100 Degrees at Zion National Park, Utah

We can only stay in our campsite for two nights since someone has it reserved for tonight, so the first thing we do today is go to find which campsite to move to. Then we pack up and move to our new site.

It's our anniversary so we go into town for lunch (I'm sick of sandwiches) at Wildcat Willies. Unfortunately Wildcat Willies looks nice, but the food is so-so at best and a little over-priced. Oh well.

We go back to the park to drive through the mile-long tunnel. This long narrow tunnel caused us to take a 50 mile detour to get to Zion since vehicles over 50 feet long are not permitted. The tunnel is interesting since it is long, curved, has no lights inside, but several 'windows' cut through the solid rock mountain side.

After driving through the tunnel we drive to the east end of the park. The scenery is different in this part of the park versus the canyon. Some interesting geology--this is Checkerboard Mesa:

At the east end of the drive we see a sign about buffalo. So we drive a few extra miles to see a herd of buffalo. We visit their gift shop and then return to the park.

We stop just east of the tunnel entrance and take the Canyon View Trail for a short steep hike up to an incredible view of Zion Canyon. The trail has some interesting parts, with steep drop-offs, but nothing dangerous whatsoever.

The view at the end of the trail is worth every breathless step. We sit on a rock and enjoy the view.

After the hike we return to the campground. We stop on the way back into the canyon to look up to where we were standing at the end of the Canyon View Trail. We were standing above a large arch in the side of the mountain.

It is 100 degrees outside and 93 degrees inside our trailer, so we grab our folding chairs and head down to a shady spot by the creek. Jere and I relax while Joe plays in the creek. We even eat our dinner (cold sandwiches) in the shade (it's still really hot in our trailer at dinnertime). A few tubers float down the river. The water is 47 degrees, they shout hello but they all seem to have reservations about their activity.

After the sun goes behind the mountains, Jere and I take one last bike ride through the canyon. I wish there would be more bike trails like the Pa'Rus Trail in other national parks.

We end our day by looking at the moon rise above the canyon. I try to take a photo, but it really can't capture the beauty of the moon.