Zion National Park, mostly.

Tuesday after spending the night in Page, Arizona, I headed toward Zion National Park.  On my way, I made a quick stop at Horseshoe Bend, where the Colorado River makes a 170 degree bend.

I also drove over the Glen Canyon Dam just south of Utah.

I eventually arrived in Zion National Park.  I'm kind of smitten with this park, to be honest.  I didn't really know much about it, but when I entered the park from the east, I drove through the most magnificent sandstone cliffs.  It was a stunning drive.

Here are some shots from both the drive and hikes I took while in the park:

When I arrived at the visitor's center, I was informed that all of the campgrounds in the park were full.  However, the park ranger told me there is always the chance of a cancellation and I should give it a try.  Indeed, a group had cancelled, and so I grabbed the last available camping spot.  They had split the group site into several smaller sites, which I would be sharing with a family.  More on this later.

I spent the evening hiking through the Emerald Pools area.  I saw many people hiking with their ipods playing, which is a shame because Zion is a place of many sounds, and listening to the babbling brook, chirping birds and croaking frogs was my favorite part of the hike.

I ran across this mule deer as I was walking back to the campground:

Some more flora and fauna I saw in the park this morning:

I also saw some wild turkeys, but I didn't get a good photo of them.  

Another great thing about Zion is the mandatory shuttle service.  I don't know how to tell you about it without it being totally boring, but it was the greatest thing.  I give it my stamp of approval.

Now, my little rant.  The family who stayed in the site next to me last night seemed nice enough.  I did notice they didn't put out their campfire when they went to bed (so I did it for them), which seems awfully irresponsible given the wildfire problem ongoing in Arizona.  However, this morning after they left, I looked around the campsite and realized they had thrown all their trash on the ground rather than taking it to the bins at the front of the campground.  Really, people??  Again, I cleaned it up for them.  At the Grand Canyon, I saw a woman and her youngish son carving their names into the rock face.  At Carlsbad Caverns, the park ranger leading my tour mentioned that he has to pick up a bag of trash every day after the tours because people just throw it on the ground in the caverns.  Why do people have such little respect for our beautiful country?  I suppose I'm partly to blame because I didn't say anything to the woman at Grand Canyon or the family last night, but should I really have to?  Ugh.  Okay, I'm done.

I'm camping in Bryce Canyon National Park tonight, and will head to Vegas on Friday!  Pictures of Bryce will be forthcoming in the next couple of days...