December 26, 2011
The road from Zion National Park takes you not too far from a brilliant red collection of Navajo sandstone rocks known as Valley of Fire State Park, close to Las Vegas. While the sandstone in both parks is of the same, 150-year-old formation, the similarities between these two areas end there. While in Zion the inherent majesty of the cliffs and spires dominates; in the Valley of Fire the saturated colors of the tortured rocks are off the charts.
December 25, 2011
Unique about visiting Zion in the winter, aside from the park all but empty of visitors, were the cold temperatures: streams of water that are running in the summer months are frozen in time, held in the chilly grip of December.
December 25, 2011
After a day spent canyoning in the Narrows, we opted to hike the iconic trail of Zion National Park leading to Angels Landing.
December 24, 2011
A conversation with my mother’s college roommate inspired a pre-New Year’s Eve trip to Zion National Park in Utah. While her roommate and her daughter went to New Orleans for Christmas, we decided on the original plan of Zion. We rented a car in Las Vegas and drove up Interstate 15 through Nevada, Arizona, and finally to Utah, where we turned off the interstate and passed the towns of Hurricane, Virgin, Rockville, and Springdale, arriving in a deep river valley gouged out by eons of flowing water. The Virgin River cuts through ancient dense sandstone, carving out a narrow river valley amid the tall red and white cliffs.