A Different Canyon Experience - Zion National Park, Utah

Although nearby Bryce Canyon offers great sights of hoodoos and canyons, Southwestern Utah's Zion National Park offers a totally different canyon experience.

Unlike Bryce, most of the beautiful views come from inside the canyon, rather than viewpoints along the canyon rim.

Dad and I came into the east entrance of the park through the Mt. Carmel Junction (coming down through State Highway 89, turn right and head on to State Route 9, also known as Zion Park Scenic Byway).

The park's entrance was by far the most dramatic welcome to the National Parks I have been through. The road winds its way through impressive sights of the canyon, the Checkerboard Mesa, and a long tunnel that cuts through the canyon rock. Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of the sights on the byway.

The aforementioned scenic byway. Photo taken by Wikipedia user Crevans.

We kept going through the road and continued up to Zion Lodge, where we would be staying. Although the road continues on to the north end of the park, no cars are allowed beyond the lodge. In order to access the rest of the park, the Zion shuttle must be taken.

The primary view of the canyon from Zion Lodge.

We left our stuff at the lodge and took the shuttle up to explore the rest of the park, getting an idea of any hikes we would take the next day. As we looked out, we saw many beautiful rock formations that surrounded us.

The Great White Throne, one of the famous formations in the park.

The next day, we headed back up the shuttle and stopped at Weeping Rock. It was a short half-mile hike to the formation, which was more than worth than walk.

Weeping Rock.

It was quite beautiful to see the water fall from the top. But we had more to see, so we left and explored more of the hotspots near the south entrance of the park, where the visitor center was. After we stopped at the visitor center, we came back to the lodge and embarked on the Emerald Pool trail.

We got to see many little waterfalls and neat rock formations here. Yet, this was only the Lower Emerald Pool. The Upper Emerald Pool was still a ways to go.

Small waterfall on the trail.

We saw many other beautiful rock formations on the way, but when we arrived at the Upper Emerald Pool, we were rewarded with the view of a waterfall from way up high! We stayed here for a good while, trying to comprehend the staggering height of the fall.

Waterfall at the Upper Emerald Pool.
I was looking almost straight up when I shot this photo.

The cliffs from Upper Emerald Pool.

There are many other hikes and views that I have yet to see in this park when I return. I didn't get to hike Angels Landing, which is one of the most famous (and one of the most dangerous) trails. Angels Landing offers a rewarding, spectacular view of the canyon from an overlook at the very end. However, the trail offers exposure to dangerous heights and is quite strenuous. In fact, several people have been killed from falling off the canyon cliffs on this trail.

Like most national parks, there is a $25 fee that must be paid upon entrance, if you are driving in to the park, which is good for one week. However, you can buy other kinds of passes here:

http://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/feesandreservations.htm

View on our way back to the lodge from the Emerald Pool Trail.

The Zion Lodge was a great place to stay, with great dining that lets you view the canyon from inside. One downside was that the phone in our room did not work during our stay, so we had to use a pay phone in the main building.

More shots of Zion are on my Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=zion&w=52619990%40N06

Views of The Great Wyoming Highlands - near Pinedale, Wyoming

There's a fairly quiet, little-known town a ways southeast of Yellowstone Park, yet it represents a door leading to an extremely large country comprising of gorgeous highland forests properly situated in the Wind River Mountain Range. This little town, you ask? Pinedale, Wyoming.

A tree near Halfmoon Lake.

Halfmoon Lake.

On the first day of our arrival in the town, we took a route toward the Halfmoon and Fremont Lakes. We first went through the area around Halfmoon Lake, and got the chance to enjoy peace and quiet in the lush forest scenery. We turned around and headed on another road that led to a viewpoint of Fremont Lake.

Viewpoint of Fremont Lake.

Seeing the rolling hills and the lake... it was almost out of a fairytale. The only downside was that there were quite a few of pesky bugs flying around, which was a little annoying, but the great view overcame this small annoyance. Unfortunately, in many of the nearby places we visited there would be a lot of bugs. However, we were about to encounter an even more spectacular view just up the road.

View of the Wind River Range.

This next overlook presented a view of the Wind River Range; over 10 mountains in the view were at least 10,000 feet or higher. It did prove to be much more dramatic, primarily because we were up so high. We could also part of the Fremont Lake below, which was now almost a speck.

 The next day offered spectacular views as well. This time, we headed out of the city and onto another road through the settlement of Cora, Wyoming. A short distance later, the road turned into bumpy gravel, but this didn't stop us from proceeding. As we continued, the Green River eventually came in by our side. Although it wasn't officially designated as a scenic road, it certainly should have after seeing the views of the pine trees, rolling hills and the beautiful Green River on our sides of the road.

The Green River.

Finally we reached the end of the gravel road, and we came face to face with a striking view of the Green River Lake, with the Squaretop Mountain in the distance. It was like it was out of a dream. In fact, it WAS out of a dream I had several months before I came here.

The Green River Lake with Squaretop Mountain.

A Magical Fairyland - Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Only three years ago was I privileged to make a trip with my Dad to Bryce Canyon National Park, one of my home state's treasures. Coming from Salt Lake City, Utah, the trip was not too long at all, only about 5 hours (coming from a Google Maps calculation). However, we spent the night in Cedar City, Utah before we made our drive to the park the next day, where we were about to experience the sights of a truly magical fairyland.

From one of the first overlooks we saw.

When we finally arrived in Bryce Canyon, we checked in at the Rubys Inn and proceeded through the Bryce Canyon Scenic Drive, and got out of the car at one of the first viewpoints. When we peered over the railings, we got a very dramatic view of the canyon, shown to the right. It was truly amazing to see the beautiful red rocks and hills stretch out for miles; this made for an interesting combination for a view.

The Natural Bridge.

 There were more other natural wonders this place would have to offer. On our next stop, we saw the awe-inspiring Natural Bridge. It was absolutely wonderful to see how expansive this bridge was, even though in this picture it looked rather small. As we headed onward through the scenic drive, we saw many more scenic views. The view at Rainbow and Yovimpa Points were equally spectacular, yet each in their own way. Rainbow offered a dramatic viewpoint of the prime canyon, whilst Yovimpa, a small hike away from Rainbow offered a dramatic view of the rolling hills.

From Rainbow Point.

From Yovimpa Point.

On our way back to Rubys Inn, we went backwards through the drive and decided to stop at Bryce Point. At the end of the short hike leading up to the point, we dropped our mouths.

The vista at Bryce Point.

View of hoodoos from inside the Queen's Garden / Navajo Trail.

It was truly a different, yet heart-stopping view of the many hoodoos (the nickname for the rock formations in Bryce Canyon). We stayed for a good long time, but soon the storm clouds began to roll in, so we had to leave. The next day brought forth another unique view of the canyon - from inside. We went on a hike through the Queen's Garden / Navajo combination trail. This trail offered the chance to view the hoodoos from the bottom, not from the top of an overlook, and it was quite wonderful. There were infinitely many inspiring formations inside the trail. It was a fun and rewarding hike that was not strenuous at all, except when it came to the climb at the end, which ended at another overlook.

I could go on forever raving about the many wonders in this park, but I don't want to spoil too much. I didn't mention all of the trails or viewpoints I took on my trip. I decided for this post to show a few shots and share a couple of my experiences in the park to simply wet your appetite. It is up to you to explore this fantastic fairyland for yourself.

A view from the Queen's Garden / Navajo Trail.

Ruby's Inn was a comfortable place to stay with great dining and lodging. I highly recommend it if you decide to stay in the park. Bryce Canyon Lodge is a bit further in the park, this one is owned by Xanterra. I did not stay in this lodge, so I don't know what it is like. The scenic drive is lengthy, branching off to a rather large array of overlooks and trails to hike. The Queen's Garden trail mentioned earlier was the only large hike my Dad and I ventured. There are many other trails that are lengthy and offer rewarding views of Bryce Canyon, but we never hiked them, and hence never saw the rewarding views of Bryce that they offered. The next time I return to this place, it will be my turn to take those trails.

Check out my photos from my trip:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=bryce%20canyon&w=52619990%40N06