Daily Photo - Sago Lily

Another one from Zion. It's still too hot to do anything...

Utah From Thursday

We left Zion Thursday morning and took the scenic route to Bryce. We stoped off at Kolob Canyons, the northern part of Zion and drove to the end of the scenic drive. We hiked the short trail there. Collared Lizard from Zion Kolob Canyons. After that it was highway for a while, then we turned and drove uphill to see Cedar Breaks. Which was slightly disappointing. There is still snow on the ground, so it isn't even really spring there yet. The views were okay, but Bryce is better. Cedar Breaks. We were going to visit Navajo Lake too, but got lazy and went straight to Bryce.

Zion Wednesday

The climb that finally stopped me in Hidden Canyon.

My cousin^ who keeps talking me into these scary hikes.

We got lazy yesterday so just hung around the campsite. Wednesday we hiked to hidden canyon, which was very nice. That's where most of the above pics came from.

Zion to yesterday

A basic Zion view. On day one we hiked to all the Emerald Pools, which are totally worth the hike. Little lizards and damselflies abound. The pools are full of tadpoles and water striders. Personable lizard from Emerald Pools Trail. We also walked up to the Weeping Rock but it wasn't very impressive right now. Early in the morning the next day we scaled Angel's Landing. Actually i wimped out at Scout's Lookout and waited for my cousin to climb and come back from the Landing. Scout's Lookout has magnificent enough views for me. But watch out for the pushy chipmunks. The starter climb for Angel's Landing. I found Walters Wiggle to be easy compared to those first switchbacks. Pasted Panorama view from Scout's Lookout. Chipmunk looking for handout. Rattlesnake we saw on the way down from Angel's Landing. Checkerboard Mesa. Ripples. Utah Sandstone. One of my big goals was to find canyon treefrogs. On the overly long jaunt to the showers (I totally recommend the Zion Ponderosa Ranch showers, even if it is a solid 2 hours there and back from the campground) we stopped at all the lookouts on the Mount-Carmel highway. At one we could hear the sheep noise the frogs make when they call. After a slight scramble we found a pool with 5 frogs in it. Four were calling and one was just trying to stay away from the other 4. Some of the scramble. Calling male. Possible Female. This one kept trying to escape the others. Weird little (maybe 1/4 inch long) beetles from the campsites. Today we went to Hidden canyon and did the Riverside Walk. The narrows are currently closed, so we probably won't get to hike in there at all before we have to leave. Tomorrow morning we're going to try for Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.

Oh The Places I Want to Go!

So, I've been taking travel books out of the library for a few weeks now and drooling over destinations. I took out the National Geographic Guide to National Parks of the US. I was distracted for a short time by the US Virgin Islands; but yesterday flipped through the whole book. I got sucked in by the Colorado Plateau section. The Colorado Plateau includes Bryce Canyon, Zion, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon and Arches National Parks. After some more browsing I suddenly noticed Las Vegas nice and close to Zion. The last time I flew out to visit that area I flew into Salt Lake City UT, which is at least 5 hours from anywhere I wanted to go. Once I noticed Las Vegas the rest may be history. I'm going to try to plan on flying out. Some time in early June of hopefully next year and spending 2 weeks wandering between 5 or 6 national parks and forests. I'm not sure I'll camp at all of them, or if I might spring for a hotel at one, but I am going as a gift to myself. It is much cheaper to camp, even if I register online which has a $10 fee per day. I haven't decided yet about driving in a loop or eating the extra expense and driving from Las Vegas to Grand Junction CO and flying back from there, which would eliminate needing to drive back to Vegas. I also don't know if I'll be going alone or not. That sort of depends on whether any of my relatives want to join me, and maybe split the astronomical rental car fee. Following are pics from my last trip out west. I was stunned, but I didn't actually take that many pictures, with my very crappy Canon A70. Apparently it was before my take as many pictures as the critter will let you take.

These were taken with a Canon A70, and really they can get a bit bigger but most are quite fuzzy at full size. Grand Canyon South Rim, AZ. Damselfly at Zion, UT. Zion , UT. Bryce Canyon, UT.