Zion National Park

Zion National Park is different from the other Utah national parks (and Grand Canyon National Park) in that most of its tourist areas are on the floor of a great canyon, with majestic sandstone walls and peaks rising above them.  Maybe that's why it remains our favorite national park.  In fact, our campground, the Zion Canyon RV Park, just outside the national park, has probably the most awesome setting of any campground we've ever stayed in.

Even at this time of year - after school was in but before winter weather got established - the park was very crowded, and wait times for shuttle buses - which were the only way to explore the park - were long (partly because the yearly highway maintenance was underway).  This photo is taken from the area of the Court of the Patriarchs and shows the kind of scenery that lines the roads.

At the last shuttle stop we got out and hiked the Riverside Trail, which took us alongside the Virgin River.  At the start of the trail was a sign giving an estimate of the danger that day of flash flooding, which can potentially pose a danger to hikers.  I found it interesting that the danger indicator had a padlock on the bottom, to prevent jokers from moving it.

On the day we hiked, the pretty Virgin River was modest in size. but - as we learned from the voiceover during our shuttle ride - had in fact carved the canyon over millions of years, and even today periodically swells to flash flood volume and is capable of reshaping the landscape.

The trail took us to the Narrows, so named because it's the narrowest section of the canyon.  It leads eventually to some of the most spectacular and beautiful sights in the park, shown on many of the tourist brochures, where the colorful walls are only feet apart.  It's a popular hike for folks who rent boots and are prepared to ford the stream in places.  That wasn't us on this day.  Flash floods can appear almost instantaneously and have supposedly even killed hikers in the past, but that wasn't why we didn't go in.

A hike we took on another day was along a lovely trail that took us to the Lower Emerald Pool.  This is a little waterfall that feeds that pool.

We continue to love Zion Canyon.  I'd kind of forgotten how magnificent it is.