Zion NP

The first full day of last week’s photo tour was spent at Zion National Park. Zion is a southwest Utah nature preserve distinguished by Zion Canyon’s steep red cliffs. The park was established in 1919 and today, almost 100 years later it welcomes over 4 million visitors annually. It’s readily accessible from major population centres of the U.S. Southwest, Phoenix (416 miles), Salt Lake City (308 miles), Las Vegas (160 miles) and Los Angeles (430 miles).

This year’s visit was my fourth and as always, it never disappoints.

Today, I’m posting three of my favourite pictures, beginning with this morning shot of the Watchman, viewed from the bridge across the Virgin River, just upstream from the town of Springdale. This scene is among the most photographed at Zion NP. I’ve taken it before and I’m sure I’ll do it again at a future visit.

This next photograph was taken at the north end of Zion Canyon where the Virgin River exits the Narrows, a slot canyon feeding into the main area of the park. We reached this area via the River Walk and that was as far as we could go. The Narrows were closed at this time, due to a high volume of water from the spring run-off.

And finally, here’s a view of the main canyon with Angel’s Landing on the right side and a partial view of the Great White Throne in the background. As you can see, spring has arrived as evidenced by the brilliant green leaves emerging on the trees.

Bill, Barry and I spent a full day exploring the park, including a return, evening visit to “The Watchman” scene. It was a long and satisfying day, followed by a well earned rest. We called it a day in anticipation of our next day’s visit to Bryce Canyon National Park. Back with that later.