Zion National Park

OK, so why didn't someone make me go to this place before? I drove in from Las Vegas and stayed at the Zion Park Inn, a very pleasant, clean place with nice service, but not particularly fancy-in other words, just the kind of place I like. As you will see in the pictures, the National Park is especially memorable. I purchased an annual pass for the National Park Service, and this was my first use of it. Since it costs $25 to get in per vehicle, it was a good start on recouping the eighty bucks. But even before I went to the park, just the view from the outside of the motel was amazing. Huge rock formations to rival Yosemite were everywhere. I went to the park early the next morning with my hiking shoes on and took the shuttle up to the end point, stopping along the way to catch the morning light on the formations. Then, after hiking about 2 miles at the end point, I caught the shuttle down to another area and went on another 2.5 mile hike. The whole experience was magical, but it was quite an education to remember what it's like to hike at 4000 feet when you're used to sea level.

The last 15 minutes up to the upper Emerald Pool was fairly strenuous, and I ended up taking off both my windbreaker and polartech shirt to just be in a T shirt when I got to the top. But there was a beautiful pool with the water cascading down from above. It made me feel I wanted to come back here for a week and do some camping in the back country, and a lot more hiking. The next morning I took off for Bryce Canyon, about two hours away. The drive from the park entrance through the park to the exit was exceptionally pretty, with many wonderful spots to stop and see more interesting rock formations. Powerful is how I would describe most of them in Zion, with many sheer cliff faces. I even saw a climber or two along the way.

When I got back to the motel, it was just in time to see the last 9 holes of the Masters Golf Tournament. I went to the little bar/restaurant next to the motel called Jacks, which ended up being a very nice choice. The proprietor was really nice, and the nachos were terrific. It was the one time I've had a beer so far, and after all the hiking, and a lot of water, it was soooo good. I loved the outcome of the tournament, with Phil Mickelson getting the green jacket. It was exciting right up to the end, and touching, given the difficulties Phil's wife has had this past year with breast cancer. One could see the love clearly in that long hug when he came off the green.

After I left the Park, I had breakfast at a nice little place on the plateau just outside the Park a few miles, called the Buffalo Grill. Their Cowboy Breakfast was just what I needed, though I saved about half of it for later. I then started the ascent up to Bryce Canyon National Park. While not wanting to go into too much of a geological discussion, the lower strata of the formations at Bryce are at the, level as the upper strata of Zion. The lower strata at Zion is at the level of the upper strata at Grand Canyon. When I describe Bryce, and the delightful Jan Stock in the next post, the reason this is important will be more clear.

Anyway, still having fun, and I actually noticed as I left Zion that I hadn't been to work in awhile (12 days). It's starting to sink in, that this is a whole new lifestyle. I keep meeting very nice people along the way, on the trails, the entry rangers at the park, waitpeople in restaurants, all willing to give local information and very kind.