Zion Canyon (6 & 7 July)
The trip to Zion Canyon was a mere 84 miles (135 Km) but it still took well over three hours by the time we had paused to look at scenery and had to wait because of heavy traffic. We enjoyed pretty scenery as we left Bryce.
When we saw the Checkerboard Mesa we knew we were near Zion.
At the park entrance motor homes were charged an additional $15. This is because the tunnel isn't high enough for us to engage with two-way traffic and not scrape our roof. It all had to be held up so we could drive down the centre line.
The tunnel was a mile long. We drove slowly down the middle of the tunnel attempting (and succeeding) a drive in which our roof touched neither the top nor the edge of the tunnel. On emerging we had to immediately navigate a series of steeply descending switchbacks while our eyes adjusted to sudden bright sunshine. No chance for photos as the navigator was also fully engaged in keeping the driver on the road.
Zion park is named Zion because the first European settlers were Mormans. They used biblical references to name the park and its features. Zion apparently means peaceful sanctuary and many of the views give that impression.
Other features have names like Angels' Landing, Court of the Patriarchs (referring to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, all named as peaks), Mount Moroni, and the Great White Throne. The river through the gorge is the Virgin River. We saw Grand Canyon and Bryce from above while our experience of Zion is from the bottom of the canyon looking up. It has a few arches and fewer hoodoos but it is narrow and twisting creating an expectation of surprise at each corner. The peaks look monumental and biblical, although that idea may have been occasioned by suggestion or personal history 😁.
We got up early to get into the park and use the free shuttle buses before it got too hot. We left our motor home at 5.45 am (this is not a typo) and joined the queue. We just got on to the second bus for the day which left at about 6.25 am. We had a 40 minute ride to the top of the shuttle route and took a walk along the Virgin River. As we walked we discovered an interesting flower and while Merryn was preparing to photograph it I noticed a mule deer.
It got closer and then began to eat the flower.
We also saw a little squirrel.
It's been hot here. Today it was 39ºC and yesterday it was 41ºC. We finished our walks before midday and then took the shuttle back to our motor home. We spent the afternoon beginning to sort out our stuff as we drive to Las Vegas tomorrow and hand the motor home in the next morning.
When we saw the Checkerboard Mesa we knew we were near Zion.
At the park entrance motor homes were charged an additional $15. This is because the tunnel isn't high enough for us to engage with two-way traffic and not scrape our roof. It all had to be held up so we could drive down the centre line.
The tunnel was a mile long. We drove slowly down the middle of the tunnel attempting (and succeeding) a drive in which our roof touched neither the top nor the edge of the tunnel. On emerging we had to immediately navigate a series of steeply descending switchbacks while our eyes adjusted to sudden bright sunshine. No chance for photos as the navigator was also fully engaged in keeping the driver on the road.
Zion park is named Zion because the first European settlers were Mormans. They used biblical references to name the park and its features. Zion apparently means peaceful sanctuary and many of the views give that impression.
Other features have names like Angels' Landing, Court of the Patriarchs (referring to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, all named as peaks), Mount Moroni, and the Great White Throne. The river through the gorge is the Virgin River. We saw Grand Canyon and Bryce from above while our experience of Zion is from the bottom of the canyon looking up. It has a few arches and fewer hoodoos but it is narrow and twisting creating an expectation of surprise at each corner. The peaks look monumental and biblical, although that idea may have been occasioned by suggestion or personal history 😁.
We got up early to get into the park and use the free shuttle buses before it got too hot. We left our motor home at 5.45 am (this is not a typo) and joined the queue. We just got on to the second bus for the day which left at about 6.25 am. We had a 40 minute ride to the top of the shuttle route and took a walk along the Virgin River. As we walked we discovered an interesting flower and while Merryn was preparing to photograph it I noticed a mule deer.
It got closer and then began to eat the flower.
We also saw a little squirrel.
It's been hot here. Today it was 39ºC and yesterday it was 41ºC. We finished our walks before midday and then took the shuttle back to our motor home. We spent the afternoon beginning to sort out our stuff as we drive to Las Vegas tomorrow and hand the motor home in the next morning.
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