Framedlight

This was to be our only full day in Zion so we got up relatively early and drove with some beautiful light from Hurricane, where we were staying, to Zion Canyon. The Park bus through the Canyon was very busy. Many people were wearing plastic walking boots and carrying sticks. They were going to trek along the Virgin River through the Narrows where the rock walls close in on you and you have to wade through. We were not able to do that but once we had reached the end of the road we did have a little paddle! This part of the Canyon was shady and cool, so we walked alongside the river for a bit until we got to the start of the Emerald Pools Trail. Next to the river the paths are paved and the walking is easy. The red mountain walls are imposing and sheer. There is a walk called Angel's Landing which only the fit and foolhardy do. The route switchbacks up the mountain to a ridge which is very exposed. Some of it is chained although you cannot use a harness. Before the c...

We returned from the Kolob Terrace Road and parked in Zion Canyon. It was now 6.30pm and so the visitor numbers had thinned out a lot. In Zion you cannot drive yourself up the Canyon road between April and October. You have to take a shuttle bus which leaves from the visitor centre and stops in a number of places until you get to the end of the road by the Virgin Narrows. Very necessary seeing the number of people who come here every day. We waited for a bus which came pretty quickly and were driven up the canyon through spectacular scenery. Mike told me the names of many of the mountains and we got off near the top at Weeping Rock. In contrast with Bryce, Zion has more water features, the river and then pools and places where springs run down the rock face. we  walked the short trail to Weeping Rock which was oozing, rather than flowing, but the water on the surface was keeping a good selection of mosses and vegetation going. The water comes from a spring which is formed where ...