We had first row seats to a beautiful sunrise over Lake Powell this morning. I was actually expecting it to be colder this morning, but instead it was a brisk 55 degrees. Perfect weather to grab a sweater, have a cup of coffee and watch the sun slowly peek over the mountains.
Next destination was Zion National Park. This time we entered from the Eastern side. We’ve visited this park about 10 times in the last 15 years. It never disappoints and is still our second favorite National Park. (Top of the list still remains Acadia. We love those carriage trails with epic views).
The Eastern side entices you with checkerboard mountains and miles of pink and white sandstone. Then you go thru a tunnel,that was quite the engineering feat, to have the valley spread before you.
We’ll be camped here for the next three days, basically just hiking, riding bikes and enjoying the enormity of the mountains surrounding us.
First thing we did after getting set up was to (mask up and) ride our bikes to the Outfitter store in town to make use of their showers. We barely recognized this place! The town and visitor center is swarming with people. Dang, this place has changed so much over the years. We used to ride our bike out of the park on a single track dirt trail. There is now a full fledged Park Service Entrance and gate there - along with Rangers checking each and every bike and walker that comes thru. Even with the limited services in the park, the line for the bus was hours long! Guess who is NOT taking the bus tomorrow. Instead we’ll ride our bikes up to the Narrows - well at least that’s my plan for now. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.
Enjoying just chilling out in the campground. We’re amazed at this weather. We expected it to be a lot colder, but it’s been in the high 80’s! We’ve been so lucky on this trip with the warm days and cool evenings.
