Zion......

We got up before the sun and headed out at sunrise to Zion. Our campground is in a terrific location on the more remote eastern side of the park. To get to the canyon area, which is the most popular area of the park, we have to drive through the Mt. Carmel/Zion tunnel, and then drive the switchbacks to get to the canyon level. It is just beautiful! The colors in the early morning light were awesome, however it just is not portrayed well in my pictures. Too much contrast between light and dark for the photos, but in real time it was awesome! The pictures below are from the ride from the east entrance of the park to the Visitor Center.

East Entrance-right outside our campground

driving in

everywhere you look is amazing

more

more

love this!

lots of mud left over on the roads from the big storm

very cool...looks like meringue

we're not even in the canyon yet!

the sun was coming up and starting to shine 

view coming out of the tunnel to start the switchbacks

awesome

so majestic-can't capture it in the pictures

those holes are the windows in the mile long tunnel

switchbacks!

moon is still out

wow

the rivers were flowing!

Our first stop was the Visitor Center so we could plan our time here. Zion has a mandatory shuttle service, so if you want to drive the scenic loop road you need to take the shuttle. There are several stops (8?) at various popular points in the canyon area of the park. At first we were not too thrilled with the idea of the shuttle, however, it was really great. We did not ever have to wait a long time, and the rides are relatively short, depending where you are going. Even if you don't get a seat, and need to stand, it is not bad at all. And to have no traffic and parking lot issues...is the biggest bonus of all. It really does make the park experience more peaceful! As we were waiting for the shuttle, I was reading some of the information boards outside when an unexpected visitor showed up....with a little one!

nice and early-no problem parking! an hour later is another story

well hello!

scampering onto the scene

feeling safe now that she caught up with her mom

the rivers were really flowing fast

Our first adventure for the day was to hike to the Emerald Pools. There are 3 of them, but we only saw one because someone in the group can't manage to walk along steep drop offs. Ugh! The pool was really pretty,but it was not Emerald! Due to all the flooding rain, it was a muddy green, or just plain old muddy, depending on the view you had. It was still pretty nice though...with the waterfall into the pool. I can see how nice that would be with clear water.

turkeys on the lawn at the Zion Lodge

a beautiful place for sure

starting the Emerald Pool hike right across from the lodge

this river is full too

aftermath of the big storm

the setting here is beautiful

starting along the paved trail

cactus!

watch out Susie....its a ledge

so far so good

the view!

desert environment

except for yesterday...floods washed a lot of silt on the path and roadways

cool

great view

another

Lower Emerald Pool (its looking a little muddy!)

waterfall into the pool

very tropical looking

nice view of the waterfall

guess it was flowing pretty well for this time of year

walking under the waterfall

WHAT is THAT?

the tarantula is pretty big! 

nice

heading to the "Middle Pool"

lots of steps up

still okay.....

had to turn back .... too much edge for me...now the pool is looking a little more emerald

here comes the shuttle

very convenient

Next up, we took the shuttle to the Riverside walk, a very popular walk along the Virgin River to the Narrows.....where the canyon gets quite small in width, with very high granite walls. Just beautiful. There were tons of people on this walk. Along the way, we found a great spot for our lunch, and it was really quite nice. Amazing, considering the amount of people on the walk! Good thing we eat lunch early...hahahhaha.

so many people on this lovely walk....that's good!!

surrounded by canyon

water dripping in the least expected places

the river was pretty wild

flowing fast for a desert area

so muddy from the storm

beautiful walk

a bit muddy

and flowing fast through the rocks

the end of the Riverwalk and the start of the Narrows hike

the water was pretty fast for hiking

lovely

along the river

on the way back, found this nice spot for lunch

enjoying the view

me too!

the power of water! we just have to look around!

this guy was checking everyone out

great walk

heading back to the shuttle

no matter where you look, its awesome

 Another stop was to view Angel's Landing and the Great White Throne. Angel's Landing is an amazing hike-right Chris? You can read the description here. It was a little too hot in the sun, so we decided to take it easy and just view the hikers from the bottom instead of hiking that trail (hahah). There were quite a few hikers up there! Behind Angel's Landing is the Great White Throne. What a beautiful area of the park. I especially enjoyed being in the canyon and looking UP. 

Great White Throne

zoom in of hikers on Angel's Landing

they are actually way up there, walking a ridge with  steep drop offs!

is that gorgeous or what?

close up of the canyon 

nice pic! 

a little lizard

The Weeping Rock is another very popular stop along the way as the walk is quite easy and short. Water drips from the top of the rock and there is a "garden" on the rocks. There was a lot of water this time, due to the weather the day before! The view from that area is really nice as well. Of course!

heading up to the Weeping Rock

See Tom waving? Lots of water running down!!

the view out from the weeping rock

cool shot of the water dripping down...

there it is in the distance....the Weeping Rock

California Condor? No, we think its a turkey vulture

We got off at the Grotto to take the short hike back to Zion Lodge. You can also connect to the Emerald Pools hike from this stop as well, though I think you start at the Upper Pools and end up at the Lower Pools. Nice if you can do heights. 

nice view

hello lizzy

 Another stop (we got out at each of them) was to view the Court of Patriarchs by going up a short steep walk. The view was really nice, but I particularly liked the cactus along the walkway! Pretty cool!

cool cactus

Court of the Patriarchs -real time

just so many great views everywhere!

The Zion Human History Museum was our last stop before heading back to get the car and go home.  We really enjoyed it! There was an informational film (I love these) and then we stayed for a ranger led program on rocks. This place really is a geologist's heaven. The ranger was able to talk about rocks with an exquisite background of examples!

At the museum

thrilled to be at the ranger-led program on rocks, right?

the "classroom" had so many examples

more view from the ranger program

more views from the back deck

 To get "home", we had to drive through the Eastern section of the park and the tunnel again. I'll tell ya, the scenery is stunning! No matter where you look! We stopped at one of the pullouts, and another park visitor there came over to tell us about the big horn sheep straight ahead. We never would have seen them....we were looking at the rocks on the other side of the street. Hahah. No one else was pulling over either, so I guess no one else spotted them!

heading back 

so cool

do you see the sheep?

they blend right in

zoomed

still heading back home 

one more picture

look at this!

great colors too

the big checkerboard mesa up close

again

 Back at the campsite, we had our eye on hanging out at the "internet cafe" for a bit after dinner and maybe getting an ice cream! The internet is sooooo slow and there is NO cell service. Tom is working his magic  by hooking up a large external wifi antennae to a wireless router (everybody get that?) and connecting our computers to the router. Whew! We will be able to use our computers....maybe not full speed...but better than nothing.

we usually sit on the patio by the black truck! Its nice....and we can look right at our camper across the street at the campground