10/04/2010 to 10/07/2010
We've done Bryce, so naturally we had to do Zion. This is a really lovely, narrow valley with beautiful red rocks which are probably magnificent in the sunshine. However, we didn't have sunshine.
Lucky us we got to see Zion in the rain. Lots of rain for days and days. All the park personnel kept saying "it never rains for 4 days in a row!" and other such laments. But we made the best of it and still had fun.
If I had to rate Zion on hiking it would be on the lower end.
I can not remember ever being in a national park where so many of the trails are paved and dozens of buses disgorge hosts of tourists for a 3 hour visit before they are reloaded to move on to another destination. Very odd.
- Mt Carmel Highway & Lodging
- Emerald Pool Hike
- Zion Scenic Drive
- Leaving Zion on Mt. Carmel Hwy
- Coral Pink Sand Dunes
- Horseshoe Bend - Page
- Dinosaur Tracks
Driving into Zion was rather fun. We were met part way by a nice heard of mountain sheep.
They were just walking along and across the highway, grazing a little, then meandering on some more.
We took a lot of pictures, but after a while we had to shoo them aside so we could get to the lodge and check in.
4 legged road block
Not quite single file, but for sheep, pretty good
No, it's not a funny camera angle. They're really perched on that incline
Yes, she's a cutie
More meandering
They obviously are used to people getting out of vehicles and taking pictures
This guy was quite the poser. And, yes, that's rain
Do you think he knows he looks good?
Butt shots
Mt. Carmel has a couple tunnels through the mountains. This was a long one
A shot of the lodge front yard. Everything was under construction so a lot of trenches and
As National Park lodges go this was not one of the more dramatic, but it is nicely nestled
Our cabin, and more orange
Twilight settled quickly and the glow from the window was too good to resist
Since we really didn't think going up to Angel's Landing in a downpour with strong winds and potential lightening was a great idea, we opted for The Emerald Pools Hike.
It does not go nearly as high as Angel's, but it does offer some very nice scenery and a decent workout.
Starting out on the Emerald Pools Trail
Looking down on the Virgin River
It's good to know where you're going
A long range shot of the upper and lower falls.
Yes, the one on top is the upper, and the one below is the lower
Closing in on the upper fall
At the base of the upper fall. Yes, it's wet
Moving on to the lower falls, but first you've got to take a picture
Shooting across the valley to the lower falls
OK, wet rocks are slippery but I guess some folks need to be told that
Looking over the top of the lower falls
One of those slippery rock crossings that sign was warning about
The red is just amazing, even when it's all wet
You can see the Great White Throne from the trail
Back to the Virgin River and the bridge
The weather has not improved. In fact, it has gotten worse.
Hanging around the cabin all day made no sense so we decided we would ride the bus to the end of the route and back to the lodge stopping along the way to see what we could.
Unfortunately with all the rain not too many places were good photographic opportunities but The Weeping Wall was fairly protected so some of those shots came out OK.
Looking down the road from the Big Bend parking lot
The Hanging Gardens along the Weeping Wall Trail
The water seeps all along the rock face and plants take advantage of it
Looking back under the overhang from the end of the trail
A shot of The Great White Throne - from the bus since it's pouring rain
After our short, wet bus ride down the road through the park we headed out, back along Mt. Carmel Highway.
We were lucky - more mountain sheep. These were not along the road but scampering and grazing up on the rocks.
As usual, the number of shots you take is only limited by the amount of memory in your camera and I thought we would max that out.
However, I am kind and will only bore you with a few dozen more sheep shots.
Even though the weather was not great the rocks are amazing
This is what it looks like when you get sunshine
I loved this big, white formation. It looked great in our 10 minutes of sunshine
One of the tunnels we came through
The red swirled rocks are a great contrast to the white
A future arch in the making
We, along with a few dozen other idiots, just could not get enough pictures of these great
Look closely and you can see two sheep, one scampering along that great red rock
I think these are two males posing among the rocks
The balance and dexterity are amazing to watch
Another shot of those beautiful red rocks and a great mountain sheep in the lower right han
There's the guy of the moment
He was not camera shy
This is Checkerboard Rock
The road goes ever on and on...
On so many of our trips we have passed by the sign pointing to Coral Pink Sand Dunes, but this time we decided we should actually see some pink dunes, so we took the turnoff and drove down the road.
Probably on a nice, bright sunny day they dunes are pink, but in the drizzling overcast they are more orange than pink. Regardless of color, they are very pretty. We enjoyed strolling along the dunes and watching the wind blow particles around the sparse vegetation.
I think we'll probably drop by again when it's better weather and see if the colors change.
The contrast of "pink" sand to the other formations is quite stark
There is a nice sign that explains how the dunes formed and why they are the way they are
Yes, it is quite windy
The farthest point, at least for today
See, sunshine
I'm not sure if the vegetation grew from the dune or has just covered up a large bush
After spending the night in Page we hit the road. The route home takes us right by Horseshoe Bend, another one of those places we have driven by numerous times but never visited until now.
We thought we'd do a quick stop, take a few pictures and be on our way. WRONG! We stayed for close to 2 hours walking along the rim, taking pictures and just enjoying the view.
The promise of a little walk and a short stay
Rocks, rocks and layered rocks.
Yup, that's me in the shot for scale. The area is quite large
This is what we are all standing on cliff ledges to get a picture of
Magnificent views from the top of the cliffs
George - out on a ledge again
I stay a little further back from the edge while taking pictures than some folks I know
More great formations
Swirled pattern
There are lots of places to climb up on to get just the right shot
These must be bright red in the right light
I think these were my favorite formations
Cruising along again, we took a little detour to see dinosaur tracks.
There's a nicely preserved area near the village of Moen-avi on the Navajo Reservation on Highway 160 west of Tuba City. These tracks formed in the early Jurassic period so it's pretty amazing that you can still see them after 200 million years.
Taking tourists around to see the various tracks has become quite an industry for the Navajo who live near-by and when you park you will be confronted by some number of locals (it depends on the day and time) who will offer to be your guide.
(OK, sudden flash-back to the Bahamas, hustlers, scams and drugs).
Back to reality - we had a very nice young man named Orlando who was polite, personable and fairly knowledgeable. It's possible some "guides" are problematic but ours was a delightful young man who took his self-appointed job quite seriously.
There's at least one skeleton out on the flats
