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| Entering Zion Canyon |
There were a lot of people visiting the park. It made me wonder, as Annie Lowrey does in The Atlantic, if Too Many People Want to Travel. It's certainly true that the hordes of tourists from all over America and beyond tramp down and destroy some of the natural habitat.
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| A Flyover |
But Zion park management is very aware of the danger. Cars are not permitted beyond a certain point in the canyon. Instead, tourists take a shuttle out to the end of the road -- and then they can walk a little over a mile along the Virgin River.
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| A Zion waterfall |
The Riverside walk, from the end of the road, ends at a place called The Narrows. The Narrows were closed, however, since the river was high with snow melt, and there was no river bank to walk on.
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| Looking into The Narrows |
We spent two nights in Springdale, then drove up even more, to Bryce Canyon, which sits at 8000 feet elevation. We thought the elevation might affect us; but we were okay, just a little tired at the end of the day.
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| A vista over Bryce Canyon |
Bryce is in some ways even more spectacular than Zion, with its time-worn hoodoo rock formations. But the main difference in my mind is that at Zion you're below the canyon walls. At Bryce you stand above the canyon, looking down (although intrepid hikers can take paths that twist down into the abyss).
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| Looking into Bryce Canyon |
A lot of people have already been to these canyons and beyond, so these pictures may seem familiar to you. But to anyone who hasn't gone, I would recommend the trip. Just tread lightly, so Zion and Bryce and all our other natural resources are still around for our grandchildren to wonder at as well.
9 comments:
The pictures of Bryce Canyon take me back to when I visited, many years ago. Very beautiful, and I'm so glad you're enjoying your vacation. :-)
Two of my favorite national parks! Springdale is a nice base camp too. I remember a wonderful photographer’s gallery there. (Looks like you have a troll - first commenter - who needs to be sent back under the rock where he was hiding.)
That is a part of the country I'd love to visit and am grateful to bloggers like you that do share their pictures. What a wing span on that bird.
I love Zion National Park, that whole area really.
We thought we might never go to Yosemite because of the reported traffic jams, but then we got to go one late September and the crowds were not so bad but we did have to worry about snow closing some roads.
Beautiful pictures of areas I've never seen. I hear you on the travelling yet so many economies are dependent on it.
XO
WWW
Never been there, but we do have a nat'l park membership card.
I have been to those places a number of times. At first it was so beautiful, but years ago it was crazy with people and that took away the magnificence substantially. We baby boomers are trekking everywhere and trying to get it all in and love it all to death before we die.
Great pictures! I was in that area a few years ago. It's absolutely stunning! Anybody going to Bryce should make sure to stop at Red Canyon just west of the park. A picnic lunch or dinner (there's a Subway between Bryce and Red Canyon) and a short hike is well worth it! As beautiful as Bryce and Zion are, Red Canyon is still one my favorite places in UT.
Yes, thank you.
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