Day 13: Zion National Park

Friday June 24 

We pack up and leave mid morning for Zion National Park, about 50 miles south of Cedar City, Utah.  We have done research and figure it best to park in Springdale (the city right outside the park) and take a town shuttle into the visitor’s center.  From there it is best to take a park shuttle around the park.  Most of the park is only accessible by the shuttle anyways.   

Temple of Sinawava

We pack all our water and some snacks into a (heavy) backpack.  Thankfully the girls each have their own fanny pack with water bottle to carry.  We visit the visitor’s center where Isabella gets her passbook stamped (Lexi seems to have lost hers somewhere between here and Arches) and we get a map of the park.  Again the park ranger gives us a rundown of must see places in the park.  We hop onto the park shuttle (they run ever 6 minutes or so) and ride the entire way to the end, getting off at Temple of Sinawava.  Here we hike the Riverside Walk in hopes of seeing The Narrows.  This is where the canyon walls are only about 20 feet apart.  It's about 98 degrees, and the heat is getting to Isabella and myself, so we find a shady spot with a rock for Isabella to climb.  Scott and Lexi continue on.  Upon their return, Lexi is so excited that a squirrel was about a foot from her but Scott is disappointed that they didn’t see the narrows (due to high water in the Virgin River).  They did see some great viewpoints of the Virgin River.  We head back to the shuttle stop and spot a deer eating grass about 10 feet from the main path.  I am shocked that it is not afraid by the people and sounds around it. 

Weeping Rock

We stop at Weeping Rock and climb the short but steep path up.  Once up, the rocks above us spit water over us.  It is very refreshing and we sit in the shade of a cave for awhile.  We get back on the shuttle and ride  to the Lodge where we get a nice cold refreshing ice cream.  The ride  back down the canyon reminds us how beautiful the area is and we are amazed at how much vegetation there is.  At one point Isabella describes it as a rain forest.  There truly is lots of green here. 

Once outside of the park we stop at a local rock and mineral store (it was so convenient of Scott to park right across the street from this store).  We pick out a few local specimens for Dad after talking to the manager.  He pointed out many rocks that are only found in the Utah area; denderite, honeycomb citrate (a bright yellow color), wonderstone  (a rhyolite), tiffany stone (an opal fluorite which hasn’t had new discoveries in 5 years), dinosaur bones, trilobite fossils.  The girls really want to use the sluiceway to find minerals in a bag of soil but it was $20 per jar of dirt, and time to hit the road.  We spent about an hour in this store and I couldn’t believe the unique pieces.  My geology background is loving this trip.