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| Checkerboard Mesa (petrified sand dune) |
We drove to Zion National Park yesterday - this is a park I wanted to visit 26 years ago when Dave and I and Dennis and Jill drove across country visiting as many places as possible. Just couldn't get to them all. Zion is a name chosen by the first Euro-American settlers - the Mormons - who thus named it after the Biblical Hebrew word - Zion - meaning place of refuge or sanctuary. Lots of sights are Biblical named - the alter and pulpit, the three patriarchs (Isaac, Abraham, and Jacob), Angels landing, etc. We entered the park from the East Entrance - glad we did - east side versus the west entrance - totally different. And, we had to go through a 1.1 mile long tunnel to get to the main part of the park. What spectacular views we saw! And - this is all sandstone. The first 'wow' came even before getting through the tunnel into the main canyon. We stopped and viewed Checkerboard Mesa which is a sand dune only solidified. Then the tunnel drive thru, then big WOW on the other side. Switch back road to get down into the canyon, very scary - how do buses and RV's do this? then the drive to the visitors center to decide what to do. We viewed a movie on how the canyon was formed and the early inhabitants, then got on the shuttle bus (no cars allowed into the main park unless you are staying at the lodge). We opted to ride the 40 minutes to the end of the canyon and hike to the Narrows. This hike was a mile long, easy and paved, along the Virgin River, to the point where the canyon narrows down and to continue - you have to walk through the river to the end. Dave and I weren't into getting wet, so we stopped there, took lots of pictures, ate snacks, rested, and started back. Many people continue on this river wet trail, and you have to be aware of flash floods - the narrow canyon can fill in seconds! There were so many trails to choose from - one sounded appealing - the weeping rock trail which shows ivy and plants and ferns growing out of the sandstone monoliths and water seeping out with waterfalls. It was just too warm of a day to do 2 hikes - so we had chosen the cooler. Very warm day - when we got back to the car at 3pm, was 111. Good thing we are used to very warm weather - this day would have been really unbearable. But we are glad we went to Zion National Park it is just as majestic as they write about and our pictures won't do it justice, was on our list of things to do, but we realize that if we went to Bryce Canyon NP, then to Arches and Canyonlands NPs and also to Capitol Reef NP - we will be red-rocked sandstone out. So on our return trip from Montana this early fall we will visit Arches, Canyonlands an Capitol Reef. All these parks with the addition of the Grand Canyon are part of the Colorado Plateau - which now makes sense why all the red rock and formations. Today we are headed to Pipe Spring National Monument - more of a historical park about the early settlers around the Grand Canyon and Zion/Bryce National Parks.
We drove to Zion National Park yesterday - this is a park I wanted to visit 26 years ago when Dave and I and Dennis and Jill drove across country visiting as many places as possible. Just couldn't get to them all. Zion is a name chosen by the first Euro-American settlers - the Mormons - who thus named it after the Biblical Hebrew word - Zion - meaning place of refuge or sanctuary. Lots of sights are Biblical named - the alter and pulpit, the three patriarchs (Isaac, Abraham, and Jacob), Angels landing, etc. We entered the park from the East Entrance - glad we did - east side versus the west entrance - totally different. And, we had to go through a 1.1 mile long tunnel to get to the main part of the park. What spectacular views we saw! And - this is all sandstone. The first 'wow' came even before getting through the tunnel into the main canyon. We stopped and viewed Checkerboard Mesa which is a sand dune only solidified. Then the tunnel drive thru, then big WOW on the other side. Switch back road to get down into the canyon, very scary - how do buses and RV's do this? then the drive to the visitors center to decide what to do. We viewed a movie on how the canyon was formed and the early inhabitants, then got on the shuttle bus (no cars allowed into the main park unless you are staying at the lodge). We opted to ride the 40 minutes to the end of the canyon and hike to the Narrows. This hike was a mile long, easy and paved, along the Virgin River, to the point where the canyon narrows down and to continue - you have to walk through the river to the end. Dave and I weren't into getting wet, so we stopped there, took lots of pictures, ate snacks, rested, and started back. Many people continue on this river wet trail, and you have to be aware of flash floods - the narrow canyon can fill in seconds! There were so many trails to choose from - one sounded appealing - the weeping rock trail which shows ivy and plants and ferns growing out of the sandstone monoliths and water seeping out with waterfalls. It was just too warm of a day to do 2 hikes - so we had chosen the cooler. Very warm day - when we got back to the car at 3pm, was 111. Good thing we are used to very warm weather - this day would have been really unbearable. But we are glad we went to Zion National Park it is just as majestic as they write about and our pictures won't do it justice, was on our list of things to do, but we realize that if we went to Bryce Canyon NP, then to Arches and Canyonlands NPs and also to Capitol Reef NP - we will be red-rocked sandstone out. So on our return trip from Montana this early fall we will visit Arches, Canyonlands an Capitol Reef. All these parks with the addition of the Grand Canyon are part of the Colorado Plateau - which now makes sense why all the red rock and formations. Today we are headed to Pipe Spring National Monument - more of a historical park about the early settlers around the Grand Canyon and Zion/Bryce National Parks.
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