Monday, July 06, 2009

Road trip - Zion National Park and Grand Canyon, North Rim

Last weekend I did a 2600 mile road trip to Zion National Park and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.



Zion was pretty good. I was expecting it to be similar to Bryce and Grand Canyon, but I was quite wrong. The best part of Zion was the hike up the Virgin River in knee deep water, on the floor of the canyon.





We could've done another more strenuous hike to the top if we had another extra day. Perhaps another time. In Zion you have to use the Shuttle bus service to see about half of the park, which is a good thing. It gets even better if your bus driver happens to be the hilarious Jim L. I don't know is last name but you will enjoy his tour.

It rained one evening and I was afraid that it would ruin our trip. Thankfully, it stopped after about a half hour and we were treated to some beautiful sights when the sun peeped out of the clouds just before setting.







You can drive from Zion's east entrance (not the main entrance) to the North rim of the Grand Canyon in about 2.5-3 hours if I remember correctly. But if you start out late in the evening from Zion, it's good to just stop at Kanab town and find lodging there.



The North Rim is best experienced if you make proper arrangements in advance and go hiking to the bottom of the Canyon. We didn't and so I felt that another trip is in order some time.



Until next time...cheers!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Interestingly, from the river to top is a billion years of natural history - each eon is recorded in great detail. I would love to do this sometime..

JP said...

I love the 4th snap, & the last.Warm & breath taking, cool & soothing.

Country Mouse said...

I like picture 2 the best - I would love to be there hiking along that creek bed! I also loved the shots you got of the light appearing after the rain. What a trip!