After our comfortable and spacious rooms at the Little America Hotel in Flagstaff the previous night, many of us stayed at Aikens Lodge in Kanab on the second. Suffice it to say that the contrast in accommodations was quite striking! The contrast in weather from the previous day was also huge - this time in a pleasant way; clear blue skies with barely a cloud in evidence. We were on the road at 8am and soon found ourselves at the entrance to Zion National Park. The park is made up of massive sandstone cliffs of white, pink and red sandstone. Streams, which become torrents when heavy rains come, carve out narrow slot canyons, and flow into valleys which support a wide variety of wildlife. The national park was established in 1919 and covers 229 square miles. Our drive into the park was interrupted by frequent stops to take in the views and snap a few photos...
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| Amazing patterns on the surface of the sandstone cliffs |
At one point the road builders had no choice but to go through the mountain rather than around it. This resulted in the Zion - Mount Carmel Tunnel. This tunnel is 1.1 miles long and has 6 massive "windows" to the outside cut through the sandstone cliffs.
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| Waiting to enter the tunnel - cars are sent through in batches |
On emerging at the far (north) end of the tunnel, the road performs a series of downhill switchbacks.
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| One of the tunnel "windows" in the cliff from the road below |
We finally decided to lower the top on our OTS at this point after two days of driving through rain had forced us to keep it up. Needless to say, the remainder of the route to the Zion Lodge was almost exclusively in the shade of the huge mountains and we froze... As we were all staying at the Lodge we were privileged to be able to drive down Zion Canyon, which is only open to visitors staying there. Everyone else has to park at the entrance and use the frequent shuttle buses. We drove down the canyon to the Lodge.
We arrived at the Lodge between 9 and 10am and had the whole day to explore the Canyon. Shuttle buses are the preferred means of transport with 9 stops along the canyon floor, and multiple hikes from each stop. Debbie and I decided to take one of the gentler hikes from the Temple of Sinawava stop at the end of the canyon along the river deeper into the canyon.
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| Mule deer grazing by the river |
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| Please do not drop litter! This squirrel has a paper towel stuffed in it's mouth... |
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| A blue heron was patiently fishing in the river |
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| At the end, the canyon narrows to the point where to proceed you have to wade in the river. We didn't...! |
Some of the more adventurous of the group took on the hike to Observation Point. This 8 mile round trip hike takes 4-6 hours and climbs more than 2100 feet from the valley floor. Along the way, hikers get a glimpse into the dark and mysterious Echo Canyon with its beautiful slickrock formations and stunning white cliffs. I myself hiked this route part of the way after the first hike. This was not too smart in deck shoes, but no-one ever accused me of being smart... Here are some photos from that trail:
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| View of the opposite side of the valley |
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| See the tiny hiker in the center on a higher switchback climbing the cliff wall |
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| View across the valley from higher up |
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| Reflections in a pool in the slot canyon |
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| Slot Canyon - path on the left, deep slot on he right carrying the stream |
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| Looking back - path on the right, rushing water has carved amazing shapes on the left |
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| Higher up, the far side of the valley reappears |
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| The switchbacks steepen - see hikers at 2 levels. I turned around here as time was running out. |
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| View of switchbacks descending to the valley floor |
I think everyone enjoyed their day in Zion National Park. The change in the weather made a great difference, and the cars no doubt appreciated the short driving distance! We dined in the restaurant at the Lodge this evening, and tomorrow we head for Bryce Canyon National Park. We should sleep well tonight...
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