Sept. 14 - Zion National Park - Utah

Saturday
Mike Here
Headed for Zion National Park this morning, which is one of our favorite places in the world.  If you have never been there, don't miss it.  Took a while to get through the gates since the entire world seemed to be there.  We parked the car at the visitor center and rode the shuttle all the way to the end of the canyon and then came back for lunch.  Our first stop was at a small visitor center with a view of the West Temple and a huge amphitheater.  Next was the Court of the Patriarchs.  The sheer scale and color of these walls is awesome. 
We continued on to places like the Great White Throne, the Weeping Wall, the Big Bend, then the end of the road which is called The Temple of Sinawava.  Beyond this you can walk another mile along the Virgin River but then the walls close in and you have to get in the river since there is no place to walk.  This is called the Narrows and many people wade upriver but you have to be careful because of flash floods. 

At the Narrows

On the way up we saw two mountaineers nearly to the top of a huge wall.  They were just specks.

Jim is the bottom climber------not

The total mountain height was 'unbelievably high.'

 When we came back down from the end of the drive, they were gone.  Hope they made it to the top. 
We ate a picnic lunch at the visitor center and then we went our separate ways.  Jim and Mary rode the shuttle back up to the end of the road and took two hikes.  One along the river to the Narrows (2.0 miles round trip) and the other to the Emerald Pools (1.2 miles round trip). 
We took the shuttle into the town of Springdale and did some Christmas shopping for our kids and grandkids.   Then we had ice cream.  Then back to the visitor center to watch people and wait for Jim and Mary.  They looked pooped.  Maybe I forgot to mention it was 98 degrees in the canyon.  Wow!  Below are just a few of the shots we took today.

Jim

Mike and Judy at The West Temple

We found out our car won't be ready until Tuesday so we have changed our itinerary a bit but it will work.
Note from Mary:
In thinking about our experience today, I can't even come close to describing the incredible beauty we were privileged to see. Words like fantastic, marvelous, awesome, seem so shallow when it comes to describing the beauty of this park. It  is a Spirit filled and Holly place as just being in and among the towering cliffs and mountains puts everything so much in perspective. It was such a humbling experience.

West Temple 

Court of the Patriachs