittle Bottom on Route 128 east of Moab. I woke to an unusual situation. Both my hamstrings felt extremely tight, especially on the high end of the legs. It was a sensation I had never felt before. I had not been doing any kind of activity that was different than my normal cycling and hiking. I did not think much of it, just tight muscles, and I continued my normal pattern of activities, going for rides and hikes, getting in my 10K steps a day minimum. But the hamstring tightness continued daily.

From Hittle, I went to Arches National Park for four days (October 19-22) and did some short rides and hikes. Other than the tight hamstrings in the morning when I woke, things seemed normal. I avoided rides with long or steep hills because over August and September I had learned I had some arthritis in my right hip. I had a cortisone shot on September 25 while in Danbury. The cortisone seemed to do the trick in relieving discomfort, but I was limiting my rides to shorter distances, fewer hills, and overall, less intensity. I could live with that.

From Arches I went to the Needles District in Canyonlands National Park. On Saturday, October 25 I was doing a nine mile hike, Big Spring Canyon to Wooden Shoe Canyon. At around the seven mile mark, I started to develop pain in both of my hips. It was an odd sensation. I attributed it to hiking on slickrock, where one is doing several miles of walking on uneven surfaces.

The next morning, I woke to tight hamstrings and sore hips, a very unusual situation. It persisted for the rest of my time at Needles. But, when I went for a bike ride, things felt fine. There was no unusual sensation, no pain, I could ride as I normally do, and there were a few hills in there that let me test that right arthritic hip. It felt fine. I was glad about that but concerned about the hamstrings and hips.

After four days at Needles, I drove to Hoodoo Valley State Park and stayed there two days (October 27-28). I did a short hike and a couple of twenty mile bike rides. There was no issue doing these activities. I had tight hamstrings and sore hips when waking in the morning, and it was also starting to be present after periods of sitting. When I stood up I could feel some discomfort. If I walked around for a short time, the discomfort disappeared.

I believed there was something metabolically wrong. I contacted my doctors in Danbury October 29 about the hamstrings and hips. I asked should I see an orthopedic and also have someone to do a tick test. I spend so much time outdoors that it was feasible I had a tick bite, not known it, and it was now causing muscle and joint pain. They responded on Oct 31 and said to see an orthopedic, nothing about a tick test.

In the places I was visiting, there were no orthopedics, and I was not in pain such that it felt critical to see one. I went to Capitol Reef National Park on October 29-31. My symptoms continued. I also began to feel discomfort in both forearms and in my ribcage when taking deep breaths, sneezing, or turning in bed. But while hiking and riding, no problems. I had a couple great rides at the park.

On Saturday, November 1, I went to a clinic in St. George, Utah. I saw a PA there and told him my main symptoms, hamstrings and hips pain, as well as the beginning of discomfort in forearms and chest. I also told him I was concerned about a possible tick bite. He told me he did not have any idea what was happening, but that I probably did not have a tick bite, as I had no evidence of one. He suggested I see an orthopedic. It was a Saturday, and it was unlikely I would find an orthopedic practice open until Monday, so I went to my next destination, Zion National Park. I might return to St. George on Monday.

I wear a Garmin fitness watch. It monitors heart rate and activities such a cycling and walking (number of steps) and sleep. It also has a few proprietary formulas it uses to determine one’s VO2 max, resting heart rate (RHR), stress level, and something they call “body battery,” which is a measure of one’s energy level and its changes over the course of the 24-hour day. I won’t go into detail here, but my resting heart rate had started to increase, from a typical average of 49-50 for the past year to a reading of 56-58. And all of these other measurements have gone in the wrong direction: lower VO2 max, higher stress level, and lower body battery.

At Zion, there were two traveling nurses camping adjacent to me. They suggested my symptoms sounded like dehydration and lack of electrolytes. The next several days I made sure I drank more fluids and I took some multivitamins with minerals (electrolytes.) it seemed to make a difference, too. My symptoms improved some. But by Thursday, they reverted to previous levels.

I had taken Mon-Thu off from riding and hiking. On Friday I rode, and it felt really good. I rode on Saturday and Sunday, too. It was an odd thing. I had discomfort or pain while not riding and things seemed fine while riding. Here are some photos of climbers on a canyon wall. As I approached, I heard them yelling to each other before I could see them.

Whatever the case, I decided to cut my stay in Zion short. I decided to go somewhere where there was abundant medical facilities and have this figured out. I thought it might take some time, as long as a month for blood work and appointments.

Places I considered included St. George, Las Vegas, Oro Valley (near Tucson), Boulder, Denver, or come back to Danbury. I opted for Denver because my friend Corinne was a nurse there and would have some contacts. And she said I could stay at their place for a little while, too. (I had stayed there for one night when I passed through Denver the week of October 12.) I planned to leave Zion Monday morning for Denver, arriving Tuesday afternoon. I was saddened to cut short my stay in Zion.

Sunday I emailed (patient portal) my doctors again in Danbury. I asked them if they could order a complete blood count (CBC), a comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP), and a tick-borne disease panel. I could then go to a Quest lab and have some tests done. We could compare the results to bloodwork I had done in September. It could be a start to finding the problem. They responded in a timely manner, Monday morning, before I left Zion, saying no, telling me to find a clinician who could evaluate me and order tests as needed. I’ll write more about that in the next post …