Mary - 09-29-11 WY/UT Trip - Zion National Park

Zion National Park is known for its incredible canyons, including The Narrows, which attract canyoneers from around the world.Only shuttle buses are allowed to travel the scenic roads in the park so some of the pictures are from a moving vehicle and not as clear and, as with all the pictures, the sun wasn't always in the right spot for the best shots. The park has four main sections. We visited the most popular section, Zion Canyon. The Virgin River has gnawed through native sandstone to create the incredible scenery found in Zion Canyon.

The shot with the river is the first taken from a short trail we hiked near the visitor center. See if you can spot the 'snake' in the tree branches. The squirrel was great fun to watch. He/she was apparently building a nest. We watched him run across the path three or four times. He would drop down the side on the right and come back with a mouth full of leaves, run across the trail and up the boulders on the left, disappear in the rocks and then come back out and check to see if he was being watched -- which didn't stop him from his mission. Too cute. The last shot at the campground is of a camping macaw and an African Grey parrot -- note, neither are inside their cages.

Very long, low tunnel ...
RVs had to be escorted through ....
we didn't take the RV on this road.

Virgin River

The 'snake'

Squirrel returning to trail with leaves

Squirrel deposited leaves higher up and is about
to scamper back across the trail for more ...

Macaw with back to the camera but
turning his head for a nice profile shot.
African grey sitting on open door of cage is
more interested in cleaning than posing for the camera.