Driftwood Lodge Springdale

Nach zwei Tagen im Arches National Park und mit frischer Waesche im Gepaeck, haben wir uns quer durch eines der groessten Indianerreservate der USA gewagt :-) Die Cowboyhuete haben wir in den Kofferraum gepackt und dafuer die Federn angesteckt...

Unterwegs sind wir durchs weltberuehmte Monument Valley gefahren. Dies ist ein Tal, in dem noch einzelne Zipfel verschiedenster Gesteinsschichten aus dem Boden ragen und dadurch wie Statuen aussehen.

The drive in from the east side into Zion is...to use an overstated word...AWESOME. This is where the roaming herd of buffalo hang out. And where you will find B&B's and other accommodations.

Some accommodations overlook the rim.

The rock formations such as Checkerboard Mesa are more than amazing. Some remind us of Sedona. Lots of pull offs and trails in this area.

Canyon Overlook trail is on this side. It's a do not miss.
Zion National Park, Utah, United States kupdegra

... time we are within the canyon, although it is really a valley, green with Cottonwood trees and the Virgin River running through it. The rock walls and peaks all around are just amazing. They are huge, towering over a thousand metres above us, reaching an altitude of more than 8000 feet which is over 2300 metres. Many have interesting names, based on biblical people and places, like the Court of the Patriarchs and The Temple. For those ...

... Zion National Park. We entered from Highway 9, paid our entrance and got to drive through the Mt Carmel Tunnel. Built in the 1930's it was an engineering feat of its day - blasting a tunnel through the rock. Before we entered we did stop to check out the Checkboard Mesa - a huge stone mountain of sandstone that has vertical fractures and horizontal erosion lines - pretty cool. Once we came out of the tunnel the ...

... door een oude man op een fiets. Hij begint ons het hele verhaal te vertellen over een dorp een eind verderop dat onder water verdwenen is nadat er een stuwdam gebouwd is in de jaren '30. Het is heel interessant maar dan begint hij te vertellen over zijn job vroeger voor de staat waarbij hij moest metingen uitvoeren nadat er nucleaire testen gedaan waren in de woestijn. Tot daar nog erg plausibel maar dan zegt hij dat de staat zijn geheugen heeft ...

... kam er mit grossen weissen Becken, aber die hat er ebenfalls nur auf die Tische gestellt und sie nie benutzt. Irgendwann hat er sie LEER wieder reingetragen und kam mit einem Abräumwagen (den er ebenfalls draussen stehen liess). Drei Episoden: An Tisch 18 sassen Leute, die ihre Bestellung vor gut und gerne 30 Minuten aufgegeben hatten (nach der obligaten Wartezeit), aber weder ihre Getränke noch ihr Essen bekamen. Irgendwann ist der Mann mit der leeren Nacho-Schale ...

... can't be described in words. I have taken so many pictures, none of which will ever do this place justice. If I can ever figure it out, I will upload some of the pics in this blog. There are so many switchbacks on this road, I was having a difficult time with my "control" issues...that is, Joe was driving us along a road with a sheer cliff on my side of the car, I was saying slow down and hyperventilating! LOL! While the scenery ...

... feet wide with an 800-foot drop-off on one side and a 1,200-foot drop-off on the other. Most people know that I'm deathly scared of heights, but once again I find myself on another white knuckle, teeth-chattering hike. The first two miles is mostly paved along steep switchbacks. A lot of the day users struggled up the hill, stopping every 20 yards to catch their breath. The switchbacks were so steep that on the way down I had to show three groups of people how to ...