Tuesday, October 13th...I was awoken by the bright Utah sunshine. I hopped out of bed, excited for my excursion of the day. I was going to drive down through Utah, check out Zion National Park, then head out to Las Vegas for the evening and if I had a chance in between, I would see if I could make it out to the Grand Canyon. I drove and passed amazing Utah mountains (these are my pictures):
The mountains were amazing. In that last picture, you can see the BYU "Y". It is a random "Y" which looked like the block lettering for Yale. I asked what these meant and was told:
"At 8520 feet (2597 m), Y Mountain is located directly east of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The Slide Canyon/Y Mountain Trail leads to a large block Y located 1.2 miles (1.9 km) from a parking area at the mountain's base. The Y was built over a hundred years ago as the insignia for BYU. For years the trail to the Y has been one of the most hiked trails in the Utah Valley and provides a beautiful view of Provo, Orem, and the rest of the many cities in Utah Valley and Utah Lake. The trail is also regularly used by hikers, bikers, paragliders and hunters to access the backcountry in the Slide Canyon area.
The large white Y on the side of the mountain has become the nationally recognized insignia for BYU and the reason why BYU is often called "the Y". It is made of concrete and is 380 feet high and 130 feet wide (116 by 40 m). No other college in the United States has a larger symbol, in fact, the Y is even larger than the letters in the "Hollywood Sign" in California." (Wikipedia)
I drove for almost 5 hours and finally saw a sign for Kolob Canyons, Zion National Park. I took the exit to go explore, not knowing what I was going to find. There was a visitor's center that people had to go into. I found out then that the entrance fee for Zion National Park in general was $25. EEK! That's a lot, but I've heard Zion National Park is amazing, so I sucked it up and paid the fee to get in. I drove around the first set of cliffs and what I saw literally took my breath away.
But first, a geography lesson. Zion National Park is the middle section of an immense section of sedimentary rock layers which form the Grand Staircase. The top step is called Bryce Canyon National Park, the middle section is Zion National Park and the bottom step is the Grand Canyon. The bottom layer of Bryce Canyon National Park is the top layer of Zion National Park and the bottom layer of Zion National Park forms the top layer of the Grand Canyon, so it's like a giant staircase. Now, back to pictures and what you really care about:
As I drove around this set of cliffs, the scenery only got more spectacular. I'm sorry that these pictures don't do it justice, but I did what I could...
A friend of mine decided that we were going to go on a road trip in a couple of years, and I told that person that we are stopping back at Zion to go hiking. I would love to take the trails around here to see the arch in Kolob Canyons and hike down in the valley between the road and the cliffs...it seems amazing.
I got back on the road drove a few more miles and saw another sign for the actual Zion National Park. It was a 30 or so mile drive through some little towns, Virgin, Utah, St. George...There were kitchy little shops selling rocks and man made chunks of glass....then I finally made it through into the Zion Canyon. Zion is a little strange, you have to park near the park entrance and the only way you can access the canyon at all is through a shuttle. So I got on the shuttle and took it all the way up into the canyon.
History Lesson (don't you feel like you're in school?): Zion National Park was settled 8,000 years ago when nomadic family groups settled on the canyon floor to collect seeds and hunt. Farming of corn and other crops came in about 2,000 years ago which created the first sedentary groups to settle on the canyon floor. Extreme droughts followed by catastrophic flood caused these groups of people to move away from the canyon by 1300 AD. In the 1800's, Mormon fur traders and farmers settled in the area east of Zion where the towns of Virgin and St. George are now. The late 1800's brought explorers like Methodist minister Frederick Vining Fisher who made a game out of naming the cliffs with his guides. He named the Patriarchs, Angel's Landing, The Emerald Pools, The Great White Throne and The Organ...
But first, a geography lesson. Zion National Park is the middle section of an immense section of sedimentary rock layers which form the Grand Staircase. The top step is called Bryce Canyon National Park, the middle section is Zion National Park and the bottom step is the Grand Canyon. The bottom layer of Bryce Canyon National Park is the top layer of Zion National Park and the bottom layer of Zion National Park forms the top layer of the Grand Canyon, so it's like a giant staircase. Now, back to pictures and what you really care about:
As I drove around this set of cliffs, the scenery only got more spectacular. I'm sorry that these pictures don't do it justice, but I did what I could...
That one really light area on the right is from a massive landslide that happened about ten years ago.
A friend of mine decided that we were going to go on a road trip in a couple of years, and I told that person that we are stopping back at Zion to go hiking. I would love to take the trails around here to see the arch in Kolob Canyons and hike down in the valley between the road and the cliffs...it seems amazing.
I got back on the road drove a few more miles and saw another sign for the actual Zion National Park. It was a 30 or so mile drive through some little towns, Virgin, Utah, St. George...There were kitchy little shops selling rocks and man made chunks of glass....then I finally made it through into the Zion Canyon. Zion is a little strange, you have to park near the park entrance and the only way you can access the canyon at all is through a shuttle. So I got on the shuttle and took it all the way up into the canyon.
History Lesson (don't you feel like you're in school?): Zion National Park was settled 8,000 years ago when nomadic family groups settled on the canyon floor to collect seeds and hunt. Farming of corn and other crops came in about 2,000 years ago which created the first sedentary groups to settle on the canyon floor. Extreme droughts followed by catastrophic flood caused these groups of people to move away from the canyon by 1300 AD. In the 1800's, Mormon fur traders and farmers settled in the area east of Zion where the towns of Virgin and St. George are now. The late 1800's brought explorers like Methodist minister Frederick Vining Fisher who made a game out of naming the cliffs with his guides. He named the Patriarchs, Angel's Landing, The Emerald Pools, The Great White Throne and The Organ...
The Three Patriarchs,from left to right: Abraham, Issac and Jacob is the sliver of white rock you can see to the right of the third cliff...
Angels Landing is the middle peak at the top of the cliff
The Emerald Pools (not my photo)
Named after the minerals in the water that change the color to a deep green color
The Great White Dome (right) and the Cathedral (left)
Supposedly, Zion National Park is known for rock climbing. It's second only to Yosemite in the attraction of rock climbers. The cliff below is the most popular cliff for serious climbers. It takes approximately two days to get to the top from the canyon floor. The climbers have to find a ledge about half way up the cliff to sleep for the night. Yup. They're sleeping on a ledge which is about 2 feet deep max...I would not be caught dead.
The Cliff that is known for rock climbing...
If you look closely, you can see rock climber in the upper right hand corner...
I was bummed that I didn't get to do any hiking, but can't wait until I can come back and to explore. Getting back on the road, I had to drive through Arizona and into Nevada. I wasn't in Arizona long enough to stop but I took some cool pictures:
Arizona
Kept on driving until I hit the great lights of Las Vegas. I checked into my hotel in North Las Vegas and headed on down to the strip. I was originally going to go to the MGM Grand but ended up parking at Paris.
I was exploring Paris and starving, so I grabbed some food at a little boulangerie in Paris. The food was amazing. I had a ham and swiss sandwich, but it was very french, the bread was french, soft, flaky...I haven't had anything like it since I was in France. I went out onto the strip, but honestly, I was exhausted at this part, so I didn't do too much exploring. I wasted 20 bucks in a penny slot machine in about 5 minutes and then headed back to the parking garage. On the way, I saw a creperie. Many people know, and others don't, I have a major issue with American crepes. The stupid crepes at IHOP or Dennys are not crepes. They are pancakes filled with cream cheese and have fruit on top. Gross. Since my sandwich was so authentically French, I decided to test my luck. I got a Napoleon crepe which had fresh blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, topped with lemon curd and chantilly cream. It was a little bit of heaven. Seriously, haven't had anything like that since I was in France. Yum!!
After my crepe, I headed to the parking garage to go back to the hotel and sleep like the dead...
Hours Traveled: 6 travelling, 10 with stops
Miles Traveled: 400 miles
What a beautifully written travelogue. Makes me want to have been with you! Seriously, you should consider writing for a travel magazine. Your dialog is interesting and so descriptive!
ReplyDeleteGreat job. Looking forward to the next installment!
Mom