A Weekend in Zion

The Road to Zion
Saturday, March 10, 2012

The Original Trip Report on ADVENTR.CO

On Saturday morning Amanda and I left for a week-long vacation to Las Vegas with a few other stops along the way. We would be spending our first weekend of the trip visiting Zion National Park for the first time. On our drive to Zion we made a couple of stops to visit some rock art.

Our first stop along the way was just off of the Interstate near Richfield where I hiked up to some petroglyphs. There were many spirals found here including these larger ones.

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Richfield Spirals by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A few smaller spirals and an anthropomorph.

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Faded Spirals by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Another spiral above.

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Another Spiral by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

There was a small hole in the sandstone overhang that cast a shadow on this petroglyph. It makes me wonder if the dagger of light might line up with the center of the spiral on a particular day and time...perhaps on the equinox or solstice?

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Interactive? by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After having some lunch in Richfield we continued on and took another short side trip out of Cedar City to the Lions Mouth Cave pictographs. Here's a stitched panoramic of the main panel found here.

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Lions Mouth Cave Panelramic by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Here's a few photos showing a few other views of the pictographs found here.

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Red & Yellow by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

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Lions Mouth Pictographs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

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Strange Designs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After finishing the drive to Zion and checking into our hotel just outside of the park we took an afternoon drive through Zion Canyon to get a nice overview of the park. After taking the short hike up to Weeping Rock we stopped by the Court of the Patriarchs and I liked the light that was currently striking them with the dark branches that seemed to compliment the cliffs in the background.

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Branches & Patriarchs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Even though there were no clouds in the sky and no fall colors I decided to take a photo of the last light of the day on The Watchman over the Virgin River anyways.

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The Watchman Sunset by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After the sun was down we headed back into town and grabbed some garlic burgers from Oscar's for dinner which were really good. Then it was back to our hotel so I could get some sleep before sunrise came again on Sunday...especially since we would be losing an hour thanks to Daylight Savings Time.

>> The Road to Zion Photo Gallery

A Day in Zion National Park
Sunday, March 11, 2012

The Original Trip Report on ADVENTR.CO

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Zion National Park by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After losing an hour overnight, I was up early again and back in the park before the sun came up so that I could watch the first light of the day strike the Towers of the Virgin including The West Temple, The Sundial, and the Altar of Sacrifice.

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Towers of the Virgin by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at light on The West Temple.

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West Temple Light by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Early morning light and shadows in Zion Canyon.

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Light & Shadow by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Once the sun was up we stopped by the petroglyphs near the South Gate of the park.

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South Gate Petroglyphs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

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Spiral, Track, Sheep by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After visiting the petroglyphs we drove to the end of the canyon so that we could take the short easy hike to the entrance of The Narrows.

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Narrows Sidewalk by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

It was a bit too cold out for me to want to hike up the Virgin River this trip, but these two were equipped to do so. I'll have to return at a warmer time to hike up The Narrows.

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Into the Narrows by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

[I]Next we drove up the Zion

Leaving Zion
Monday, March 12, 2012

The Original Trip Report on ADVENTR.CO

After a great weekend exploring Zion National Park, Amanda and I decided to stick around a bit longer on Monday morning before starting our drive to Las Vegas.

I visited the Court of the Patriarchs in the morning to catch the sunrise. I was worried for a bit that the clouds to the east would block the early morning light, but I ended up getting this spotlighting on the large sandstone formations above the Virgin River.

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Court of the Patriarchs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After some breakfast we hiked the Emerald Pools trail before leaving the park. This sidewalk lead around the lower pools and under the small waterfalls above.

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Emerald Sidewalk by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Looking up at the small waterfalls pouring over the sandstone.

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Emerald Falls by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The nice view as we hiked up to the upper pool.

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Emerald Pools View by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

There was still a patch of snow lingering next to the upper pool.

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Upper Emerald Pool by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This waterfall high above was falling into the upper pool.

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Upper Fall by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A black and white photo of one of the lower waterfalls backlit and behind some tree branches.

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Waterfall Through Branches by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Looking up and through one of the lower waterfalls on our hike back down.

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Under the Fall by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A view of the Virgin River and Zion Canyon as we walked across the bridge back to the trailhead.

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Virgin River by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

When we reached the car again it was time for us to start our journey towards Nevada. After leaving Zion, we made our way over to Washington so we could grab some burgers from In & Out for lunch ;)

Before leaving Utah and entering Arizona, we had one more stop to make at the Bloomington Petroglyph Park. This is probably one of the more unusual areas I have ever visited petroglyphs at since the large boulders containing the petroglyphs are right in the middle of a subdivision and surround by houses! Thankfully the city had the good sense to help preserve these petroglyphs by turning them into a park. There's even a sign and everything!

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Bloomington Petroglyph Park by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

There are a lot of interesting petroglyphs found on this large boulder right in the middle of this neighborhood.

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Neighborhood Boulder by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at another side of the large boulder.

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Lower Boulder by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This was a pretty large spiral.

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Large Spiral by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Looking up at a few more designs pecked into this boulder.

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Bloomington Designs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After leaving the Petroglyph Park we quickly crossed over into Arizona and then into Nevada. The rest of our drive to Las Vegas was pretty uneventful and we were checking into our room at the Stratosphere in no time!

Visiting Zion National Park without huge crowds was pretty nice, but I can certainly see why visiting in the fall when the colors are changing color would be an amazing time to visit the park. I guess I'll have to return during the fall in the future...even though the crowds will probably be much larger.

>> Leaving Zion Photo Gallery

...more and more I love Zion NP.
THX for sharing.

Eye popping photos! :hail2thechief:

Phenominaly Stunning Artwork! WOW!

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Originally Posted by IntrepidXJ

A Day in Zion National Park
A view of the Great Arch from the road.
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I'd love to see some of your artwork at the Crawford Arch Location Proper!

Let me try again?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by IntrepidXJ

A Day in Zion National Park
Sunday, March 11, 2012


As we headed back into town for a late lunch/early dinner I stopped to take a photo of Crawford Arch high above.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7097/7...91ac5930_z.jpg

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I think this is the one I meant?

I think it would be cool to get up there someday....but my understanding is that it is a bit technical?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by IntrepidXJ

I think it would be cool to get up there someday....but my understanding is that it is a bit technical?

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It's not too bad, but there is one chimney nearing the arch that must be upclimbed.