Hanging with Dawn and her Korean Chorus

OK.  I think its official.  We are now 100% certifiably crazy with no hope of redemption.   For the third time in six days,  we decided to make the most of the day and set our alarm for 4.30am (4.30AM, I TELL YOU!!!)  to get up and watch the sun rise over Grand Canyon.  We'd sort of missed the sun set the night before - not quite sure how, but it just snuck up (or down, I guess) on us until we realized that it had already dipped below the horizon while we were occupied elsewhere (I think we were looking at the condors).  We rationalized it beautifully, however, with plenty of comments about how cloudy it was and that we wouldn't have been able to see anything anyway, so we weren't desperately upset.

Cue Dawn Chorus.
(um...who??)

Anyway, pre-dawn shuffles in and its time to rectify the omission, so alarm goes off and we are up, dressed and out of the door within 15 minutes.  Given the abundance of wildlife the night before and the sighting of bears by one of the folk we got chatting to last night, we kept our eyes peeled as we walked the short distance from our room to the car but, alas, nothing of note.  I think it was even too early for the wildlife!

The infamously perky Nipple Rock, off in the far distance

We were going to watch the sunrise from a scenic vista called Yavapai Point - handily located less than a ten minute drive from Yavapai Lodge (funnily enough).  Sunrise was scheduled for about 5.15am, so we arrived just before 5am, to make sure we were in place for the big event.  Unlike Brian Head Peak, this time there were already several other hardy folk there, sitting on the big rounded log benches, gazing out across the hazy dim canyon, waiting for the sun to break across the horizon.  It wasn't as peaceful as before, but it was OK - most folk were waiting quietly, shuffling their feet occasionally to try and keep warm against the chilly morning breeze.

And then an entire horde of Koreans descended.

Lori, reggae and a reluctant sun finally
peeking out from behind the clouds

Peace?  Out.  Quiet reflection?  Forget it.  It was like they were in Grand Canyon Sunrise Theme Park and they didn't even seem to have any awareness at all that they were being incredibly noisy.  There were about 20 of them, shouting and laughing and goofing around, and getting in the way of everyone else who'd been patiently standing or sitting, waiting to take pictures.   Its such a majestic place, its really hard not to get irritated with people who don't seem to treat it - or those around them - with respect.  Lori got so annoyed with them she resorted to putting her headphones in and chilling out to a personal soundtrack of cool reggae.  Alas, I didn't have that option, so tried my best to ignore them, but it was rather difficult as they were VERY annoying.  So, that spoiled the mood a little bit and, as 5.15am came and went, we were beginning to wonder whether we'd either got the time wrong or, perhaps more worryingly, that this could mark the first day in history that the sun didn't actually come up and that we were about to be plunged into darkness forever and an inevitable zombie apocalypse armageddon.

Go back to bed already, people.

Fortunately not.

It was clouds, not the presage of a undead invasion, that marred our view temporarily.  There's a lot of those fluffy buggers about.

After 10mins of hiding, we finally spotted the little fiery bundle of fun already at least three inches above the horizon (according to my iPhone), playing hide and seek behind a cloud.  Unfortunately, as you can see from the pictures, it was still very hazy so it wasn't the spectacular reveal of Canyon as far as the eye could see that we were hoping for.  Despite that, we managed to get one or two nice shots and, as we were staying overnight in the park, I think we'd have regretted not having gotten up early to go have a look.

Ahoy there, cap'n! Grand Canyon dead ahead!

View was great; people were rubbish.  They were, indeed, out of order..

My favorite picture of the day.  

After another ten minutes or so, we'd both had enough, so legged it back to the car to warm up and head back to the lodge.  We managed (somehow) to stay awake long enough to then head out to the El Tovar restaurant as soon as it opened for breakfast at 6.30am.  As I was checking into the lodge yesterday, I'd asked for food recommendations, so the front desk guy told me that breakfast at El Tovar was a must.  Unlike the fine dining dinner service, breakfast was first come, first serve and was very casual.   Just as well, given how...um...natural-looking Lori and I both were by this stage, after almost of week of no primping or make-up, lots of hiking in the sunshine and crazy baseball-hat hair.    Fortunately, all would be made right as soon as we hit Vegas but, til then, a relaxed dress code served us both well!  

Russian for Awesome Breakfasts

Oh yes.  Cinnamon roll as big as my head.
 No wonder I've got such a big smile on my face.

Oh my God.  Breakfast was DELICIOUS!  And, because we were there early enough, we managed to bag a coveted table by the window, so there we were, chowing down with a spectacular view of the Grand Canyon rim literally feet from the window.  I was VERY happy (as you can tell) by the special of the day - an enormous cinnamon roll thing that was sprinkled with oats and sugar, as well as drizzled with white icing.  The bun and I shared a special moment together - maybe my fate (foretold by Matrimonial Springs) was actually to marry a pastry.  At that moment, I really wouldn't have minded.  It was probably still less flaky than some of the guys I've had the "pleasure" of dating - come to think of it, it probably lasted longer than most of them too.  

Anyhoo, breakfast over and we were stuffed mcstuffed.  So, the only thing to do was to retreat back to bed, to calorie coma it off until it was time to check out at 11am for the final leg of our trip.  

Oh yeah - its time for VEGAS, BABY!!!

Cinnamon roll appetizer = winning

The main event.  Eggs benedict with smoked salmon on an
 english muffin.  Bloody delicious - and very filling!  

Basil, basil, basil!!

Mumsie, recognize this place?

Lori wishing upon a moose

NERD POSTSCRIPT

Ok, for all of you who've been looking at the pictures wondering "but Sarah, just how was the Grand Canyon formed?", this bit below is for you.  Its shamelessly copied and pasted from the NPS's website but its actually pretty interesting.  Kinda wish i'd checked out the Trail of Time.  Maybe next time...

The Grand Canyon Geology

The Grand Canyon features one of the world's most studied geologic histories anywhere, because it possesses the most complete sequence of rock that represents two billion years of Earth's geologic history in North America. There are 40 identified rock layers and 14 major unconformities that indicate where there are gaps in the geologic record. It is by far one of the most fascinating and easily accessible places for geologists to catalog the Earth's major events and delve into our planet's veiled past.

Grand Canyon Trail of Time

Trail of Time Receives National Recognition
 

How Was the Canyon Made?

Scientists cannot be completely sure how the canyon was created and there are still theories evolving, but they do have a very educated guess. Erosion is what most target as the main contributor to the creation of the Grand Canyon. This was caused mostly by water, ice and wind, however; continental drift, weather and climate changes, and even volcanoes were also contributing factors to the formation of the Grand Canyon. Most scientists agree that the largest component in the creation of the canyon was water and the path of the Colorado River. Water is one of the most powerful forces on Earth, with the ability to build and destroy.

The first contributor in granting water the ideal components to complete such a great feat as carving out the Grand Canyon was the Laramide orogeny, which also formed the Rocky Mountains. This event occurred 75 million years ago and caused an estimated 10,000 ft. (3,000 m.) of uplift, which granted the Colorado River a steeper slope to carve its way into the four plateaus that make up this area. A river alone with its steady ebb and flow could not carve out a canyon so massive without a little help from Mother Nature.

Flash Floods and the Arid Desert

Flash floods are one of the most destructive forces on our planet, with the power and force to move boulders, uproot trees, obliterate buildings, wash out roads, and destroy bridges. The floods also take many lives because of how suddenly they can occur. They move quickly with the ability to possess walls of water 10 - 20 ft. high and can carry debris in their front: it is easy to see how they can carve out rivers and canyons.

The reason flash floods occur in places like the Grand Canyon, is because of the desert climate. The Grand Canyon is situated in an arid desert that only receives an average of 26 inches (66 cm) of rain each year. Since the ground receives so little moisture, it bakes under the sun each day, which makes it difficult and almost impossible to absorb water easily. When the skies open up and rain pours down, the water falls at such a rate that the ground is not able to absorb it fast enough and this causes a flash flood. Since the water cannot be absorbed it goes wherever it can; moving fast downhill and picking up debris along the way.

Today's flash floods are powerful, but they are nothing compared to the floods that helped shape the canyon! When the Earth was young its climate, weather and geology was very unstable. From the little history we can find locked away in fossils, old and petrified trees, rocks, magma, soil and the ocean, scientists are able to document that the worst, largest, and most catastrophic natural occurring disasters were during the time when the Earth was young. Everything was more extreme; tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, storms, droughts and earthquakes. The climate and the Earth itself were exceptionally unstable.

Droughts lasted longer and so did storms, which made the effects of floods that much more devastating. In fact, amidst the many layers of rock that the canyon holds there are breaks and some gaps where time periods are missing or an uneven spread of sediment; this is called an unconformity. Throughout the 40 layers of rock there are 14 unconformities that have geologic history gaps as large as 165 - 250 million years and 12,000 feet of sediment washed away in some places. Scientists can only speculate about how large these natural disasters must have been to cause so much damage; one theory is that large floods either caused by storms or glacier melt. 

Geology

The canyon's major exposed sedimentary rock layers range in age from 200 million to two billion years old! The canyon's oldest layer is called the Vishnu Group; it is made of thousands of feet of sand, ash, mud and silt and is the dark-colored, garnet-studded layer at the bottom of the canyon in the Inner Gorge. This layer was created two billion years ago in the Precambrian time period when all land mass on earth was comprised of a few islands that plate tectonics caused to slam into each other and form the first few growing continents.

The canyon was formed only five to six million years ago and is much younger than the lowermost layers. In fact, most of the canyon walls are deposited marine sediment from when ocean covered the land. Each layer of rock responds differently to the erosion qualities of the Colorado River. Some rocks become cliffs and others form slopes or erode faster than different layers, this creates the variety of textures you will find at the Grand Canyon. The vivid hues that the canyon features originate because most of the rock layers contain iron and other mineral deposits.

The Grand Canyon Today

Today the canyon is one of the world's most amazing natural wonders, where people come from all over the world to marvel at its beauty and mystery. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, between 4 - 18 miles (6.4 - 29 km) wide and over a mile deep (1.6 km), which makes it the largest canyon on land. Erosion is still occurring and will continue to do so, but at a much slower rate than in the past. This is mostly due to the Glen Canyon Dam. The dam is harnessing the hydroelectric power of the Colorado River, controlling how much water is put in the river and filtering out much of the sediments that erode before it hits the canyon.

The Grand Canyon National Park is a place of wonder and beginning, where learning about our geologic past is being used to ensure a better future.

Having a Grand Old Time....

Zion NP - Yavapai Lodge, Grand Canyon NP 245 miles, 4 hrs 49 mins 

It was time.

Stage II: Park-hopping extraordinaire...

After our morning's thoroughly enjoyable exploration of Zion NP and avoidance of any further splattage, we were down to the last National Park on our itinerary.   It was the biggie, the King of Chasms and God of Gulches - the magnificently incomprehensible Grand Canyon.

Like Zion, I'd been to Grand Canyon a number of years ago - this time with Mumsie on our Vegas-Sedona road trip back when I was still living in the UK.  I distinctly remember it as that was the first time I'd rented a car in the US (a white Toyota Corolla, I think) and so the trip involved getting used to an automatic transmission, discovering the delights of cruise control and being totally baffled and intimidated by the roads being so wide.  I remember pulling out of the AVIS parking lot, surveying the road in front of me thinking "the other side of the road can't possibly be all the way over there, can it??!").  Fortunately for Mumsie, I got the hang of it pretty quickly and now I only occasionally forget which side of the road I'm supposed to be on, so that's good I guess.  We didn't drive to the Grand Canyon on that trip but instead took the Grand Canyon Railway, a steam locomotive that chugs along from Williams to Grand Canyon Village.  It was a lot of fun, a very relaxed way to get to the Canyon and, on the way back, we were even held up by Indians!  (and saved by some handily placed Cowboys!).  Here's the link if you want to check it out:

http://www.thetrain.com/the-train/

Also, on the same trip, I'd treated myself to my very first ever helicopter ride and (in obviously a sign of things to come) had splashed out on a helicopter tour from Las Vegas, over the Hoover Dam and landing at the bottom of Grand Canyon for a glass of champagne.  The whole trip is a bit of a blur (and not because of the champagne, I might add!) but because it was rather overwhelming - looking down into Grand Canyon is awe-inspriing enough, but to combine that with the rush of a helicopter ride and then to be at the bottom of a mile-deep chasm, looking up at the vast, towering rock face - it was almost unreal.  It was completely brilliant, though, so I'd definitely recommend it if you are ever in Vegas and have a couple of hours between striptease shows to burn.  Here's the outfit I used (I guess its a good sign they are still in business 15yrs later!):

http://www.papillon.com

Anyway, no helicopter for our intrepid explorers but, instead, a five hour drive from Zion across some spectacular and spectacularly dull scenery.  We'd already got the tip from the Tunnel Ranger (now there's gotta be a superhero movie in that somewhere) about avoiding Page so, duly informed and with our respective GPS's fired up and ready for action, off we went!

Taking turns in driving for an hour or so each, it really wasn't too bad - we didn't fall asleep at the wheel, break down, get lost, drive into a tree, bridge or rock, get abducted by aliens or serial killers, die of thirst, melt or fart ourselves to death, so all in all, a very pleasant drive.  There was one slightly hairy moment, though, when our GPS seemed to go a little haywire but - fortunately for us- it managed to reorient itself and appeared none the worse for its little off-roading adventure.  Perhaps it was bored too with the poker-straight road, stretching for miles upon miles into the distance...

Ummm.... not really what you want to see on your GPS....

After about 3hrs or so, there started to appear this massive geologic formation in the far distance.  Was this it?  Were we seeing the first glimpses of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon??

Yeah...um... no.  We weren't.

A Saga of Yeah, Whatever.  It ain't the Grand Canyon....

What we were seeing were the Vermillion Cliffs and, as we saw slightly further on at the scenic viewpoint, that meant that we were on the Vermillion Cliffs Highway.  Given the location of the pink dot on the map, we still quite some way from our destination.  *cue disappointed yet stoically resolute sigh*

"Are we there yet?"

Its something to be said for the sheer grandeur of the National Parks that we'd already visited that the Vermillion Cliffs, in all their pinky tallness, barely warranted more than a "oh...look...they're kinda cool...OK...done now..." before we got back into the car and continued our journey.   I don't think it helped that it was 107 degrees (!) outside, so the incentive to get back inside the nice air-conditioned car was very strong,  Anywhere else in the world, they'd probably be quite remarkable and worthy of much oo-ing and ah-ing but here, big fat rock faces and sheer cliff walls are tuppence-ha'penny, so it was "Next!".  But it was a good chance to stretch our legs for a couple of minutes and pretend not to notice the lady lurking about trying to sell us silver and turquoise tchotchkes!

Not the Grand Canyon.  The Otherwise Impressive
 Walls of the Vermillion Cliffs

WE FINALLY MADE IT!!! 

Anyway, back into the car for the final leg.  After another hour, we started to pick up the first signs for the Grand Canyon (yippee!) and within another hour or so, we had finally made it!!  We'd estimated we'd make it by about 6 - 6.30pm and we were spot on - so well in time before dark and so that we could enjoy the sunset in the park.  The sense of excitement was growing as we drove into the park, through the entrance gates, paid the Park Ranger and collected our maps.  As the park is so enormous, it would actually take us about another 25mins to drive from our entry point, at the base of South Rim, through the park, alongside the South Rim, to get to Grand Canyon Village where Yavapai Lodge was located.  It was peaked even further on seeing the road sign "First Glimpse of Grand Canyon, 500ft)- how exciting!!

500ft later - and there it was.  Our first view of the canyon.

Simply breathtaking.  First glimpse of the Grand Canyon from
the South Rim entrance

Its very hard to describe in words.  Immense.  Majestic.  Surreal.   Awe-inspiring.  Quite big.  Hard to describe and even harder to take a picture of that can reflect the sheer scale of what you are seeing.  As in the words of the great 20th-century philosophers, Journey, the Grand Canyon is "more than a feeling".  It is a bit odd - as you are driving along the road that tracks along the side of the South Rim, even when you can't see the Canyon to your right, you can just feel it there.  Its such an immense presence, it almost seems to exert this gravitational pull on you, stirring your soul and leaving you with this vague sense of disquiet. Its very odd.  Or it could have been the caffeine from the Red Bull working its way out of my system after the long drive.

Anyway, it was bloody impressive.  Lori was rendered pretty much speechless, all cognitive processing abilities on full-overload, such that the only sounds she was squeaking out were the occasional "Wow".    After a few minutes at the first scenic point, we got back into the car and - still somewhat dumbstruck - continued our drive into the park, passing many more amazing views, and headed for our home for the night, the Yavapai Lodge.

I'd managed to snag a fairly last minute reservation and was very happy to bagged a spot, especially given it was July 4th and the park would be busier than usual with tourists.  I wasn't sure what to expect as it was described in some of the reviews online as a bit older and - in the part of the lodge that we were staying in - the rooms weren't air conditioned.  But - as it turned out - the room was lovely, nicely furnished with very comfy beds, a nice clean bathroom and, though no AC, a big fan to help keep the room cool.  It was very reasonably priced as well, so all in all, I was very happy with it.  Here's the link:

http://www.usparklodging.com/grandcanyon/yavapai.php?gclid=CIrKm6GMpLgCFQ9dQgodrk8A6g

The rooms were part of a larger complex that included other accommodation choices (including the famous El Tovar hotel - more on that tomorrow) as well as several restaurants, the railway station, a grocery store and - of course - the requisite gift shops.  It was all very resort-y but nicely done in a sympathetic-to-the-natural-world kind of way.  After unloading our stuff from the car into the rooms, we had a very quick little 30 min power nap, before we forced ourselves up and out to go explore and to get some food.  I thought we'd give the Bright Angel Lodge a try for supper (very casual and laid-back), so back into the car for the short drive over.   

Little Elk

A minute or so away from our destination, Lori suddenly shouted "LOOK!!  Over there!!  Pull over!!!" - i looked and, bloody hell, there was a ruddy great big elk!  Rapidly pulling over to the side of the road and parking quickly, we got out of the car to investigate further - and found there were two of them!!   And the second one was even bigger than the first!  With a HUGE set of beautiful velvety antlers!!  It was quite incredible.   The animals weren't bothered in the least by the crowds of people following them, taking their pictures - they were just perfectly content to munch on the lodge's lush and juicy green lawns!!  (though the big elk got a bit pissed off at one point, when this STOOPID parent let his kid get too close - fortunately, a local woman watching nearby, shouted to the guy to warn him his kids were in danger unless they moved back.  why are people so dumb??).   It was really quite a sight to see these two elk, wandering through the grounds of the lodge and sauntering along the sidewalk, through the car park, as if they owned the place.

Big Elk

There was one funny moment when this guy, coming down the stairs from his first floor balcony to smoke a cigarette, turned the corner and almost ran straight into Big Elk!  His face was an absolute picture!  I guess its not every day you go out for a smoke and run into a massive moose   just moseying down the road!  It was a great introduction to the park and to see Real Wildlife on our first evening was an absolute treat!  Later on that evening, we'd see more elk - this time a mother and her 5 (!) calves, running and playing in the twilight.  It was very cute indeed, especially the little squeaking and squealing noises the baby elk were making - I guess the elky-equivalent of laughing.

"Now where did i leave my damn car?"

Not a sight you see every day....

After that Elk Excitement, we finally arrived at the Bright Angel Lodge, parked up and had a quick wander round before dinner, again soaking up the incredible views of the Canyon.  Mumsie - this was the same place that'd we'd been to - and nothing had changed!  The gift shop was still there, selling the same stuff - I even bought the latest edition of the book "Death in Grand Canyon" - a chronicle of all known deaths within the Park since records began, and updated last year to reflect the most recent ways people have managed to kark it in the park since the 1st edition 10 years ago.   Its a bit of a macabre read (and its pretty thick - as are some of the folk described in the book), so I haven't got very far in yet, but i'll keep you posted.   As well as the incredible views, we were also treated to the sight of several American Condors, wheeling and soaring in the park, catching the updrafts seemingly effortlessly.  Apparently the species was endangered a few years ago but preservation efforts have paid off handsomely and now their numbers are burgeoning again, so it was nice to hear a success story for a change.

And, with that, the last remnants of the daylight faded and we headed into the restaurant for a well-deserved supper.  It had been a very long day but a fantastic one - what a great way to spend July 4th!!

Condor brooding

El Tovar lodge

Little art studio perched on the South Rim 

Not bad views, eh?

Double Whammy!

Cedar City, UT - Zion National Park (59 miles, 1 hr 7mins)

Zion National Park - Grand Canyon NP (244 miles, 4hrs 47mins) 

Happy July 4th!

Today we were going to celebrate Independence Day in style by completing a National Park Double Whammy, bagging both Zion National Park and Grand Canyon in a single day!  

Double Whammy Part 1: Cedar City to Zion NP

Our route was going to take us first from the Super 8 in Cedar City to Zion NP and then we'd go from there to Grand Canyon.  I'd been up fairly late the night before taking advantage of the laundry facilities at the Super 8 (ironically, given yesterday's blog about weeping footwear, I suffered a Color Run Incident where one of my white shirts (an old dopey Polo Ralph Lauren one) managed to pick up a distinctly blue tinge - sigh) so it was a bit rough when the alarm went off at 5.30am.   But, all in a good cause, so we packed up our stuff and headed downstairs to see what delights awaited us this time for the "Complimentary Breakfast".  (OK - a quick aside here - why do they all insist on calling it "free" or "complimentary"?   The cost of the crappy cereal and white bread bagels is surely included in the room rate, right?).   There was coffee and the usual cereal but *shock horror* this time there was actually something mildly healthy available - Raisin Bran, yogurt and fresh fruit!  So, duly nourished, we set out on the road by 7am for the relatively short drive to Zion NP.

I'd been to Zion a few years before (I took a week off after leaving Pfizer, just before starting at Sudler, and spent it at the Red Mountain Spa in Utah - while there, I took a day trip to Zion) but Lori had never been and was very excited about it.  I remember it being very impressive and with the same feeling of grandeur that i'd subsequently experienced in Yosemite, so I was curious how I would find it, going back 4 years later.

We'd only have the morning in Zion before heading out to Grand Canyon, so i'd picked a short hike i remembered from my last trip which had great views and didn't take too long called Canyon Overlook Hike.  You could also get to it without having to decamp from your car to the Park's Shuttle bus (mandatory during the summer to get to the main areas of the Park), so that was uber-convenient - provided we got there early enough to bag a spot in the fairly small car park just opposite the trailhead.  To get there, you also had to drive through the Zion - Mount Carmel tunnel - a mile-long tunnel that was, at the time of its completion in 1930, the longest tunnel of its type in the United States.  It is quite narrow, by modern standards, such that if you are driving a vehicle that is wider that 7ft 10 inches (larger RV's, for example), you'll not be able to navigate the curves in the tunnel without going over the central line.  In these case, you need to get a special escort to take you through separately (which will cost you an extra $15 for the privilege!).   Its also VERY dark!  For some reason, there are no lights at all inside the tunnel  - it makes a big difference, even with your car's headlights on!  There's also this rather charming sound effect as you drive through - the rhythm of your car's tyres on the tarmac sounds like horse's hooves trotting!  Very weird!!  

http://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/the-zion-mount-carmel-tunnel.htm

Anyway, we got through the tunnel without incident and - because we were there nice and early - bagged ourselves a parking spot at the car park just past the tunnel!  We chatted to the friendly Tunnel Ranger for a couple of minutes and picked up some very useful intel about avoiding Page on the drive to Grand Canyon (there was a road closure that would add at least a couple of hours to our journey).  It always helps to talk to the locals!  With that, we donned our Independence Day necklaces and deely-boppers (well, what else would you wear hiking on July 4th?!) and headed out for our short hike.

The vista from the Canyon Overlook trail

I wonder how many Americans I managed to confuse in the space of a few hours as we hiked up the trail?  Most people, upon seeing us wearing our patriotic headgear, smiled and wished us a Happy 4th - I guess most probably weren't expecting to be answered in a British accent!!   But it was a lot of fun and certainly added to our festive mood that day!  The cheerful mood took a slight dent momentarily when Lori tripped getting down off a rock after a photo op and did a controlled splat onto her knees and wrists.  It was a collective holding of breath for a couple of seconds until she said "I'm OK, I'm OK" (I helpfully added at that point "well, I didn't hear anything snap"), so other than a scuffed knee and a sore wrist to add to her burgeoning collection of bumps and scrapes, all was well.

The view from the top

We continued to the top of the trail (passing a guy on crutches along the way - now that is crazy) and were justly rewarded with the spectacular view that I'd remembered from all those years ago.  The pictures really don't do it justice - its the sheer scale and immensity of what you are looking at that is so impressive.  The road that we'd just driven up looked absolutely tiny with cars the size of ants, twisting and turning their way up the switchback curves.  There were a few other people already at the top (to be expected, given it was a holiday weekend) but - despite the gaggle of the crowd - it still felt very serene and chilled out to sit up high, and gaze out over the canyon.   It was a reflective moment for me, remembering the last time I'd been in that very same spot, just over 4 yrs ago and thinking about everything that had happened to me since, both personally and professionally.

Stars and Stripes deely-boppers?  Why, of course - de rigeur
for hiking on July 4th

 After about 20mins or so, we'd both Zen'ned out, so it was time to head back down to the car and to explore some of the main highlights of the park.  We drove back down through the tunnel and to the Visitor Center where we swapped our car for the Park's shuttle bus service.  As we didn't have enough time to do a full hike, instead we would get a smorgasbord sampling of some of the most famous scenic viewpoints, including the infamous Angel's Landing.

".......OM......"

Angel's Landing is one of the most strenuous and demanding hikes in the whole NP, both physically and psychologically.  Like Half Dome in Yosemite, the final part of the hike is completed with the assist of ropes and/or chains with a vertical drop-off of hundreds of feet, just inches from the edge of the  narrow trail.  Also like Half Dome, it has a number of fatalities associated with it (5 documented where there was no "suspicious activity" associated with it) and I had absolutely no desire whatsoever to try it out.  Even though the views are absolutely spectacular, with 360 degree views of Zion Canyon, me, my dyspraxia and a healthy fear of premature, avoidable death meant that i was perfectly 100% happy to observe from a distance.  Having a look online later at the top part of the trail merely confirmed to me what a good move that was - its utterly terrifying!  On the shuttle bus driving through the park, the recorded voiceover announcement stressed that its not suitable for children, is very strenuous and is not suitable for those with a fear of heights.  Again, all good reasons to sit this one out!   The pictures below show Angel's Landing from the nice, safe ground - as well as a couple I found online to show you what I (wisely) missed. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_Landing

View of Angels Landing from the nice and safe, ground
 level shuttle bus 

Picture of the top part of the Angels Landing trail.
 Bonkers.

I get the heebie-jeebies just looking at this picture.  This illustrates
the sheer drop-off from the trail, straight down to splattage on the canyon floor

More impressive pointy rockfaces during the Scenic Highway drive 

Courtyard of the Patriarchs.  

The full loop of the scenic drive through Zion via the shuttle bus took about 90mins so, with a brief stop to get some lunch and sit outside to relax and eat, we were done by 1pm and ready to head out to the next part of our adventure!  It was a shame we weren't able to stay longer in Zion and do a couple more hikes, but it was a great introduction to a stunning park and one that would certainly bear repeated visits.  But, no time to be sad - time to fire up the Mean Black Mutha Machine and hit the highway!  Grand Canyon, here we come!!

We'll be back.