Zion National Park

Zion National Park is the only national park we've been to before that we've now returned to. It is one of our favorite places.

It is said to be one of the most beautiful places in America and is a masterpiece of towering cliffs, deep red canyons, swirling rock, and massive monoliths.

We stayed at a campground in the park with a fantastic view of the majestic rocks, and the Virgin River just below us. Because we are Golden Eagle pass holders, we camp at half price -- $8 p/night. We took hikes every day. We loved seeing all the wildflowers, red rocks, water falls, water drops seeping through the rocks that were 120,000 years old.

Zion is high desert and cool at night, but was very comfortable during the day, except one afternoon/evening when the winds were ferocious. Gusts up to 65 mph; branches and sticks blowing everywhere, along with dust. We rescued one of the tents that was blowing across the campground, and we were more than happy to be enclosed in a camper! A couple of the evenings we did enjoy eating outside, though, with a great campfire. The stars were very bright.

The geology of Zion is very interesting -- about 2 billion years in the making. At times it was covered by the sea; at other times broad rivers traversed its surface; at still other times it was swept by desert winds with huge sand dunes. Rocks were consolidated into conglomerates, sandstones, shales, and limestones. Later, underground forces uplifted rocks more than 10,000 feet. The Virgin River worked its magic with erosion. Many of the cliff peaks were named by a Methodist minister, with religious references. The name Zion was coined by Mormons, a biblical reference of the "everlasting home." It felt like home to us.

The first photo was from our camp site. The photo with John in it is on top of a mesa we climbed with an overlook -- a "moderate" hike. The unbelievable site was rock climbers up steep vertical cliffs. We took the shuttle up the same path twice to see them. We counted 6 -- (not visible, but they're on the last photo--different sides of the cliff.) We can't wonder what motivates rock climbers for those life-threatening thrills!