March 31 - Zion

After exploring the Valley of Fire, we drove to Zion National Park and arrived around dusk.

We did a few hikes the next day and explored some of the different areas of the park.

Luckily it was still 'off season', but the park was already pretty crowded. It's become so commercial, it's sad. You travel through most of the park on buses which run every 7 minutes or so. Cars aren't allowed anymore because the traffic volume is too high, and traffic jams were getting way too out of hand.

Nonetheless, the hiking was beautiful. Although after hiking a few areas in the park, I was beginning to feel like it was the 'same car wreck, different view'. It was all beuatiful and scenic...but just a lot of the same. Taking a different trail didn't really get you any different scenery or anything.





We did make a new friend there though...

He was not at all shy about introducing himself and joining for lunch.

Wait a minute...aren't we out in the wild? Shouldn't these guys be scared of us and scurry away? So much for not disturbing nature...