Look Up: Zion National Park

The way Zion NP and Bryce NP are described is "Look Up, Look Down". Simply said, it's an apt description for at Zion you are in a valley looking up at wonderful rock formations while at Bryce you're on top of a mesa looking down. Truly vertical experiences. Of course you can hike either up (Zion) or down (Bryce) which we did.

Zion Canyon has a human history as early as 500 AD but human civilization disappeared around 1300 AD, likely as a result of flooding of the Virgin River. Standing at the base of 2,000 feet of shear rock in the Virgin River Canyon you can understand why humans were attracted here. Nineteenth Century settlers were so awed that they turned to the Bible to find names for formations like The Three Patriarchs (Abraham, Jacob and Isaac). It's not the height of the walls that soar above the canyon but the character of the sandstone domes, fins and blocky massifs that capture your senses.

Hiking only enhances the enjoyment. We took the Virgin River Narrows Trail as far as we could. The trail ends when the canyon narrows to about a five

foot width which requires further exploration by wading in the river, not allowed when we visited due to a heavy rain which made further progress very dangerous. We passed on the most rigorous hike, a 4 hour climb to Angel's Landing. Instead, we trekked to Emerald Pools and were rewarded with a lovely waterfall view. A nice level walk from the The Grotto to Zion Lodge got us hungry for lunch, A brief uphill trek to Weeping Rock concluded our Zion hikes.

One of the pleasures of Zion is that auto traffic is banned in most of the Park in season and the Park Service runs an excellent shuttle service with drivers who double as tour guides. Each stop from the Visitor's Center to the end of the road at the Temple of Sinawava offers different perspectives on the sandstone formations. As with all the Parks, it's all about the time of day and the light on the formations that make up the experience. Plus, there is so much to see that it's easy to develop Stendahl Syndrome! For instance, just outside our hotel window was a huge formation aptly called The Watchman. We enjoyed seeing it at first light and as dusk spread through the Valley. It was a different looking formation each time.

Our next stop was Bryce. Look Down!