A Heavenly Place

We left out right after breakfast Saturday morning headed for Zion National Park, approximately 80 miles from Mesquite. The mountains around Mesquite have a completely different appearance. Most look like big piles of dirt from a distance. Pretty quickly after leaving Mesquite, we entered the Virgin River Gorge. WOW!!! I have to admit to sometimes falling asleep on road trips but not once on this trip. The landscape is too beautiful to miss. Here's a few pics of the gorge drive from the car.

The trip to Zion took us through three states, starting in Nevada, then Arizona for a few miles and ending in Utah. We even crossed into Mountain Time when entering Utah. Our phones and the car clock automaticaly adjusted which confused us for a few minutes (until we looked at time zones on the internet) 

There's no doubt you are in a very special place upon entering Zion. Mountains tower above the road on both sides. Each turn provides a new view. Traffic is strictly ontrolled in the park and most transportation is via a free shuttle bus system. Efficient way to get to each of the trailheads or vistas. Our plan was to hike two trails - the Emerald Pools (all three levels) and the Riverside (leads up to the Narrows hike where you wade in the river for over at least a mile - my brave sister did this one).  Once again mama told Big Daddy that the Emerald Pools trail would be pretty easy, only 300 foot elevation climb total. HA, HA! The beginning of the trail up to the lower pool was actually paved with iron railing most of the way. So deceiving. The rest of the way was vertical and rocky, with barefaced sections. Let me just say those rock steps woke up all those sore butt and leg muscles from our Sedona hikes. With that said, it was a glorious hike with great views (of course I think any hike is glorious). 

We decided not to do the second hike as it was already early afternoon and we didn't want to drive the gorge at night. Here are a series of pictures from our arrival and the hike.