In the morning we drove to the east side of the park for a hike and some photo ops but dark clouds came over this part of the park so we decided to try again tomorrow. Instead we went west and spent the afternoon driving up Kolob Terrace Road going in and out of the park climbing in elevation to 7,000 feet plus. Unplowed snow kept us from going to the end of the road. Beautiful ice cycles glistening in the sun were hanging from the red rocks. Again and again beautiful views were surrounding us. An incredible long ridge of red rock cliffs were the topper. We took a short walk and had a picnic lunch in the car but we weren’t dressed for the 39 degrees temperature. We headed back down for nice warm temperatures in the valley.
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| Caterpillars Dance - Too bad Zoe wasn't here to capture it on video. |
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| What a Spot for a Bar-B-Q |
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| Pork Chop Dinner Right Off the Grill - Eating in the wild is tough! |
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| Ice Cycles |
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| Beautiful Wildflowers Next to the Snow |
We drove to the east side of the park again and this time the sun was shining. Christy and I took the Canyon Overlook Hike just east of the tunnel up to the magnificent lookout standing on the edge of a 2,000 foot drop to the valley below. Looking out in every direction were cliffs in every shade of rust from pale almost white to deep deep rusty red. It was quite a site! The hike was a fun one as we clambered over rocks. At times we were hugging the cliff side as we carefully walked along. Railings were few and far between. We walked under an overhang with water dripping from the ceiling. We remembered hearing that it can take 1,000 years for rain falling on the surfaces at the top to percolate through the pouris sandstone down to the and find its way to the surface far below.
Farther down the road is Checkerboard Mesa. These amazing formations of naturally sculpted rock have horizontal lines that are the remnants of ancient sand beds. Crossing these are vertical lines that are fractures have been enlarged over the years by runoff from rain and melting snow. It makes an interesting checkerboard pattern on tall broad cone shaped rocks. We stopped at various places and had fun walking up the sides of the sandstone rock formations. While Zion canyon is gorgeous with its tall red cliffs and peaks, the east side has its own beauty with interesting rock formations rising up in all directions.
We took the shuttle to the end of the canyon in the afternoon to the Temple of the Sinawava and the Riverside Walk. Sinawava is a Paiute word for area of the good gods. Standing at the shuttle stop I was surrounded by tall cliffs feeling very small. A nice paved trail took us deeper into the narrow canyon with the Virgin River rushing by, water flowing over a 2,000 foot high cliff, and the sun shinning through the new spring green leaves. When the water level is lower and river nice and calm, you can walk even further up the canyon through the river on the Narrows hike. Pictures look beautiful but it isn‘t an option now as the water is flowing at 500 + feet per second. Wild flowers and ferns are just beginning to appear along the moist cliff sides. These small hanging gardens are the result of water flowing for up to 4,000 years through the sandstone to the Kayenta layer below. At this point it seeps out to form a nice wet habitat. Columbine was not yet blooming but we did see the pretty purple shooting star and delicate ferns hanging on the edges. We ended our lovely walk with an ice cream at Zion Lodge. We might have spotted California Condors but most likely turkey vultures swooping along the cliffs and sitting high up on a ledge. Nice way to end another day in paradise.
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| Canyon Overlook Trail |
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| Standing on the Top of the World |
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| Standing Over the Edge on the Overlook Trail |
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| Checkerboard Mesa |
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| Walking on the Rocks on the East Side of Zion |
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| Riverwalk Trail - Water pouring down the cliff. |
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| Riverwalk Trail |
May 2
Reply from My cousin Tom on the caterpillar;
So the intrepid adventure/wanderer began to experiment in the fascinating world of possibilities related to fried, sautéed, boiled, toasted, roasted, mashed, ground, pureed, and smoked caterpillars. The ones she missed did turn into beautiful butterfly's, burp!
A 2 hour bus tour is offered by the park every morning. We signed up ahead and this morning hopped aboard with Ranger Bryan. We drove up Zion Canyon with Bryan giving us interesting information and entertaining us all the way. Much of the geology I was aware of but I didn’t know what the “grand Staircase” referred to. The top layer of strata of the Grand Canyon is the bottom layer of Zion and the top layer of Zion is the bottom layer of Bryce making the staircase as you go north. This canyon is made primarily of sandstone from the largest sand dunes in the history of the world. Layer upon layer was compressed from the pressure from above. Water did the rest of the work with the Virgin River carving these amazing 2,000 ft. Navajo sandstone walls. The lower levels of the canyon were once a sea forming and receding again and again. 2 million years later we can enjoy this amazing place. The humans that are tracking through these parks by the millions each year seem to have a reverence for the environment and are being good stewards of the land. We have not seen liter anywhere in these lovely places and people are staying on the trails with the help of reminder signs. We continually hear foreign languages all around us. What a fabulous way for Americans to share their country.
We went into Springdale for lunch and found Oscar’s, a terrific place to eat outside. We all had the special of the day - Ribs. We stopped at the market for some bottled water to find that it is $12.00 for a 24 pack. They certainly seem to be discouraging plastic throw away bottles!
Chris and I took the shuttle back up the canyon to the short Weeping Wall trail. It was a good example of rain water filtering through the sandstone and weeping down the face of the rock forming small hanging gardens. It was pretty but will be beautiful in a couple of weeks with more wildflowers. We went up the canyon a little further to the condor sighting area for one more try and saw the pair soaring! We had learned from Bryan that when the condors soar, their wings are laid out flat while the turkey vulture’s wings are in a “V” Shape. Of course they are twice the size with a wing span up to 9 feet. Turkey vultures were soaring with them and looked small in comparison. It was a treat to see them before we left. They are making a good comeback after being reintroduced to this area. This ends our trip to Zion. We are heading to St. George for three nights and planning to do some city things like see a movie or two. A little change of pace can be nice.
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| Angel's Landing - We could see people hiking along the saddle in the middle to reach the top of Angel's Landing. This is in the area where we saw the condors soaring. |
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| The Throan and Organ Point - John Powell, a Methodist Minister and the Mormans are responsible for naming most of these formations. It is obvious by the names how awe struck they were. |
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