May 1, 2013 – East Side of Zion National Park

Happy May to Everyone!

Today we decided to explore the east side of Zion National Park. 

 

This is the start of the first tunnel.  Any large vehicle must buy a pass.  All traffic is stopped until the vehicles come thru the middle of the tunnel.  We watched a few buses and RVs come thru before we could go.

This is one of the viewpoints.  When the tunnel was first built, there were areas that people could stop and take in the view from here.  (Not anymore – :-((()

   

The second tunnel – no restrictions:

 

Views from the road:

  

 

Checkerboard Mesa:

Another great picture of Andy:

We saw trail signs and thought we were taking the Overlook Trail.  Here is the start:

We went about 1/2 mile and the trail started to get very narrow and rough.  We decided to head back (found out later that we took the wrong trail (oh well, it was adventure!):

Scenes from the return trip:

 

We stopped at the Zion Human History Museum where we saw a great film on the park.  The exhibits were about the humans that lived and passed thru these canyons.

I did find out about the swirls in the rocks.  A long, long time ago, this area (Utah, AZ, NM, CO) was part of a great sea.  When the sea dried, this area became great sand dunes.  Over time, the dunes compressed and made sandstone and the swirls remained. (that is the very simplified version – sorry.)

Right after the film, the ranger gave a talk on the influence of the CCC on Zion.  It was wonderful and for those who know me, I love the ranger talks and I remain fascinated by the CCC.

The area around the museum:

  

 

Here is the Natural Bridge:

My brother-in-law (Andy’s brother), Bill and our sister-in-law came in today.  They are at the Watchman Campground – very close by.  So tonight we had supper together and got caught up with each other.  We will be together for the next few days – :-)))

Another wonderful day in Zion National Park!

Enjoy today.