The mileage total upon our arrival at the Zion National Park yesterday was 3,887 miles. Per our trip planner (which just estimated miles between major destinations), we should have logged 3,008 miles. Looks like this will turn out to be a ~6,000 mile trip overall.
We awoke to a beautifully clear and cool morning.
I was having a cup of coffee on the front porch when I kept hearing an intermittent tapping sound. I discovered it was a turkey pecking at the front bumper of a shuttle bus which was parked last night in the parking lot outside our cabin. The turkey was obviously enjoying a breakfast buffet of bugs smashed on the front of the bus from the previous day.
We had breakfast at the restaurant and then walked over the Virgin River and up the trail to the Lower Emerald Pool. It was about a two mile hike though fairly steep and rocky at points. The Virgin River is very muddy. It is the reason the canyons are here today. According to the Park Service, the Virgin River erodes one million tons of sediment out of the canyon each year.
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| Virgin River |
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| Lots of Datura |
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| Lots of prickly pear |
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| Water Fall at the Lower Emerald Pool |
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| Lower Emerald Pool |
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| Another Water Fall |
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| Weeping Rocks |
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| Prickly Pear Seed Pod |
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| Virgin River |
After hiking back, we rested in the cabin for a couple of hours and then took the shuttle up to the top of the canyon. During the "peak" seasons, you cannot drive your own car up their. There are four stops along the way and you can get off and back on at your leisure. The shuttles come by every ten minutes or so. We went to the last stop (Temple of Sinawava) and then hiked the two miles to the entry to the Narrows. We opted not to go into the Narrows this time. We did during our last visit and once you have experienced the first couple of hundreds yards, that is essentially all there is to it.
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| A weeping wall with vegetation |
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| Mouth of the Narrows |
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| T's Little Friend |
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| Pulpit Rock at Temple of Sinawava |
T wanted to walk the short but steep trail up the Weeping Rock canyon, but it was so hot, we decided to postpone. We might try to do it before we leave tomorrow.
Tonight we dine again at the Zion Lodge. Tomorrow we check out and head toward Mesa Verde in Colorado. We will be traveling from Utah, through Arizona and then into Colorado. It is about 360 miles and a seven hour drive.
