Zion National Park

Getting to Zion first thing in the morning was a good decision, I think. It certainly seems to me to be the best time of the day (just in general, for pretty much everything), with both deep shadows and warm sunlight. Everything seems fresh. The feeling is like Spring, irrespective of the actual season.

This will be an easy post for me. I took lots more pictures here than in the other parks, so there are more to choose from. The road from the eastern park entrance to the visitors center near the western entrance is relatively short. That the images appeared one after another, around each bend, means I can't pinpoint most of them on the map, just that they were in one section of the route or another. So, for the most part, I'm going to let the images speak for themselves and provide limited commentary. . . perhaps. . . we'll see if I'm capable of that.

I was so surprised to see these Bighorn Sheep on the hillside after days with so little wildlife in evidence. I'd pulled off to take the picture, and only saw the sheep when I put my eye to the viewfinder. About half an hour later it happened again. I pulled off to take a few shots but, when I looked to see if it was safe to open my door (always mindful of traffic), I saw another bighorn directly across the road, 25 feet away. I put the window down and struggled with my camera, trying to make the best of the opportunity. The term "buck fever" comes to mind. Some of the pics are included in today's Flickr album. We can only hope I get better with practice.

The drive in from the east was beautiful, wonderfully quiet, the traffic very light, the temperature cool. From the park boundary to the long tunnel is six miles (there's a short tunnel a mile or so before the long one), and it's my favorite part of the park.  A mile into the park, the road (Utah 9) joins Pine Creek, a small tributary of the Virgin River, just before Checkerboard Mesa, and they follow each other to the tunnel entrance.

The tunnel seems really long; it is in fact 1.3 miles but seems longer perhaps because of the slow speed. I think there were two wide "windows" for ventilation but, even at slow speed, those views were just glimpses.

The first five pictures (above) were taken east of the long tunnel. The third section (next two images) is a series of six switchbacks or reversals in direction to lose 800 feet between the tunnel and the floor of the valley at the mouth of Pine Creek. On my first visit to Zion in 2008 I remember the great view from a pull-off immediately east of the tunnel, but I didn't see it this trip for whatever reason (traffic?, road repair?). What I did see that surprised me were blooming prickly pear on several of the hairpin turns. I filed that for future reference and managed to stop for pictures at a couple of the sites on my way back out of the park.

The fourth section of the drive was from the mouth of Pine Creek, along the Virgin River to Zion's west entrance, where the visitors center is (last image). There's a fifth section that's not included here: Zion Canyon itself. The Floor of the Canyon Road follows the Virgin River up the canyon for 6.2 miles and, judging from Google Maps, it's fantastic. Until a few moments ago, I would have said I remember driving upstream in 2008, and I fully expected to do so this trip.

However, (1) I found access up the road limited to park buses (which I didn't use in 2008), (2) all of the pictures I still have from 2008 (remember, I lost a lot to hard drive crashes) may well have been taken from Utah 9 as far as I can tell, and (3) in 2008 I visited enroute to California and the drive on the day I visited Zion was from Page AZ to Baker CA - I may not have had time to drive upstream like I thought I had. At this point, I'm willing to stipulate that, although Zion is my favorite National Park, I may have only seen a small part of it. That boggles my mind.

Trying to determine whether or not I went up Floor of the Valley Road, I studied the topographic map of the canyon and was thoroughly impressed. Google Maps apparently sent hikers into the canyon with the backpack version of their Street View camera. The few pictures I looked at on Street View confirm my impression that the canyon is a "target rich environment" for a photographer. I suspect that the park buses are operated like shuttle buses and you can get on and off as you wish on the drive up and back. If I was able to walk for any extended length of time, I'd already be planning my trip back. As it is, I've probably seen all I'm likely to see of Zion in person. That won't keep me from Zion image searches online. And I'll sing (metaphorically speaking) Zion's praises evermore. If you get the opportunity, don't pass it up.

My Zion Album on Flickr, with a lot more pictures, is HERE.