We are beginning our own grand tour of the southwest exploring Zion National Park -- truly a place of living life on the Vertical. Every turn of the trail pulls your eyes UP -- but then you miss the flowers and birds (or the rocks on the trail!)
We have done all the "must do hikes": Emerald Pools, Angels Landing and North Rim, The Narrows, The Weeping Rock. Later today we will wrap up our experience with Hidden Canyon.
Zion National Park is about the rocks, but the real back story is the Virgin River. The River drops 70+ feet a mile and continues to carve out the Canyon. The River is really a flow of suspended sand particles as our hike through the Narrows filled our shoes and socks with sand!
The Park encompasses several desert regions; includes elevations ranging from 3,600 to 8,700 feet; and precipitation of only 15 inches a year. All this (plus the river flow) creates an incredible array of plants and animals thriving in the Park.
Next we head to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to see the rocks that are BELOW Zion National Park. Eventually we will visit Bryce Canyon and see the rocks that are ABOVE Zion. Hard to wrap your head around all the rocks & the time & the eons of our beloved planet.
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| Zion National Park: A Place of Sanctuary for Animals, Plants, and Humans...for millenium |
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| Occupational Hazard at Zion: Everything is WAY UP THERE |
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| White, Red, and Black colored rocks |
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| Colorado Columbine |
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| Zion Shooting Star--WOW what a flower |
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Weeping Rock -- see the drops? Water perks through the sandstone
hits impermeable shale and runs out to cliff. VIOLA -- a new habitat |
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| Emerald Pools |
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| Middle Emerald Pool at sunset |
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| Crazy LOUD frog at Emerald Pools. We thrilled to sight of White Throated Swifts mating near the ponds in a free fall above our heads. Tis spring! |
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| Flower! |
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| Flower |
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| Flower |
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| Cliff side near Icebox Canyon |
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| Icebox Canyon |
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| Looking up to see the Cliffs |
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| From Scout Lookout -- views up and down the Valley |
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| We saw CA Condors soaring from this vantage point -- huge birds that are but a speck in this space |
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| View UP Canyon |
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| Size and scale in the Park |
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| Walter's Wiggins --a series of 24 switchbacks that get the committed hiker up to the Rim... |
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| Textures on the Canyon Wall |
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| Trail in the Sun -- the early hiker stays cooler |
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| The Virgin River -- creates the Canyon and is a gurgling oasis in the Park |
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| Western Columbine |
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| The Narrows -- a hike through the river and up the Canyon as it narrows... |
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| Up the Narrows -- shallow, cool river. Fun on a hot day |
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| The River |
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