Zion National Park - Scrapbook pages

I am loving my new scanner.  I have gotten all the layouts that I've done scanned into the computer and I'm slowing getting them all keyworded and uploaded to my new website (more details to follow as I get it ready to go).

I wanted to share the layouts that I did for the time we spent in Zion National Park in May of last year. Zion is located in Southern Utah and we had a very long drive to get from South Padre Island, Texas to the park.  We did spend one day in Flagstaff, AZ along our route.  We spent the week of May 4 through May 10 in the park and found it fantastic.  We didn't get to do a couple of hikes that we wanted to do so there will definitely be a return trip there.

TOURIST - May, 3, 2010 - Flagstaff, Arizona

JOURNALING:  We overnighted in Flagstaff, AZ at a Camping World with hopes of getting our leaky slide fixed before we headed North.  They found the problem but could not fix it.

SUPPLIES USED:  Postcard, Papers & Embellishments by Best Occasions

 

UTAH BOUND - May 2010 - Utah

JOURNALING:  May totals:  2,912 miles in 45+ hours of driving

SUPPLIES USED:  K&Co Road Trip

WONDER - May 4, 2010 - Zion National Park, Utah

JOURNALING:  To get to our campsite in Springdale, we had to drive through the tunnel.  It was a tight fit

SUPPLIES USED: National Park paper, Best Occasions paper, K&Co Boy Scouts title

EMERALD POOLS - May 5, 2010 - Zion National Park, Utah

JOURNALING:  Our first full day at Zion Nat'l Park.  We got off the shuttle at the Zion Lodge to hike up to Emerald Pools.  After the hike we picniced and found ice cream at the lodge.

SUPPLIES USED:  Cocoa Mint papers & stickers by Cloud 9

TOGETHER - May 5, 2010 - Zion National Park, Utah

JOURNALING:  After lunch we hiked the riverside walk along the Virgin River.

SUPPLIES USED:  Cinnamon Stick papers by Cloud 9

RELAXING SUNSETS - May 5, 2010 - Zion National Park, Utah

JOURNALING: The Watchman rock formation guards the southern park entrance.  What a sight at sunset.

SUPPLIES USED:  Cinnamon Stick papers by Cloud 9, Distress crackle paint

BACK TO NATURE - May 6, 2010 - Zion National Park, Utah

JOURNALING:  We spent the afternoon exploring Weeping Rock.  We walked along the Pa'rus trail in the evening to find that perfect spot for the sunset photo of the Watchman.
Sunrise at Court of the Patriarchs
Sunset on the Watchman
Pa'rus trail
Weeping Rock

SUPPLIES USED:  Wild Indigo by Cloud 9 Design

HIKING HIDDEN CANYON - May 7, 2010 - Zion National Park, Utah

JOURNALING:
Trail No:  Hidden Canyon
Direction:  Shuttle to Weeping Rock stop
Required Gear:  boots, poles, backpack, water, food, chains
Information:  2.4 miles, 853 ft elevation gain, steep drop offs

SUPPLIES USED:  ATD Great Outdoors papers & embellishments

ANGELS LANDING HIKE - May 7, 2010 - Zion National Park, Utah

JOURNALING:  After reading the trail description for steep drop offs and chains, we decided that Matt should do this by himself.

SUPPLIES USED:  Boy Scouts papers by K&Co, postcards

WHAT A VIEW - May 7, 2010 - Zion Nation Park, Utah

JOURNALING:  Matt takes a few minutes to reward himself with the beautiful views from the top of Angel's Landing

SUPPLIES USED:  Memories papers by The Paper Studio

COOL CLEAR WATER - May 7, 2010 - Zion National Park, Utah

JOURNALING:  We re-visited this gorgeous water fall for some peace & quiet.  Zion National Park.  Big Bend area.

SUPPLIES USED:  Travel papers by Me & My Big Ideas

LAZY DAYS - May 8, 2010 - Zion National Park, Utah

JOURNALING:  After long days of hiking we were ready to relax.

SUPPLIES USED:  Travel papers by Me & My Big Ideas

TRUE BEAUTY - May 8, 2010 - Zion National Park, Utah

JOURNALING:  We drove to Kolob Canyon to hike the Taylor Creek trail.

SUPPLIES USED:  Linen Closet papers by DCWV

WHAT A VIEW - May 9, 2010 - Zion National Park, Utah

JOURNALING:  We spent our last full day exploring the Zion - Mt. Carmel drive.  we hiked the Canyon Overlook trail to enjoy the beautiful views.  We also drove further to the Checkerboard Mesa's near the east entrance

SUPPLIES USED:  Complete Boy papers by My Minds Eye

SOME OF MY FAVORITES - May 9, 2010 - Zion National Park, Utah

JOURNALING:  We spent 7 days at Zion before making the 2 hour drive to Bryce on May 10.

SUPPLIES USED:  Complete Boy by My Minds Eye

New Photos - Utah & Alaska

I wanted to share a couple of photos from earlier in our trip.

The first photo is from our visit to Zion National Park in Utah.  We visited there from May 4 to May 10 and really enjoyed hiking all around the beautiful park.  This photo is from the Court of the Patriarchs which is located just inside the southern entrance to the park.  Matt took this at sunrise.

 

Click here to be taken to the Gallery

This next photo was taken in Seward, Alaska from our visit back in August.  This photo was taken by Matt at sunset just a little ways down the beach from our campsite.  It is of some old piers that were destroyed during the 1964 earthquake that devastated the town of Seward.  

Matt took this last photo while we were in Valdez, Alaska just last month.  This adorable harbor seal (nicknamed "Sea Sausages" by the locals) was lounging on some glacial ice that had recently calved from the Columbia Glacier.  We had taken a cruise out of Valdez and over to this huge glacier that was surrounded by huge fields of icebergs (some were larger than our boat).

I think that catches me up on past photos.  I do another one in a day or so of some new eagle photos from here in Haines.

May 9, 2010 - Zion National Park (Utah)

Sunday was our last full day at Zion.  Our original plan was to leave Zion on Tuesday and drive the 2 hours to Bryce National Park, however, they are calling for snow on Tuesday at Bryce so we decided that we will leave Zion a day early.

We spent this last day doing all the things we had not quite done yet.  We started out by driving the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway from the South entrance of the park to the East entrance.  This was the same route that we came in towing the RV so this time was much easier and we didn't have to wait for the tunnel to be shut down for us (although we were required to fold in the truck's mirrors since the tunnel is so skinny). 

We went all the way out to the Checkerboard Mesa's.  I think you can see where they get their name in the photos below.

Our next stop was to do the Canyon Overlook Trail that is located just on the east side of the tunnel.  It was a beautiful 1 mile hike up to an overlook of the valley floor outside Zion Canyon.  Once we reached the top, we hung out to enjoy the beautiful views of the "Towers of the Virgin" across from us.  If you look closely, you can also see the road switchbacking multiple times down to the valley floor.  Yep, same road that we towed the RV into the park and same road we will tow it out of (thank goodness Matt is driving).

We decided to pay one more visit to Zion Canyon.  We parked the truck near the bottom of the canyon and hopped on the shuttle bus to the Grotto stop.  The Grotto stop is the original site of the visitors center, a very small rock building, but today it serves as a great picnic area.  Armed with our cooler, we had a great picnic under the beautiful trees and cliffs.

After our lunch, we exited the park to pay one more visit to the Visitors Center to pick up a few more postcards and then we went to buy our tickets to the Giant Screen Theatre to watch a film on Zion on an IMAX screen.  The film was OK as it seemed they wanted to keep you on the edge of your seat by flying through the canyons instead of showing the sites in detail.  I would not recommend it to anyone who gets motion sickness.  We also walked around a great photo gallery and the Museum of Photography located near the theatre. 

Since we are leaving here on Monday, we spent the evening doing laundry, picking up the RV and getting everything back in its "travel home".

May 8, 2010 - Zion National Park (Utah)

Another beautiful blue sky day to explore Zion.  The weather is still in the high 70's to low 80's with no clouds.  I had forgotten how hot it can be in the sun while still being rather cool in the shade.  So far we have spent all our time exploring the Zion Canyon portion of the park, however there are two other major areas with different entrances.  Our original plan was to explore the Kolob Terrace portion of the park, however after speaking with a ranger and finding out that the road was still closed due to snow, we decided to go explore the Kolob Canyons portion of the park.

The drive took us about 45 minutes to reach the other entrance of the park.  We started out by driving the short 5 mile scenic drive out to the Kolob Canyons viewpoint.  We walked the short 1 mile Timber Creek Overlook trail before getting back in the car and driving back to the trail head for the Taylor Creek trail. 

The Taylor Creek trail was my favorite hike of Zion.  It basically followed Taylor Creek through a 2.5 mile canyon that became narrower and narrower as we hiked further back in.  I lost count of the number of times that we splashed back and forth across the creek to keep on the trail.  Thank goodness there were lots of strategically placed rocks so we came home with dry feet (even though our sandals were in our backpack, just in case).  While on the trail, we passed two homesteaders cabins (circa 1930).  The trail ended at a beautiful double arch that was huge and breathtaking. 

The first cabin.  What a gorgeous site for a home.

The second cabin.  Also not a bad view from any window either.

This was the finish point...  The photo with us in it will give you an idea of the scale of this double arch.

After our hike, we drove back down to viewpoint for a picnic lunch and then started the drive back home.  We were both tired from continuous days of hiking so we relaxed outside in the campground and had a very easy night. 

Here Matt plays a bit on his guitar as we keep Pinkie company.

May 7, 2010 - Zion National Park (Utah)

We woke to an outside temperature of 39 degrees.  Thank goodness we decided to turn the heater on before we went to bed so the RV was nice and warm.  We started out this Friday with a Ranger Led Shuttle tour of Zion Canyon at 9am.  We stopped at several spots that were not the normal shuttle stops and gained more knowledge on the history and geology of the park. 

One of the stops was a very pretty little waterfall where we decided we would need to go back to visit without the tour group.  Once the tour finished at the Temple of Sinawava, we hiked back down the road to revisit the waterfall.  We hung out quite a while taking photos and enjoying the cool quiet and completely deserted spot.  We then hiked back down to the Big Bend shuttle stop to go further down the canyon.

For lunch we decided to eat at the Red Rock Grill which is the restaurant at the Zion Lodge.  We had great beef and chicken burgers that were reasonably priced and the view could not be any better.  Once we had eaten lunch it was time for us to go our separate ways. 

Matt's plan was to hike a trail called Angel's landing.  After my experience with the chains on Thursday, we decided that I should not attempt this hike as it was even more rugged and exposed.  It was definitely the highlight of Matt's trip and even though he turned around once and came back down, he did eventually make it to the top. 

Just across the ridge and almost to the top...

Ah...  made it to the top and enjoying the view...

 

The view up the canyon.

 

The view down the canyon.

The trail down across the ridge...

Up close and personal with the trail and all its chains to help you up.

The 20+ switchbacks that take you up and down the trail are known as "Walter's Wiggles".  This is a view from the top of them.

May 6, 2010 - Zion National Park

Yesterday, Thursday May 6, we continued our exploration of the Zion Canyon portion of the park under beautiful blue skies and temperatures in the 70's.  We started out by getting on the shuttles again.  This time to the Weeping Rock stop. 

Our first hike was to Hidden Canyon.  I was a bit nervous on this hike as the trail descriptions warned of steep drop offs.  Well, lets just say that the warnings were definitely needed.  The last section of this trail was a huge slick rock section that rounded a point.  Thank goodness is was fixed with lots of chains for something to hold onto.  Here I am clinging for dear life to the poor chains...

We next did the easy walk up to the Weeping Rock.  It was cool and gorgeous with beautiful hanging gardens all around the rock.  It is estimated that the water coming from the rock is over 1,000 years old and is still filtering through the Navajo Sandstone that the cliffs are made of.

We jumped back on the shuttle and got off at the Big Bend stop for a quick lunch.  We found a great lunch rock and enjoyed the beautiful 360 degree view of towering sandstone cliffs.  We headed back to the RV for a quick rest.  After our rest, we enjoyed the Visitors Center welcome film on Zion.  We then boarded the shuttle to the Canyon Junction stop so that we could walk the Pa'rus trail along the river to look for a good place to photograph the Watchman again.  We walked from the Canyon Junction trail head down to the camping areas near the park entrance and then settled on a foot bridge to take some photos. 

 A quick Thai dinner in a restaurant just outside the park and back to the RV to fall into an exhausted sleep.

May 5, 2010 - Zion National Park

We have had great weather here in Zion National Park.  Its been great to get outside and hike around the beautiful canyon and the Virgin River.

Our first full day here, Wednesday May 5, we spent exploring the park and getting familiar with it.  We started out by figuring out the shuttle system.  Due to limited parking within the park, the park and the town of Springdale, UT have a great coordinating shuttle system.  We catch the Springdale shuttle right outside of our campground and it will take us all the way to the Visitors Center at the park entrance.  A short walk across the river and we catch the park's shuttle that will take us up the Zion Canyon so we can explore the canyon area of the park.

We first got off the shuttle at the Zion Lodge stop so that we could hike to the Emerald Pools.  We did the hike to the lower, middle and upper Emerald Pools.  They were beautiful small waterfalls cascading into pools of water made green with all the growth around them.  This is the Upper Emerald Pool.

After the hike, we had lunch under an enormous tree on the front lawn of the Zion Lodge.  We even found ice cream for dessert in the lodge's cafe.

We then got back on the shuttle and road it all the way to the end of the Canyon, the Temple of Sinawava.  Here we started on the short but beautiful Riverside Walk that went from the end of the road and into the canyon that was becoming narrower and narrower.

We had wanted to do a hike at the end of this one that is called the Narrows which involves hiking in the Virgin River as the canyon walls continue to narrow.  Unfortunately, it is still spring snow run off and the river is running at over 600cfs and the narrows are closed until the water level reaches around 160cfs.  We are tentatively planning on swinging back here on our way south next fall/winter to do the hike then. 

After dinner and a very short rest at the RV, we went back into the park to do a sunset shoot of the famous Watchman rock formation.

May 4, 2010 - Flagstaff Arizona to Zion National Park

May 4, 2010 (Yesterday) 
We had 250 miles to finish off our drive from Flagstaff, Arizona to Zion National Park in Springdale, UT.  According to Gladys (our GPS), it should take us 4.5 hours to complete the trip.  This is one of our first trips where we don't have major interstates to travel on. 

We spent a great morning exploring the old brick buildings of historic downtown Flagstaff.  Flagstaff is a beautiful town all nestled in evergreen forests, it reminded us of Evergreen where we were married.  We will definitely be returning to explore a bit more.  We even managed to find a guitar store for Matt and a scrapbooking store for me. 

Camping World was not able to fix the slide where it was leaking, but they gave us some directions on what we needed to have a dealer order for us for the fix.  It looks like we need new top and bottom seals on the bedroom slide.  We will call a dealer in Salt Lake City and take the trailer in on our way up North.  We picked up the trailer and were on the road at 1:15 in the afternoon. 

We had a beautiful drive through northeastern Arizona.  Most of the drive was through the Navajo nation and the Painted Dessert.  It was easy to see where it got its name.  As we neared the Arizona/Utah border, we went right by the very end of Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam.  Definitely a return visit there as well as it was beautiful.

Glen Canyon Dam at the end of Lake Powell where the Colorado River enters Marble Canyon and continues down into the Grand Canyon.

 We entered Zion National Park at the east entrance and then continued through the park to our campground just on the outside of the South Entrance in Springdale, UT.  We had read about a very narrow tunnel that we would have to pass through by going this route as this is our planned route to go from Zion over to Bryce Canyons National Park.  We read all the restrictions - under 13.1 feet in height (Check! 12.6 for us - 6 inches to spare),  under 50 foot combined length (Check! 48.6 feet total trunk bumper to trailer ladder) - so we were ready for a hair raising ride through the tunnel.  Little did we know that the tunnel was the easiest part of the drive.  Lets just leave it at the fact that the drive took 6 hours with the last 13 miles on the park road taking an hour by itself.  When we did manage to take our eyes off the curvy narrow rough road (complete with 6 wonderfully narrow switchbacks), it was beautiful.  We will take the truck only back there in a couple of days to fully explore it.

Lookout Tunnel, here we come...

Needless to say, we arrive at the Zion Canyon Campground more than a bit tired.  We setup the RV with only one little minor leveling problem that required re-hitching the trailer and taking it off the leveling blocks that we didn't end up needing.  Opps, lesson learned to level before we unhitch the darn thing...

I will post tomorrow about our adventures today in the Park.