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October 19
We have made ourselves familiar with some of the details of Zion Canyon, packed a lunch, put on our hiking shoes and hop on the shuttle bus, which takes us into the National Park. We have the option to get off at various view points or trail heads and decide to do a 3 hour hike to Hidden Canyon.
It’s quite a climb and at some points the cliffs are a bit scary. Ramiro encourages me and stays close by to catch me or to lend me his walking stick. The views are spectacular.
The sun is still behind the mountain. making it easier to do the climbing. Chains helps us along some of the narrow trails and in other places steps have been carved out of the rocks.
We find the perfect spot in the sun for our picnic lunch before we continue. Once back on the main road we get on the shuttle again and try another, easier hike to the weeping wall and a third one along the river. The rock formation is amazing, the colours are a deep red in some places.
I have posted the rest of the Zion canyon pictures at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/miselly2/ZionNationalPark#
We had a fantastic day and come hope exhausted. I am not able to get an internet connection and give up, other than sending a few brief messages from Ramiro’s computer before we turn in for the night.
As soon as the first rays of light appear from behind the mountains we’re on our way again.
We decide to take the mountain road through the park, ending up on 89 direction Flagstaff.
We measure our height and width to make sure we will make it through the tunnel.
We are oversize, but for an extra $15.00 a pilot car will block off the road for the oncoming traffic to allow us to get through the one mile long tunnel, driving in the middle of the road. Our park pass, which we bought yesterday, at $12.00 per person is good for 7 days.
There is some road construction going on, but nothing that slows us down too much. The fact that we left early helps. It also allows for beautiful pictures with the early sun casting it’s light on the red rocks.
It takes us a good hour to maneuver ourselves through the tight switchbacks, tunnels and canyon walls, but definitely worth it.
We continue on the scenic route south onto 89 direction Flagstaff, Arizona. A much easier road, but not to be taken for granted. Accidents do happen as it did for this truck loaded with Pepsi.
The scenery changes as we drive through the Vermillion Cliffs, which are like castles rising from the earth. These, the Grand Staircase Escalante National Park and Glen Canyon and dam are some of the highlights of this route.
This is also the starting point of the Grand Canyon, which starts as a narrow strip and runs south, spreading out west over a much larger area. Our road runs parallel along this strip before it veers off to the right, direction Flagstaff.
At a certain point, all traffics gets pulled over onto the shoulder to allow room for a giant piece of equipment passing through, taking up the entire road.
We reach Phoenix at around 5 pm and have no difficulty finding a Walmart at the north side of the city. It is very hot in Phoenix and we sleep with he windows open.
We have made ourselves familiar with some of the details of Zion Canyon, packed a lunch, put on our hiking shoes and hop on the shuttle bus, which takes us into the National Park. We have the option to get off at various view points or trail heads and decide to do a 3 hour hike to Hidden Canyon.
It’s quite a climb and at some points the cliffs are a bit scary. Ramiro encourages me and stays close by to catch me or to lend me his walking stick. The views are spectacular.
The sun is still behind the mountain. making it easier to do the climbing. Chains helps us along some of the narrow trails and in other places steps have been carved out of the rocks.
We find the perfect spot in the sun for our picnic lunch before we continue. Once back on the main road we get on the shuttle again and try another, easier hike to the weeping wall and a third one along the river. The rock formation is amazing, the colours are a deep red in some places.
I have posted the rest of the Zion canyon pictures at:
We had a fantastic day and come hope exhausted. I am not able to get an internet connection and give up, other than sending a few brief messages from Ramiro’s computer before we turn in for the night.
We decide to take the mountain road through the park, ending up on 89 direction Flagstaff.
We measure our height and width to make sure we will make it through the tunnel.
We are oversize, but for an extra $15.00 a pilot car will block off the road for the oncoming traffic to allow us to get through the one mile long tunnel, driving in the middle of the road. Our park pass, which we bought yesterday, at $12.00 per person is good for 7 days.
There is some road construction going on, but nothing that slows us down too much. The fact that we left early helps. It also allows for beautiful pictures with the early sun casting it’s light on the red rocks.
We continue on the scenic route south onto 89 direction Flagstaff, Arizona. A much easier road, but not to be taken for granted. Accidents do happen as it did for this truck loaded with Pepsi.
The scenery changes as we drive through the Vermillion Cliffs, which are like castles rising from the earth. These, the Grand Staircase Escalante National Park and Glen Canyon and dam are some of the highlights of this route.
This is also the starting point of the Grand Canyon, which starts as a narrow strip and runs south, spreading out west over a much larger area. Our road runs parallel along this strip before it veers off to the right, direction Flagstaff.
At a certain point, all traffics gets pulled over onto the shoulder to allow room for a giant piece of equipment passing through, taking up the entire road.
We reach Phoenix at around 5 pm and have no difficulty finding a Walmart at the north side of the city. It is very hot in Phoenix and we sleep with he windows open.
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