Zion National Park

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We decided to have breakfast out, and stopped outside the park , egg and cheese bagels at an cute little café. We took the 8:15 shuttle into the canyon. The only way to see the 10 mile Zion Canyon Drive is by shuttle and it is very easy to use and very efficient. The shuttle is totally free, cuts down on pollution and there is virtually no waiting - the shuttle comes every 7 minutes.

We took the shuttle to the last stop at the end of the canyon, Temple of Sinawava. We hiked the Riverside Walk Trail to the end of where you could walk. People had water shoes and kept going up the canyon by walking in the Virgin River. We spotted a mule deer along the trail.

Next we stopped at Big Ben and watched the insane rock climbers on the sheer cliff face. They spent the night on a platform about half way up the 1000 foot climb. In the pictures you may see that they are climbing a rope and are carrying a silver bucket.

We enjoyed the spectacular scenery and then stopped in the Museum on the way out and saw the orientation movie about Zion. When we returned to the visitor’s center, we hopped in our van and headed for Bryce Canyon. We stopped for lunch along Route 9 and had an all-you-can-eat salad, soup and fruit bar for $7 - it was great!

Arrived into Bryce mid-afternoon and set up camp at North Campground. We then drove the short, 4 mile scenic route and stopped at the Sunrise, Sunset, Inspiration and Bryce View Points. We saw lots of “Hoodoos”. Hoodoos are pillars of rocks in fantastic shapes formed by erosion. While at Sunset Point, I spotted a trail down a very steep incline into a very narrow canyon. We decided to hike the trail first thing tomorrow morning.

What great weather up here at 8000 feet elevation. Great sleeping weather. Because of the cool night, we watched our movie, “Pot of Gold” with James Stewart in our indoor theater, the front seats of the van.

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Photos

Can you spot the rock climbers on this wall
Look just to the right of the alcove cut into rock along upper left edge of photo.