Zion National Park, a too quick visit

denisegoldberg

Early spring in the northeast, cold and wet weather tends to last longer than I'd like. I finally realized that I needed an escape, so I headed to Zion National Park to satisfy my need for warmth, and for wandering with my camera in an absolutely beautiful place. I spent a short 2 1/2 days in the park, and I would do it again in a heartbeat! Thoughts (from my blog) after my first day's wander:

Walking, feet moving over and over and over... Eyes seeking interesting sights, a moving river, red rocks, sand, narrow trails, tiny new flowers, bugs, birds... A dark tunnel with occasional windows overlooking the valley, dark, dark, light, visions of Zion, quickly turning dark once more.

Layers of rock, different colors jumping out of each layer. Flat trails, steep trails, narrow trails with steep drop-offs.

Early morning gray skies changing, clouds moving, blue skies emerging, highlighting red rocks.

I knew that my flight from the east and drive to Springdale, UT probably left my energy at a slightly tired level, so my first day in the park was spent wandering some of the shorter trails. First was the Riverside Walk, leading to the start of The Narrows trail. For those who are unfamiliar with Zion, that trail is in the Virgin River. That water at this time of year is much to cold for me, so I stayed on the land...

Red cliffs, swirling water, early green leaves, beautiful.



Changing trails, I headed toward the Emerald Pools. Oh, look to the sky!



After spending most of my that first day walking trails with trailheads along the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, I jumped back into my car to drive the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, passing through an almost totally dark mile-long tunnel to the Canyon Overlook Trail. The trail started as an "on the edge" trail, then passed under this rock ledge before getting to a beautiful view of the valley.



Did someone say this trail is flat?



The next morning I headed out on the trail to Angel's Landing. I stopped just short of the exposed section of that trail (my somewhat fear of exposed heights stopped my from continuing to the end!) and then continued to do part of the West Rim Trail.

Early on the climb, looking up...



Tree roots, supporting trees above the ground...



And more stark beauty...



A posing lizard...



Early morning light decorated the river on my last morning's walk...




It was very hard to choose which pictures to share with you, and I've included just a few here. If you'd like to see more, my galleries from this quick trip are at http://denise.smugmug.com/Travel/307870.

Thanks for looking, and sharing my wonder at the beautiful sights of Zion.

--- Denise

wxwax

Very nice, Denise. I have shots from the same little beach where you stood to get that first image.

I struggle with the light on the rocks. At some point Marc Muench is going to post a Photoshop technique for properly exposing landscapes (hint, hint!) which involves bringing down levels. I can't wait.

denisegoldberg

wxwax wrote:

Very nice, Denise. I have shots from the same little beach where you stood to get that first image.

I struggle with the light on the rocks. At some point Marc Muench is going to post a Photoshop technique for properly exposing landscapes (hint, hint!) which involves bringing down levels. I can't wait.

Thanks!

I'm still in my "learning how to get good shots" and playing with my camera phase, haven't moved on yet to editing. Someday.... so I'd certainly be interested in reading that as yet to be written hint too.

BoomerangNetwork.com

Wonderful shots! Love the tree roots and the layered rocks. Contrast can be challenging to capture in digital but you did a nice job.

coldclimb

Hey, very cool! Awesome shots. If you look very closely in the second one, right of center and near the bottom, there is a light streak running up the rock, and a climber on the way up. I've been right there! Thanks for sharing the pics!

ShepsMom

Nice trip! Brings back memorie, Zion is one hell of a beauty!!