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We arrived at Zion just before sunset, and did a bit of walking around by the river at the bottom of the canyon, but there wasn't really time to photograph. The next morning we got up before dawn in order to avoid the heat of the midday sun on our hike on the Observation Point Trail. It was a great hike, and starting early was definitely the right call; we had the trail to ourselves, and even on the way back we were in shade from the canyon wall part of the time.                        The next two photos were taken on a short walk we did at the north end of the canyon that evening, called the Riverside Walk.   The next day we again awoke early, and drove out towards the east entrance of the park to walk around on the slickrock and explore off-trail a bit. That was less successful than hoped, as the morning was quite overcast. Mostly I took pictures of my companions, dwarfed by the immensity of their surroundings.         On our way back from the outing, we stopped to do a short hike called the Canyon Overlook Trail that was quite nice, with a spectacular view at the end of it. You might say "where is our photo of that beautiful view?"; the answer is that it was still so hazy and overcast that I didn't attempt to photograph it. You will just have to go there yourselves. Among these photos is one of a "seep spring" (the row of greenery at the back of the overhang wall); we saw those all over our trip, and they were once the main source of water for many Native American groups that lived in the Southwest.       That evening we walked on the Emerald Pool Trail, which I'd recommend as an easy hike that takes you to a very pretty spot. We weren't sure whether it would be worthwhile to go the last bit to Upper Emerald Pool, but it turned out to be very worthwhile; that's where all but the first and last of these photos was taken.       The next day we drove out of the park to the west, and then back in again on the Kolob Terrace Road, ending up at Lava Point, where we camped for a night. It was stormy, and our tent was leaky, but still I would say we had a great time. At Lava Point you're up above Zion Canyon, and you can look out across it from above, a vantage point that was really nice at sunset and sunrise. (Sunset and sunrise inside the canyon are actually kind of boring, as the light just slowly travels down the canyon walls, and mostly things stay fairly dark for a long time). The photos at the beginning and end of this bit are from the drive in and out of Lava Point, which was quite scenic; the photos in the middle are from Lava Point overlook and the vicinity of our campground.                  Part 3: The Grand Canyon |
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