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| View of the Virgin River from the Canyon Jct. bridge. The Watchman is the prominent rock formation in the background |
On Saturday morning, instead of taking a hike, I did the tourist-y thing and took the shuttle bus up Zion Canyon. For most of the year, the 7 mile canyon is off-limits to auto traffic. (Here are my 2010 and 2011 hikes.) I parked at the Canyon Junction and hopped on the shuttle bus, making numerous stops in the canyon until I reached the end at the Temple of Sinawava.
Canyon Junction: Where Pine Creek dumps into the Virgin River
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| The Streaked Wall |
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| The river flows over the impoundment |
Court of the Patriarchs: Named after patriarchs of the Old Testament
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| l to r: Mount Abraham, Mount Isaac |
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| Standard Navajo Sandstone |
Zion Lodge: Early scenes in Clint Eastwood's movie The Eiger Sanction were filmed here.
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| Zion Lodge |
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| View from the lodge across canyon |
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| Virgin River at the Emerald Pools trailhead |
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| Mama mule deer hunkering down |
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| Mule deer fawn hunkering down. Can you see it? |
The Grotto: Picnic area and trailhead for Angels Landing and the West Rim Trail
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| Can you see the woman in the cliff face? |
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| Angels Landing from The Grotto |
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| Big arch |
Weeping Rock: Rain and snow melt on the plateaus, thousands of feet above the canyon floor, permeate through the porous sandstone until it hits a layer of impermeable shale. The water then flows out through seams between the two layers.
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| Alcove with granary |
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| Weeping Rock |
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| View of canyon from Weeping Rock |
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| Enlarge to see the water streaming from Weeping Rock |
Temple of Sinawava: The scenic drive ends here. The Narrows begins here.
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| The notch is the start of the Zion Narrows |
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| The Pulpit |
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| Towering sandstone cliffs |
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| More cliffs |
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| View out the shuttle bus roof |
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