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On our way to Zion National Park, we saw this sign and became excited to see
some buffalo |
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And there they were, grazin' and lazin' around |
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Unfortunately, the buffalo were grazin' and lazin' right behind this
restaurant |
Not very happy about the fate of the buffalo |
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Reaching Zion National Park... |
Also reaching a new high! (Little
did we know, this was only the beginning!) |
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Driving along the curvy and beautiful 8-mile road into Zion's canyons |
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After driving to Zion National Park, we had to drive back to the Glendale
KOA since Jonathan left something behind. Along the way, we saw an
entrepreneur on the side of the road, so we stopped for a refreshing drink
and a photo-op. |
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Much of the park is restricted to commercial vehicles, and the only access
to these parts is via free propane-fueled shuttles that make various stops
along the way. The park has enjoyed much-improved air quality and
noise reduction, thereby improving much of the natural habitats in the park,
since restricting access to commercial visitors (I don't remember how long
ago). |
Every morning, there is a free two-hour ranger talk on one of the shuttles
as it travels throughout Zion National Park. Ranger Autumn E. was our
ranger for the morning. (7/11) |
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Ranger Autumn shows us a picture of a ranger's house in the canyon back in
the 90s. The story goes that the ranger got up at 5am to take a
shower. While in the shower, he heard a loud bang. He got out of
the shower and saw that this enormous rock had fallen on his house, right
where his bedroom was (and that's a big WAS!!!). Moral of the story -
never hit the snooze!!! They estimate that rock falls or slides happen
almost daily in various degrees. (Though big ones like this are rarer,
they could happen anytime!). |
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Court of the Three Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob |
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Our version of "rock climbing" |
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The look that says, "Yeah, I'm gonna climb this here rock and there ain't
nothing you can do about it!" |
Told you so! |
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Many mule deer walk the park grounds, though they seem to come out more in
the early morning and early evening |
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We took a bike ride along the Pa'rus (pronounced Pah-roos) trail, about a
two-mile trip one way, along The Virgin River in Zion's canyon. There
were many points of river access, and we took advantage of cooling our jets
in the 100+ degree heat. |
This was one of the deeper sections of the river that we saw, which made it
very nice for swimming. The water was cold but refreshing. And
no one else was there while we were there, so it was quiet except for
nature sounds of the river, the wind in the trees, and various birds. |
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The free propane-fueled shuttles mentioned earlier that take visitors
throughout the entire park |
Walking across the street from the Zion Park Lodge to the horse corrals as
we attempt to take the 3-hour trail ride (we were first on the waiting list)
(7/12) |
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We made the grade and hopped on up. They gave us horses named Bridget
(for Elena) and Maynard (for Jonathan). Apparently, they always pair
these two up as Maynard seems to be quite taken with Bridget. |
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Whenever we stopped, Maynard loved to scratch his head on anything around
that was hard |
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Taking a break half-way through
the ride |
Maynard (in front) and Bridget
next to him |
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Elena and Bridget |
We left at 9am, at which time it
was relatively cool (probably in the 70s); by about 10:30, I'm sure it hit
100 as we relished the few shady parts along the trail. |
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Much of the trail was dusty like
this, leaving us feeling hot and dirty by the time we were done. |
Despite the heat and the dust,
the ride was well worth it as we loved riding and enjoying the area from a
different vantage point |
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Walking back towards the Zion
Park Lodge, we both commented that the quad-like park reminded us of our
college days |
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Zion National Park
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