What a difference a day makes! We had a low of 18C last night. At 7:45 A.M. it is still dark down in the canyon.
Another view of our backyard. It is amazing to get up in the morning to this scene. There are rare places on earth that neither words, nor pictures can capture. When you enter Zion you experience a feeling that won't quite fit inside your camera. However, I'll try to show some of the beauty of this country.
We hopped on the shuttle & went into the park, stopping at the "Court of the Patriarchs", which are 3 towering figures of the Old Testament.In 1916, a Methodist minister gave the religious names, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to the peaks.
The next stop was Zion Lodge, which is the trailhead for the Emerald Pools trail.We took the 0.6 mile 'Lower Pools' trail which led us to a beautiful oasis with panoramic views up & down the canyon. Year round seeps & springs continually recharge the pools.
We continued on around the 'Kayenta' trail, which was another 1.8 miles up, down, around and through, ending at The Grotto shuttle stop.
Got on the shuttle to the next stop, the Weeping Rocks. This involved a short but steep 1/2 mile trail. Wonderful scenery. The trail ends at an alcove with dripping springs and hanging gardens..
Then we decided to take the "Hidden Canyon" trail, which we were told was well worth it. Thought it was a 1 mile trail which ascends 850 feet, but after climbing for 1/2 hour, we were told that we weren't halfway. Turned back as we were going to drive Hwy 9 throug the tunnel this afternoon. Beautiful blue skies are all around us.
We had lunch at the Zion Canyon Lodge (overpriced, of course!) then stopped at the Human History Museum to watch the 22 minute movie about the park. Shuttled back to the campground, picked up the car to drive the Zion - Mount Carmel Highway and go through the 1.1 mile tunnel (which is an engineering marvel).
The highway consists of several switchbacks. Sorry, the pic of the GPS screen isn't as good as I hoped. It was a pretty curvy highway!
After driving through the tunnel and continuing on the highway, we turned around and came back to the parking lot by the tunnel.
There is a 2 mile Canyon Overlook trail which was a rocky and uneven trail ending at an awesome viewpoint of Pine Creek Canyon & lower Zion Canyon. This shows part of the road that we drove......
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