The Lights of Zion
Trip Start
Apr 18, 2009
1
2
5
Trip End
Apr 26, 2009
Zion National Park, Utah, United States
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Spring here is quite beautiful. There are many wildflowers blooming. The green color of the recently leafed out cottonwood trees are striking. The water of the Virgin River flowing through the Zion valley is turbid and quite fast.
Zion has a free shuttle bus system - the valley is closed to personal vehicles. The buses run every 6 minutes and make numerous stops at key trail heads and other visitor destinations. There is also a free bus in the adjacent town of Springdale that brings you to the park. The bus has been very easy and fun to use - we've just left our car at our hotel and ridden the bus into the park.
Today, I've been hiking all day. I walked up Angel's Landing in the morning and Hidden Canyon in the afternoon - probably 8-10 miles in total, including elevation gains of over 2,000 feet. Cool breezes greeted me at the start this morning and temperatures reached well into the mid-80s by afternoon - all desert dry. Angel's Landing is one of the iconic trails in Zion that feature numerous steep switchbacks, a very narrow and steep ridge line, and a magnificent perch overlooking the Zion canyon below. Chains line a good portion of the last half mile of the trail to give a measure of security while walking along the most exposed (pretty sheer drop offs) sections. If you are afraid of heights, this isn't the trail for you.
Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of graffiti carved into the sandstone rock along the trail. Also, cliff chipmunks were quite common at popular resting places - they obviously have become habituated to hikers and were regularly begging for food. The sound of Cliff or Luna bars being ripped opened by hikers seemed to really attract the chipmunks. It hasn't been too crowded here. I've been surprised to observe many foreign visitors. Lots of different languages being spoken on the trails and on the bus.
The incredible scenery begs to be photographed. But the bright and dark challenge the photographer, as sun and shadow compete for dominance in almost every picture. Most of my photographs are either too washed out or too dim to make out the detail I am trying to capture. At least my eyes can adequately compensate for the contrasting light to allow me to enjoy the wonderfully beautiful images of Zion.
Tomorrow we're off to Bryce Canyon
Comments
randyks
Wow - beautiful pictures. I hope one day to visit there too.
Randy