ZION... and So Much More!

Friday, Oct 27…

Busy day. We’re off to Zion Nat’l Park, but taking the long way ‘round and meeting Mark (who has work obligations) mid-afternoon at Zion proper. Our first stop along Rte 14 is a bristlecone pine forest, followed by lava beds. Then we checked out Cedar Breaks Nat’l Monument, a 3-mile wide natural amphitheater (one of many in Utah).  Lunch was at Sue’s Chalet Café in Duck Creek Village. (Judy, the only sensible one, ordered a bowl of soup and finished it. All the rest of us left food on our overfilled plates.)

Entering the bristlecone pine area...
(maybe the boardwalk is 4500 years old too)

Immature pine cones. The  needles create
 a bottle-brush appearance.
(wikipedia photo)

Valley view from the pines.

Lava Bed & Naked Aspen

Cedar Breaks observation point is to the left. (nps photo)

Amphitheater (standing room only)

Aunt Sue's, all ready
for Halloween.

These aspens appear to be growing
out of the shed roof.

Continuing toward Zion after lunch, we unexpectedly came upon a herd of bison (not buffalo 😃) following their leader to the "watering hole" and then on to whatever lay farther along the way. A few minutes later we also passed some goats. Eventually we drove through the rock tunnel to Zion proper.

Orderly, and not at all fazed by the gathering crowd.

They came, they drank, then wandered out the other side.

Just before 3pm, we entered the tunnel
approaching Zion. 

Mark met us at the Visitor Center; then we all rode the park shuttle to the end of the line, where we hiked to "the narrows" (virtually the end of the canyon, but only a mile or so in). As in so many other places, we heard many different languages as we walked. Pics along the way...

Awesome view even from parking lot!

Unsuccessfully trying to capture
surrounding rock height from
shuttle bus.

Easy to see height here.

North Fork Virgin River

Tree (Greg)

Same Tree (me)

 Embellished by Nature

At least one of us is "focused" on the view.

Approaching sunset.

Heading back...

More fading light...

...but the highest peaks are still bright.

Just outside the park we stopped for dinner at Oscar's Cafe. The food was great, but even splitting orders we had way more than we could eat. Finally back home, we all hit the hay pretty early. Tomorrow we're taking the side-by-sides (4-wheelers) up into the Silver Reef mining area. 

BlogThought...  I learned today that aspens are the largest living organism on earth. Apparently dozens/hundreds (thousands?) of them are connected through their root systems. There are definitely thousands of trees around here (representing many root systems, I'm sure), and I love them. We saw their colors turning when we were in Colorado. Now they're all brilliant white/silver. (And most are totally stripped of leaves.) Against the brilliant blue sky, they are gorgeous.


 PartingShot...

Bob admiring Mother Nature.