Yes, yet another catch-up post!
In our many travels this winter, we have visited numerous National Parks including, of course, the Grand Canyon. Zion may actually be Dave's favourite. An avid amateur geologist, he found much to pique his interest at Zion. As with the Grand Canyon, we found that the early bird gets a seat on the trolley buses and avoids the crowds.
 |
| Western entrance to Zion, early one morning |
 |
| Sunrise reflections on the way into the park |
We spent two full days exploring this geological wonder and I found photographic opportunities literally at every bend in the very windy roads!
From the very first minute one drives into the park's several miles of roads, one's breath is taken away by the amazing scenery...and perhaps a little by the altitude (5700')!
 |
| Eastern entrance to Zion |
 |
| Checkerboard Mesa 6670', nicely outlined with a little fresh snow |
|
|
 |
| Checkerboard Mesa two days later |
From their website, https://www.nps.gov/zion/index.htm, Zion was Utah's first National Park.
"Most of the rocks in Zion National Park are sedimentary rocks –made of
bits and pieces of older rocks that have been weathered, eroded, and
deposited in layers. These rock layers hold stories of ancient
environments and inhabitants very different from those found in Zion
today. In this distant past, Zion and the Colorado Plateau were near sea
level, and were even in a different place on the globe—close to the
equator. The rock layers found in Zion today were deposited between
approximately 110 –270 million years ago –only in recent geologic time
have they been uplifted and eroded to form the scenery of Zion National
Park."
There are several roads through the park. One has a mile-long tunnel, for which we needed a special permit because of our vehicle's width. This permit alerts Park staff to stop oncoming traffic and we are then instructed to proceed along the middle of the tunnel.
 |
| A mile-long tunnel has several large "windows" for ventilation |
|
Needless to say, Zion is a hiker's and climber's paradise! There are dozens of trails of all difficulty levels. We started our morning riding the shuttle bus to the end of the line, and then hiking the riverside walk. This trail ends at a famous spot called "The Narrows" which is for serious hikers with special equipment. The reason is that there is no actual trail. One hikes through the river....so there are several outfitters in the nearby town who will rent you waterproof waders and shoes for the modest sum of about $100.00/day. No...we didn't do that!
 |
| This is where "The Narrows" begin! |
 |
| Riverside walk |
 |
| Scruffy deer having breakfast along the Riverside walk |
 |
| Someone else caught snacking on the trail |
 |
| The "Grotto" |
 |
| Weeping Rock |
|
 |
| A rock formation known as a "hoodoo", what Bryce Canyon National Park is well known to have. Only a few at Zion. | | |
|
Some adventurous climbers on a rock face. For perspective, look for the tiny dots in the middle of the photo on the left!
There are numerous lovely spots along the Virgin river...More photo ops!
Add some cascading waterfalls to the already perfect mix!
 |
| "Court of the Patriarchs", Abraham, Isaac and Jacob peaks |
 |
| Crawford Arch | |
|
And, for scale, a vintage photo
As we leave, Zion is beautiful, even through the windshield!
Love Zion ... and visited many times in the 1980s ... well before the need to install the shuttle system. One of our favorite visits was around Christmas when we saw Weeping Rock with hundreds of icicles of varying sizes ... just beautiful. All those visits were before we were much into hiking, so hope to return someday to check out some of the trails.
ReplyDelete