To Zion

We managed to snag a 2-day reservation in Zion National Park when someone cancelled so that was our next destination.

 These red rock formations looked lovely covered in snow on our route from Lake Powell to Zion.  But then it started snowing hard.

But the snow never stuck to the roads. Just before the entrance to Zion National Park we saw turkeys foraging along the highway. 

 At the entrance to the park they measure your RV.  If you're higher than 11 feet or wider than 7 feet you have to pay a $15 fee and they stop the opposing traffic to allow you to drive down the middle of a tunnel.  If your RV is higher than 13 feet or longer than 40 feet or your truck and trailer measure more than 50 feet combined, you have to turn around and take a longer route.  Our trailer is 8 feet wide so we had to pay up but we were able to carry on.

The road winds down into Zion Canyon past some spectacular rocks.

We navigated the tight turns without incident and made our way to our campsite.

In the shadow of the Watchman peak.

By noon we were set up and we headed over to the visitor centre to catch the shuttle bus up the canyon.  When we last visited they hadn't instituted the shuttles yet.  We drove down the canyon but couldn't stop till the very end because there were no camping spots.

We took the shuttle to the very end for the Riverside trail.

Busy!  Quite a change from our hikes at Roosevelt Lake. Saw a rock squirrel.

Ordinarily you can hike the Narrows by wading up the river from the end of the Riverside Trail.  But it was closed because of high water levels.  Usually water seeps through rocks but now it was shooting out.

We managed to evade the crowds for a while on the walk back by following an unpaved path along the Virgin River.

I swear there are more Steller's jays in Zion than anywhere in the world! 

Bird of the Day!

Unlike our BC birds, southwestern jays have white streaks on their faces.

On our shuttle back we walked up the short trail to the weeping rock.

More of a spouting rock today.

You can walk behind the waterfall.

 

See?