Zion National Park Kanab, Utah

 March 8, 2021

Today we drove to Kanab, Utah.  The drive was easy because the scenery was gorgeous.  Jim did have to deal with some wind gusts along the way, but he took the hills with no problems in the diesel truck.

These white rocks were forced up and out.

Some nice pink hills.

And here is a textbook mesa.

Snow capped mountains in the distance.

Trees, so nice to see some green too.

Here is the side view from our campsite.

And here is the view out the back reflected in our rear window.

 March 9, 2021

Today we drove over to Zion National Park.  We have been to Zion before and hiked Angel's Landing and the Narrows, so this time we tried to hit new territory by coming in the East Entrance.

It did not disappoint, it was spectacular.  Here is Checkerboard Mountain.

"It was named for its checkerboard appearance caused by the horizontal cross-bedding of ancient sand dunes and vertical cracking due to expansion and contraction of the sandstone in the winter." 

The road curves exposing new wonders around each bend.

The orange rock walls are right next to you.

We hiked the Canyon Overlook Trail.

"The trail crosses slickrock slabs of the high desert, a scene of pinyon pine and juniper, prickly pear, and yucca. Here the only plants and animals that thrive, like lizards and bighorn sheep, have adapted to hot and dry.  The hike is also an exercise in scale. There are hints of canyon carving along the way, but nothing prepares you for the vast space that falls away below your feet at the overlook. At the overlook, a thousand feet above Zion Canyon floor, you can see patterns that were not evident before: the greener world along the river and the sheer volume of canyon the streams have excavated."

A few iron rails separating me from the drop-offs and I am happy.

The trail winds around beautiful hills.

And of course we go up some stairs as well as the general incline of the entire trail.

Watch your head we are hiking on and under rocks.

From the overlook we can see Bridge Mountain 6,803ft

The mesa back left is West Temple 7,810ft

In the center with red streaks is the Altar of Sacrifice 7,505ft 

Jim soaks it all in.

Happy to be here.

The crazy slanted fins.

Zion is the most crowded place we have been so far.  Here are some of the others who also hiked to Canyon Overlook.

We can see the road ahead of us.

And it all starts by going thru this 1.1 mile long tunnel.

"Construction of the 1.1 mile Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel began in the late 1920's and was completed in 1930. At the time that the tunnel was dedicated, on July 4, 1930, it was the longest tunnel of its type in the United States. The purpose of the building the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel (and the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway) was to create direct access to Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon from Zion National Park."

The tunnel was dark and hard to photograph.

"Today the tunnel is basically the same as it was upon its completion over eighty years ago. However, because of the softness of the sandstone through which it passes, much reinforcing has been done and concrete ribs now give added support to the the tunnel's entire length. Collapse of a sandstone pillar west of Gallery #3 in 1958 broke the top out of that gallery and flushed tons of debris into the tunnel, causing its closure for several weeks. Because of that collapse, the tunnel is now monitored electronically twenty-four hours a day to warn park officials to the danger of a reoccurrence."

This is the Court of the Patriarchs.

From left to right Abraham Peak 6,890ft, Isaac Peak 6,825ft, Mount Moroni 5,690 ft, and the white peak behind that is Jacob Peak 6,831ft

Ah, the Virgin River, and it has water, flowing water.

A concrete spillway on the Virgin River.

We hiked the Narrows (a walk in the river) last time we visited Zion, so this time we did the Riverside Walk.  The Narrows is one of my top 2 hikes of all time but with "Toxic Cyanobacteria Bloom in the Virgin River and the Streams of Zion National Park" we passed on it today.

And photographic proof from September 2010, of me hiking the Narrows.

The river walk still showed us the towering cliffs and narrowing canyon.

"Traveling upriver, the trail passes through surprisingly lush vegetation-a desert swamp. Overflow from occasional cloudbursts and spring run off leaves the low ground perpetually moist, creating a cooler, greener microclimate of ferns and mosses. Without actually seeing a flash flood, hikers here can experience the results of flooding and witness how the Virgin River pumps life into a desert canyon."

It still tried to lure me in.

"Here the canyon narrows abruptly. The cliffs colors and textures are clues that two different rock layers intersect at the riverbed and affect how the canyon is carved. Confined within the hard Navajo sandstone upstream, the Virgin River is forced to slice straight down, with almost no horizontal cutting, creating a tight perpendicular gorge. The scenery of Zion canyon evolves daily as tons of sediment tumbles downstream especially during flash floods."

Lots of others still walked the Narrows today and enjoyed it.

The canyon walls are imposing, hard to get it all in one shot.

We got back on the scenic drive.  Yes today you could drive on the scenic drive in your own car the bus shuttles start for the season this weekend and then only the buses are allowed on the road.

Our next stop was the Great White Throne.

"The north face rises 2,350 feet"

This is known as the Organ.

This is Angels Landing today

And here is another flashback of Jim and I hiking Angels Landing in 2010

Looking Down From Angels Landing in 2010

After a great day in Zion, we enjoyed some Ho-Made pie in Mt Carmel, Utah at Thunderbird Restaurant.

Apple Pie with Buttered Rum Sauce

And Thunderberry - a combination of strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and balckberry.

Another good day.