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| Friday, Sept 27 |
This is just the road in! These three photos show the views around this park and ride stop along the way.
Zion now provides a wonderful free shuttle system, which alleviates the traffic of millions of cars maneuvering the winding and narrowing roads into the canyon. We enter here from the west, having taken the motor home to this side, and avoiding the tunnel entrance from the east.
First shuttle stop after the visitor center, we were the only people to get off! Maybe too pansy for the real hikers, it none the less provided a center where we watched an introductory video...we do like those....., a few exhibits about the ancients and the Mormon settlers, and a very interesting ranger talk about John Wesley Powell's exploration to the area. And this magnificent view! A man accompanying Wesley on his second journey was an artist, who painted these cliffs and displayed the paintings at the 1904 World's Fair, where they were met with doubt as to their reality! Those viewing his work claimed he must have embellished them, as the views and colors could not possibly be real.
These cliffs were named The Three Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by the Mormons. One man remarked that this was as great a place to worship as any man made temple.
This is the view from the Lodge, where we stopped and had lunch.
Our first real hike of the day, which we set out on after having been told by a couple of gals coming down that it was not difficult after this initial ascent, and was really beautiful. I was so glad we met them, even though Clem stopped after a bit, and I ventured on alone for a while.
I met another group at about this point and asked how far they had gone, to which they said all the way to the pools. Well, I said, my husband is waiting back a ways, so I better turn around. The woman remarked, aren't they always an anchor? Well, her husband didn't especially like that remark, and wondered how he might identify my husband when he met him, to which I said he would be the man leaning against the rocks. When I met up with Clem upon my return, he said he had been told that they met his wife, who had wonderful things to say about him! "What was that all about" he wanted to know!
The two little dots are deer! This was one of the most beautiful trails I have ever been on. I do wish Clem was more of a hiker, as I often yearn do more, especially when I see folks with their poles and backpacks. But I have to be happy to do as much as we do, knowing that some just drive through and never get out of their cars! We were told someone did Bryce and Zion in one day! Being 70 miles distance from one another, not to mention the distance of the roads through, how much could they possibly have seen?
Weeping Rock provided a nice walk, though fairly steep, and not only a gorgeous view, but amazement at the fact that this water dripping is most likely thousands of years old, as it makes its way down through and then vertically out of the sandstone! Standing there and admiring it for some time, I was suddenly left with the impression that it was raining! Though we did get fairly wet going under the ledge, we of course emerged on that sunny warm day on the other side.
This stop seemed fairly quiet, with no major sights or hikes, and Clem wanted to skip it, but I saw the sun dropping over the edge of Angels Rest and wanted the shot, so we got off. It proved a good stop for another reason , as we saw folks gaping up at two rock climbers ascending the ledge opposite this.
You have to look closely.......I was carrying only my wide angle lens this day, but you can see them. A woman had been standing and watching them for just over an hour. Clem wondered being 3pm, when they were going to get down!
Final hike of the day took us to The Narrows and the Riverside Walk, where the canyon becomes more and more narrow, until it reaches a point where there is not even room for a sidewalk.
At this point, your only option is to hike further in through the water, where it is advised to only go if you have proper equipment. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way, and stopped here for a snack and a rest. A woman came out barefooted, and assured us she had not gone very far, as it was very cold! She was German, and quite tickled with her adventure!
We saw no less than 6 of these mule deer during our adventure! And lots of bold fat squirrels, who no doubt were fed by those who could not read the signs not to!!
We returned to the car and took the drive to the east entrance, stopping along the way for this shot of the hole in the wall that is actually a light and air shaft for the 1 1/2 mile tunnel you have to go through to get to the Canyon. Considered impassable until the tunnel was dug, it still remains challenging, being only 13 feet high in the middle, for motorhomes and large vehicles, which must pay a fee and be escorted, one at a time, through this route while all other traffic waits. We chose not to do it!
A shot of the road on the nav system. Those were some hairy turns!
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| Emerging from the long, VERY dark tunnel, this landscape shows the shift in the sands 200 million years ago before this was ever a canyon. It is amazing to think how this was all created, and what the earth might be like in another million years or so! |
This second, much shorter tunnel also shows some gorgeous rock, and what the tunnels looked like approaching, as I missed the first one in my awe!
This park is absolutely stunning in its color and magnitude, with rocks and cliffs all around. We spent an entire day in it, not going in and out as in other places we have been that, while in no way less beautiful, were less constant. We are always asked what was our favorite thing, and I ponder myself now what might be my favorite park. This one rates way up there!
