Pic: To be fair, it probably would have been full by the time I got here anyway. Lava Point CG, Zion NP, UT
My longer-than-planned stay in the relative luxury of Las Vegas had me rolling into the US’s 5th most popular national park on a Friday evening — not exactly Plan A. My research surfaced a couple camping possibilities away from the likely-busy Kolob Canyons and the 100%-certain-to-be-mobbed main canyon. After a gigantic carnitas burrito in St. George, I took a poorly-marked left off of UT-9 and headed for the narrow connective tissue between Zion’s hemispheres.
A quick detour down some well-maintained hardpack led me to the inexplicably closed Lava Point Campground. I expressed my feelings about this discovery in the picture above and pressed on to Kolob Reservoir. I crept around the good but worsening road that meandered along the shore, looking for a viable spot to set up camp. If I couldn’t find something up here, I’d have to backtrack to the highway and find space in an overcrowded commercial campsite or overpriced motel.
After a couple of mildly technical sections, I arrived at a non-trivial pool covering the breadth of the road. Campsite-less and perhaps a bit carelessly, I studied the obstacle, lined up, and plunged ahead. The water was deeper and the bottom muddier than I anticipated, but with a little luck, a little skill[1], and that legendary Subaru All-Wheel Drive[2], Isa made it through without a problem (as long as you don’t consider wheel wells filled with mud to be a problem).
[1] The “skill” here is keeping even pressure on the gas, making small adjustments, and keeping the front end in front of the back end. Put another way: jus’ keep goin’.
[2] Subaru, give me free stuff!
The surprise mud pit turned out to be a blessing. Combined with an aspen that had fallen across the road further south, it shielded a pair of campsites from the RVers, kayakers, and anglers who were up here getting an early start on the weekend.
And rightfully so. As a Southern California boy, when I hear “reservoir” I imagine a concrete-banked expanse of brownish-green water bounded by an asphalt multi-use path. Kolob Reservoir was… not like that:
Pic: Still a little snow hiding out under the ridges, above 9000′. Kolob Reservoir, UT
I set up camp, then watched in awe as an osprey circled, stalled into a vertical dive, plucked a fish out of the water, and flew away on a half-dozen beats of its enormous wings.
Later, I heard another vehicle braving the sippy hole. A Jeep emerged and occupied the other protected site. I chatted with the pilot, a twentysomething fisherman I’d seen trying his luck earlier, while he chopped firewood. I learned that his name was Derek, he lived in St. George, loved the Zion area, and was a “conservative libertarian”. I introduced myself as a “socialist hippie”. We got along famously. He shared his fire and knowledge about the area. I gave him some bread when he realized he’d forgotten to bring buns to go with his campfire-roasted brats. We discussed his observation that Nevada was perhaps the most libertarian of the fifty states, yet almost all of its land is owned by the Federal government. As I bid him good evening and headed for bed, he produced a guitar and sang Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” in a tenor that was surprisingly sweet for a libertarian.
Overall, a pretty good start to an exploration of Utah’s crown jewel.
Danger Beyond This Point 
