Watchman and the Virgin River

My next post from Zion National Park features an area along the Virgin River southward to the Watchman, seen in the centre, rear of the photograph. It’s probably the park’s pre-eminent landmark. This particular scene, photographed from the Canyon Junction Bridge has been viewed by millions and photographed by thousands.

We visited this area twice on the same day, first at mid-morning and later in the early evening as the sun was setting. That will explain the variations in lighting among the photographs.

This peak, the East Temple, bounds the northern side of the gateway to Zion National Park on its east side. It towers over the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway, the serpentine route that conveys visitors down into the park from the higher terrain to the east.

I took this picture from the Watchman Trail, looking back to the northeast. The upper part of the mountain is illuminated by the setting sun.

The south side pillar of the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway entry into the park is Bridge Mountain. I took this picture, also in the evening a little further along the Watchman Trail. I was again aiming back to the northwest for this photo. I’ve included a glimpse of the East Temple, beyond and to the right of Bridge Mountain.

This is a beautiful, little waterfall we discovered along the Watchman Trail. The composition for this scene is “ready made”, conveniently framed by the overhanging bough. Small changes in location make it possible to capture many interesting perspectives of this scene. This one is my favourite.

There are a number of bridges along the river, as the trail crosses from side to side. This scene, very similar to today’s first picture was taken from one of those bridges and offers a good view of the sun setting on the Watchman.

Earlier in the day my attention was drawn to the light on the grasses you see in the foreground of this photograph. I left the trail to investigate this line of sight and was able to compose this scene featuring the Watchman, and of course those appealing grasses.

Bridge Mountain is a long chain of peaks to the east of the trail. This picture was taken near the end of our hike and features a view of the southern end of this mountain. This is a good example of the strata and colour of the rock in Zion National Park.

That concludes my brief series of posts on my recent trip to Zion National Park. It’s a great park, one of the best and worth a visit. The one drawback is its popularity, not unlike Banff National Park close to home. The park attracts 4.3 million visitors a year, a number that jumped 60% in the last decade. In 2018, Zion ranked fourth among America’s most visited national parks. Only Great Smoky Mountains, the Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountain parks were more popular. Despite a shuttle bus system to transport visitors around the area, the park and the nearby by town of Springdale are still very busy.