We made the best of it

Knowing that Zion National Park might close on Tuesday, we made the best of the situation and saw as much as we could in one day. One of my plans for the full time RV adventure is to take our time and savor each National Park without feeling rushed.

We have a site at the Zion Canyon Campground (which is not in the park) for a full week.  There is a shuttle that comes to the RV park and takes us to the entrance of the National Park less than 1/4 mile away.  The current and forecast weather are spectacular. But the mess in Washington has resulted in the closure of the park.

Well, we did have yesterday, and this is some of what we saw and did.

Hoping to have more days at the park later in the week, we started with two easy warm up hikes.  The first was to the three Emerald Pools.  Although listed as "Easy" there was quite a bit of climbing up and down irregular rock steps.  I was glad to have my poles along. 

The water in the Upper Emerald Pool was very still and the reflections were crystal clear.  

The trail was in and back, and it was interesting to see the same vistas from two directions and light conditions. 

The mid-day sun illuminated the trees high on the canyon sides.

On the trail to the Pools there was a section where water was seeping thru the rocks and falling like rain on the hikers.

After the Pools, we re-boarded the park shuttle and rode it to the end of the line. There was an informative audio track that told us about the canyon.  Unlike many of these that we have experienced, this one was clear and enjoyable.  We figure if the park reopens before the week is up we will be able to go back and take some of the other hikes.  If not, we have an overview.

Our second easy hike was the Riverside Walk. A mostly paved, level trail that was somewhat crowded. Along the path there were many wildflowers blooming. 

Each flower was tiny, but in mass they were quite colorful.

At the end of the Riverside Walk is the entrance to the Narrows. Although not absolutely necessary, it is recommended you have special waterproof shoes and socks to wade thru the river on this trail.  We did not, so we passed on this adventure. 

I have not tweaked or changed this image in any way.   The sky was that incredibly blue and clear.  

Zion National Park is not the only thing to see or do here.  We hope the Congress will get it together quickly, but if not we will make the best of it.