My Favorite Spot - Zion's

I went to visit my mom in St. George this past weekend, which I always love to do.

This trip was especially restorative for me (I needed it so badly ... I've been putting myself through my own personal hell, again) and we had such a good time besides. Part of that fun was Friday ... thanks to my mom's willingness to go with me, I had the chance to visit my very favorite place in the whole wide world: Zion's National Park http://www.zionnational-park.com/ .

Majestic ... don't you think? The picture above is a shot through the roof skylight of the tram/bus we were riding. The one below is part of the River Walk trail:

When you arrive in Zion's there are a few places to park just past the entrance (at the Visitor's Center, the Museum, and near the tunnel turn off) but if you want to go further into the heart you need to take one of the free bus/trams. Or I suppose you could ride your bike. The buses stop at all the main trail heads and tourist spots (the Weeping Rock, the trails that take you up to the Emerald Pool, the Lodge, the River Walk, etc.) and they are free (well, they should be since you pay a pretty high price to get in ... though the entrance fee IS good for a week). I remember when they first started dis-allowing cars in Zion's several years ago -- there was some complaining about taking away people's freedom and what-not, but mostly the consensus (I think) was that it was a good thing. It certainly adds to the mystery and beauty of the place and it has done so much to preserve and protect. When cars were allowed through people would park anywhere and everywhere, almost blocking the road sometimes, and it was noisy, over-busy and terribly crowded. Now it is quieter and more orderly. I love the change, actually. Here's a shot looking towards the front of the bus:

And one looking directly out the partially open window (interesting that my poor little camera completely washed out the sky where the window was open and looking through the window tint you see the sky how it REALLY was -- that BEAUTIFUL deep blue):

My mom is "getting on in years" (so she keeps insisting ... I guess I have to begin accepting that it's true) so we weren't interested in doing one of the "real" hikes or stopping at each of the scenic places. We just wanted to take the tram through the beautiful valley, feel the peacefulness of the place and take the one-mile-up-one-mile-back River Walk to the Narrows Trailhead. I'm very proud of my mom -- she made it the full trek, in spite of a little high-altitude dizziness and muscles that refused to fully cooperate. Mom, you are very stubborn and determined! Hah! The hard part to swallow was admitting a cane could've come in handy.

It was SUCH a beautiful morning!!!!! A fabulous cool front came through over the weekend and though the really great coolness was up in northern Utah, still they saw low 90's in Dixie, which felt nice after 110-degree weather. In Zion's (in the morning, anyway) it was heavenly: teperatures in the 80's and probably even cooler in the shade. When we reached the end of the River Walk at the Narrows trailhead, there was a lot of THIS going on (sorry for all my blurry pictures):

And this:
And this:
(We weren't the only ones sitting around people-watching though ... there were lots of people just hanging around enjoying the shade, catching their breath and watching the splashing and climbing):

There were also LOTS and LOTS of these, and I was absolutely amazed at how fearless and completely unconcerned they were around humans. They knew where the good stuff was, too!

Which leads me to my funny story of the day. Check out the furry dude in the next picture (again, sorry for the blurriness -- this time it was partly because he was across from us on the other side of the walkway AND I was also laughing):

There were other squirrels who went after other backpacks. But THIS guy was amazingly PERSISTENT! Intent. Determined!!! And he could care less that he was in the middle of dozens of milling human beings. Some unsuspecting hiker had planted this backpack and shoes next to the retaining wall and went merrily on his way down to the water, and Mr. Squirrel went in for the kill. He started with the shoes but those soon went the way of the ground and THEN the fun really began. He climbed all over that backpack -- he pushed and pulled at the flaps -- he stuck his head into tucks and crannies ... and finally ... oh yes, I kid you not ... he unzipped one side of that thing and began to climb in!!!!!!!! Mom and I sat across the way and just laughed and laughed. All that effort really drew a crowd (at one point there must have been almost a dozen people standing in a half circle around the squirrel), and what really cracked me up is that EVERYONE was trying to take his picture and NO ONE was trying to stop the little invader! I think I laughed harder over that than the fact that he was actually getting into the backpack:

HAHA! Of course, did WE try to chase him away?! NO! That is, not until he managed to get that thing unzipped and began to climb in. Then I jumped to my feet and was about to go on over but a nearby man grabbed a large stick and chased the squirrel out. He didn't hit the critter of course -- just threatened him. The squirrel gave up and ran the other direction, and shortly thereafter the unsuspecting owner came back, picked up his backpack and prepared to move on. And do you know that not one person leaned over to tell him what had happened?! HAH! Again, I toyed with the idea but I think eventually the guy with the stick told him. It was sure entertaining for people-watchers such as my mom & I! And I learned a valuable lesson: don't leave your backpack (or other stuff) hanging around unless you KNOW it's secure and can't be gotten into!

It was a very pleasant morning but by the time we got back down the trail it was early afternoon and starting to get hot. NOT so pleasant then! So we went on home for a good little rest before heading out for another favorite family pasttime: EATING.

I truly, truly love Zion's. There is a magic to this place ... a majesty ... a spirit. I think all national parks have something of the Divine, but for me Zion's has it in abundance.