Day 2

Friday began with a 6:00am wakeup call. On the agenda today was a visit to Zion National Park. Wanted to get up and out early to get a jump on visitor traffic and the heat of the day (the forecast for the day was sunny and 103 degrees). We took 15 North (no not that 15) to SR 9 and took that into Springdale. Because of heavy visitor traffic in the summer, Zion doesn't actually allow vehicle traffice on the primary park road from April to September. But they do offer a a free shuttle both in the park, and in the town of Springdale. We parked at the Bumbleberry Inn (home of the Bumbleberry Pie) and waited at the bus stop for the shuttle bus. The buses outside the park run every 15 minutes or so. Soon enough the bus appeared and we hopped on and headed to the park. The bus dropped us off about 50 yards from the pedestrian entrance to the park. We paid our entry fee and headed to the visitor center. After a quick check on patches in the store and some directional assistance from a park ranger, we headed out.

The first (and really last trail) that we hit that morning was the Watchman Trail. We walked it for the first quarter mile or so, before the other members of my party decided to head back to the visitor center. I continued on. Winding my way up a relatively short trail ( 2.7 miles RT), I made it to what I figured to be the top of the trail. Took some great pictures on the way up, and had a pretty clear shot at Watchman once I made it up. I also saw a lizard. I'm glad we got there early. I passed only two people going up, but I passed about eight people coming back. By the time I got back to the visitor center, there was a steady flow of people arriving.

We waited for a bus and headed into hear of the park. Our first stop was going to be the Court of the Patriarchs. These are three peaks named for patriarchs in the Old Testament. They were named Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Many years ago, a Methodist minister named these peaks and many more and most of the names have stuck permanently. After taking enough photos here, we moved deeper into the park, getting off at the Big Bend stop. We took a few snaps and then headed back south. On the way back down to the visitor center, we stopped off at Canyon Junction where I took a few more snaps.

After a stop for some pie, we headed back home. I hit the pool, and then we hit JB's for dinner and Blue Bunny for desert. We also stopped off at the local Mormon temple and Kohls. And that was Day two.

Pictures coming soon...