Sep 5, 2011 - Zion National Park

Today we toured Zion National Park. Zion and Bryce are a short drive from each other but totally different to look at. In Bryce you look down at the most beautiful unusual limestone rock formations. In Zion, you are in a canyon looking up at towering rock. Zion National Park is the oldest national park in Utah. There are deep sandstone canyons, striking rock towers and high plateaus. Looking up at the towering rocks, the difference in colors is from the Navajo sandstone being white on top and more red and orange coloring toward the bottom....

Aug 12, 2011 - Zion

August 11 Zion seems to have 2 different personalities. On the east side entrance the landscape is different to the main area of the park and to me more interesting. The main area reminded me of a combination between Yosemite and Grand Canyon which is nice, however didn’t have the impact those 2 parks had. The east side is very different and contains rock structures with checkerboard markings from the weather and a better feel. Far more interesting to me… Another thing I liked that is unique to Zion is the 1 mile road tunnel to get into the...

Jul 28, 2011 - Zion National Park

Reservations complete http://www.zionriverresort.calls.net/photos.html July 27-Wed. Got 2 early phone calls from Family, they forget the time change is 2 hours back. Well time to get up anyway, since we are headed off to Zion National Park, Utah. As we drive we go through little towns & lots of Farmland, & even a herd of bison. As we get closer we see the different formations of the Canyons, with purple, pink, white, & gray, not just red colors. It is hard to explain how different they look from Bryce. Maybe you could see from some of our...

Jun 18, 2011 - Even More Rocks

Are we fed up with the rocks yet? Definitely not as they are all so different and totally awesome. Today we went to Zion National Park. Instead of being on top of the canyon looking down as we were at the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon, at Zion we are at the bottom looking upwards. To get to Zion, we had to travel through a mile long tunnel carved into the mountain. It was just wide enough for our coach to fit through the middle and the traffic had to be stopped from the opposite direction. Apparently the coach driver has to pay $15 for this...

Jun 9, 2011 - Zion Utah 6/7/2011

We drove by the pink cliffs to get to Zion. We also went thru a mile long tunnel to get into the park. Zion's highest cliff is 7795 and most of the park consists of canyons that go much lower. The Virgin River flows thru Zion and was flowing at 555 cubic feet per second (yes, that is correct, per second) carrying silt, sand, debris, even trees with it while it carved ever deeper into the rock. The spring flow of the river can get to 3000 cfs. Last time I was here (about 20 years ago) we walked up the narrows into the canyon in the river....

Jun 7, 2011 - Toured Las Vegas Strip

I took a 35 mile round trip bike looking for the Dam. There is a bike and bus lane on Bolder Highway which I was very happy about as there is a lot of very fast traffic here. When I arrived in Henderson City, the road changed. Bolder became a freeway which I ended up on. I took a side road but it brought me to a mining company. I am sure there is a way to get to the dam, but I got off at an exit and returned. On the way back I spotted a Campers World, stopped in, made an appointment for an oil change for the next day, and continued back to...

Jun 5, 2011 - Sunday in Zion

Bacon (cooked on the grill), eggs, toast and coffee for breakfast. Sandie cleaned the inside of the RV while I replaced a few cosmetic things on the outside of the rig. Temperature is 100, sunny and the sky is a deep deep blue. The campground is like a rotary door, lots of people leave the campground each day and as soon as they leave the site is filled. All the parking lots are filled as is every space on the side of the road leading into the park. Just amazing. Can you believe we've seen women wearing pumps on the trails? Now give me a...

Jun 4, 2011 - Weekend in Zion

Took the shuttle to a farmers market in Springdale, it was disappointing. So we walked back to the Park and stopped in a bunch of shops. Sandie ended up with a walking stick and a few pair of shorts. Don ended up with a clay pottery color T and a water camelbak. All on sale I went for a run up the Canyon Road (9 miles) at noon, not a good idea. Can we say dehydrated due to the altitude, dry air, lack of enough water? Took the shuttle back down and was useless for the rest of the day. After a couple of hours Sandie got worried and rode her...

Jun 3, 2011 - Hiked Watchman Trail

This morning we planned to hike Watchman Trail which begins just outside the campground. However, by the time we finished on our computers and eating, it was 11. Nice thing about spending a lot of time here is we can really enjoy all there is to see and explore. We just love it here. Weather has been nothing short of perfect. Sunny, dry and warm, cold in the evenings. Watchman is a moderately strenuous hike and not, as it turned out, for those who fear heights. Sandie made it three quarters of the way up before she could not go any further....

Jun 2, 2011 - Weeping Rock and Big Ben

Can we say, thank goodness for down comforters! 40 degrees this morning, it felt great! It gets really warm during the day and the sun his hot and then at night the breeze comes and the temp drops. Don went out for a bike ride on the switch back roads for about a 24 mile ride. Sandie also biked on a paved path that had little hills (my kind of ride). Then we met back at the RV and went hiking at Weeping Rocks, it was steep but short! Really pretty, rocks wet with water and flowers growing out and down them. We next went to Big Ben and hiked...

Jun 1, 2011 - Don Hiked Angels Landing

It was quite a adventurous day for Don. Angels Lading is the highest peak that can be climbed in the Park. It is 5,800 ft above sea level and the climb is 1,488 feet and is filled with many switchbacks (21) a part of which is called Walters Wiggles. The first three quarters of the hike is a cement walk way. Much of the time you are walking between cliffs where the sun never shines. They are separated by a narrow gully that must really flow during flood season. You need to be in decent shape to walk the trail as it is fairly steep and two...

May 31, 2011 - Hiked 7 + miles today

We were both a little tired this morning due to the high winds rattling the awning which I finally put down at 2 in the AM. Just didn't want to get out of bed plus it was cold. After a lot of coffee we headed to the shuttle. AS soon as the shuttle leaves the visitors center there is a prerecorded narration of the history of Zion and a description of each stop as you approach it. We started out at the Lodge(stop 3) and walked at first a cement paved trail to Lower Emerald Pool. It is a pool of water feed 100s of feet up by a number of...