8/19 ~ 8/20 Zion National Park (2)

After the long climb up to the Angels Landing, I was so exhausted that I had no appetite for the lunch. I bought a cup of ice tea at the Lion Lodge and refilled twice to quench the thirst, and ate a fruit salad for lunch. I sit in the lodge waiting for my body to recover. I thought the heat and sunlight had more to do with the fatigue than the workload. So after sitting in the air conditioned lobby for a while and taking plenty of cold drink, I felt ready to go again.

The Riverside Walk

I took the shuttle to the last station up the Zion Canyon, Temple of Sinawava. There is a popular walk along the Virgin River starting from the terminal stop. I walked up the paved, flat trail with many other visitors, enjoying the shades of the trees and the sounds of the water.

The trail provides easy access to the water. If I had the proper equipments, I could have jumped into the river and enjoyed the cool water after a heated workout in the morning. Unfortunately I was under-prepaed.

A squirrel sit in the rock slit.

At the end of the paved road, the travelers can wade up the river and this is a long hike up to the upper Zion Canyon. As in the picture, many people walked up the river to get a flavor of it. I doubted how many of them would continue to the end, since the walk is 16 miles one-way. I thought it is better to leave this as future work. It might be a cool thing to try out if I have the right preparation.

The Weeping Rock

The Weeping Rock is an interesting geology rarity. One type of porous stone layer sits on top of another type of denser layer of stone, so the water accumulates and eventually moves out from the middle of the cliff. It is like a very small waterfall, just the water is coming from inside the stone. Since the provision of moisture is plentiful, there are a lot of water-loving plents hanging on the cliff.
There is an observation deck underneath the Weeping Rock. The place is wet due to the continuous water dropping from atop. The view from here is also nice. It gives you a feel of how the Zion Canyon looks like in rain (notice the water drops in the picture below)
After seeing two more attractions I rode back to the Zion Lodge. I still had the Emerald Pools on the list for today, back after second thoughts I decided to leave it out. Rather than working out more, I bought a sandwich and sit at the grass in front of the Zion Lodge for a very late lunch. The view and weather was just perfect that plain sitting can be enjoyable.

Heading East

One day at Zion might be too short, but I did have a schedule to follow. I left my first stop at the national parks around 5PM and headed East along Utah highway 9. The next stop for me is Hatch, UT, where I had a motel booked for two nights.
I took a few more pictures along the way leaving Zion. It is so beautiful that I wished to stay longer. In my oppinion, Zion is even better than the famous Yosemite National Park in California.

I turned North on US-89 and followed the road. I left Zion was a bit early so I could drive under well-lit condition and enjoy the view on the road too. I am not sure why, but the sky seems to be higher in Utah. It was the openess of the land that made me feel great, after living in the cities for a long period.
I felt, if the scenary is so good, I wouldn't mind driving forever here. The one-hour drive seemed to be nothing and I arrived at my destination at Hatch, UT with ease before sunset.

I stayed at a motel with restaurant (New Bryce Inn with Cafe) for the night. I booked this motel as the base to visit Bryce Canyon NP in the following day. After a hard-"walking" day I could really use a nice rest.