Tuesday, June 1, 2010

ZION

ZION was busy--crowded--hot--dry--and AWESOME!!
Here are some of my favorite shots from that visit..we stayed in Cedar City Utah about 35 miles from the crowds in a fab room at the Best Western Town & Country which had been only days before remodeled..what an awesome room we had!!! BIG fluffy Beautyrest mattresses...with 4 big soft pillows on each bed..omg we were spoiled...the hot tub was nice the pool was cool, we give it a 5 even tho its listed as a 2 star hotel.


                                                              sis already unpacking. 
The first day we drove the Kolob Canyon
and then down to the Carmel Highway...now that was some drive...narrow steep roads with few turn outs..but what views!! We hiked the Timber Creek Overlook trail off Kolob Canyon Drive...it was an easy hike about a mile round trip and we had a picnic--with a friend.



Canyon Drive













                                                                             Scrub jay was....


Overlooking our Picnic...











CheckerBoard Mesa..






Some of the formations are so colorful this area reminds me of the Wave which I didnt get to see last yr..over near Page, AZ Still on the Bucket List.







Sis on the Carmel Highway 

                                         














 THE Watchman's Peak


Then on Sunday we did the Bus Ride which is the only way to get on the Zion Scenic Road after April 1.. till Oct. So we hopped on the bus with everyone else!! 





We decided to hike the Emerald Pool trails and the Upper Pool trail was steep & rocky but we made it up and back...the pool was so cold we could only wade in for a minute and our feet were turning blue!!




Standing under the overhang of Lower Emerald pools..



View of Red Arch 




                                                                           
Getting to the Lower Emerald Pools, 




Now on to the Upper Emerald Pools...



View of the Bridge, 


Trail up, Navajo White Sandstone in the distance

The Upper Emerald Falls,
                                           







The Temple of Sinawava 

Marks the parking and entrance to the  Riverside Trail to the narrows but the Narrows was so full of swift water they closed it to hiking!! Normally you can hike in the water the Narrow part of the canyon, but not this time. 
 The following photos are shots of the Virgin River as it tumbles thru Zion Canyon, and the Narrows part of the canyon. 


Sis and me on the Trail 





On the Riverwalk Trail you pass the Hanging Gardens, so very beautiful 







We got as close as we could but I imagine it will be about 2 weeks before the water returns to normal levels---



The Narrows Entrance 




We had a wonderful trip and we want to return to see what we missed and hike the trails we didnt hike..etc. I took lots of photos, -Today sadly I left Colorado sis had to go back to work and tonight Im headed back home...cooling my heels in a motel off the Interstate in Kansas. Tornado Alley---I plan to arrive back home on Friday!!

6 comments:

  1. Just looked through your road trip posts, and flickr shots Dixxe. Wow! Just stunning. Some of the colours in the landscapes are unbelievable. Just beautiful. I can see you've had an amazing trip.

    Have a safe journey back home.

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  2. Once again, great shots both here and in Flickr. It looks like you got farther than my sister and I did up the Narrows. One year Diana had the bright idea we should do that. We got ourselves all decked out with old sneakers and sticks - went about two steps into the water before our feet froze! Never tried it again!

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  3. Wow, gorgeous shots. Zion is one of my favorite places, surely one of the most beautiful spots on earth.

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  4. My favorite hike there is Angels Landing. I last did it in 2008 and wrote about it here:

    http://lifeontheopenroad.blogspot.com/2008/10/angels-landing.html

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  5. Hi Diana...yes I would loved to have hiked that Angels Trail...just not enough time my SIS had to return back to work on that Tuesday and I had to head back home...I would try to visit Zion again when its not so crowded maybe in October next time.

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  6. FLICKR destroyed my photo account, so I am in the process of finding my photos to update my memories, these were scanned from real photos in an album thus the old look. So glad I had them!

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