Zion National Park

Spring Break, Part 2:  Zion National Park!

Zion National Park!  Ah!  Beautiful!

We got there in the early evening on the last day of the season that cars are allowed to drive through the park.  The rest of the time, shuttle buses run up and down the canyon.  More and more National Parks are going this way.  It is a great system, I think.

On our drive, we saw wild turkeys and a bunch of deer.  Erin took this pic of a young buck.

I must mention the Flying Monkey, the restaurant we found on the first night.  Oh, my!  It was such delicious pizza!  Probably in our top 3 of all time! Here are some of the monkeys:

It rained pretty hard the first night.  I was cruising the internet and checked the weather radar.  "There are yellows and greens right on top of us!"  I opened the door, and sure enough!  Heavy showers!  The next morning, the tops of the cliffs were dusted with snow.  So pretty!

That morning Kevin, Mike and hiked Angel's Landing. What a spectacular hike! It rises 1488 feet from the canyon.  The last half-mile is along a narrow shelf that ascends to the top.  There are chains to help you.  It is quite the hike!  A challenging half-mile, for sure.  Very much worth it; the views were spectacular.

The destination: Angel's Landing

At the trailhead.

Dusted fir trees in Refrigerator Canyon.

On the last leg.

Enlarge this one.  You can see Kevin and Mike in the middle, under that tall tree.

View from the top!

It was a little tough coming down for me.  It doesn't happen very often, luckily, but once in a while my knees HATE me for coming down a mountain.  It was slow and painful going.

That afternoon we drove out the east side.  There is a depression-era tunnel through the cliff and a little bit different geology out there.

Kevin geeked on the geology throughout the park.  No, he isn't standing on a cliff.  This was just beside the road a few miles outside the park.  He's looking at some limestone, hoping to find some fossils.

Outside of the park, we visited a bison ranch.

Photo by Erin

Right across the road, there was a large herd of deer grazing in the meadow.

The four of us hiked the three Emarald Pools on Friday.  We went up to the highest one, at my urging.  I knew my knees would hate me, but my curiosity kept us going, to the dismay of one of us. 

The last time we visited Zion was in July of 1998.  I wrote in my family letter that month:

We did a small hike together that morning, to Emerald Pools, at the bottom of some waterfalls.  The kids did okay on the hike:  Erin whined most of the time, and Kevin had no clue about the drop-offs, and we had to keep after him about walking sanefully and staying to the inside. 

Funny how some things never change!

 Waterfall at Upper Emerald Pool

True to prediction, my knees protested on the descent and the family had to wait for me to make my way down. Erin took pity on me when we got to the parking lot and helped me get to the car!

I have lots more pictures on my Picasa Web Album. Please visit and click "Slideshow" on the top left.  You can also enlarge each picture there.  Please see many more photos of our dizzying hike to Angel's Landing!

Zion National Park, April 2010