Zion National Park 4/10

Today was spent touring Zion Canyon.  After April 1st no cars are allowed in the canyon except for guests of the Zion Lodge traveling to it.  Shuttle buses run about every 5-10 minutes and make stops at several points along the way to the end of the road at Temple of Sinawava.  From that point there is a 1 mile paved trail to the Narrows where hiking means walking in water much of the time.  You are warned to check weather forecasts for possible rain and flash flooding as lives have been lost in the Narrows. 

 Click on any picture to enlarge them.

Shuttle pickup point at the Visitor Center

Looking down the canyon from Temple of Sinawava

Trail to the Narrows

Virgin River

There are people hiking along the top of this ridge.  You can see them in the closeup in the picture below this one.

People hiking the ridge trail.  It's a long way up.

From the Grotto we took the 1/2 mile trail to Zion Lodge where we had lunch at the Red Rock Grill.  OK but typical Nat'l Park food.  The only place in a Nat'l Park with great food is at the Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite.  I am sure there are others it is just that I haven't found them.

Views from the trail and at Zion Lodge.

Shuttle bus back to the Visitor Center.

Between 7 & 7:30 pm the sun striking the mountain behind the campground is stunning and the following two pictures are a perfect close to a great day,

Again, the photos don't capture what we saw.