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Photographs
Zion National Park
Below are but a few of the photographs I have taken at Zion National Park. It is my absolute favorite of the National Parks. I have visited it often and, being only a day's drive from Los Angeles, we have visited it often on short 4 or 5 day trips. Over the last 10 we have gone there frequently around New Year's Day and have celebrated New Year's Eve in Springdale (just outside of Zion) many times. The weather then is cold at night, but very nice during the daytime. On occasion it has rained. One time it was snowing and Lucia had a great experience in the snow. There has never been a snowflake seen in Thailand and this was the first time she could walk around while it was snowing. I have many other photographs of Zion that still need to be scanned in.
One memorable hike I took in Zion was the to Angel's Landing. Angel's Landing sits in the middle of Zion Canyon. It got the name from one of the early settlers who said that only angels could get to the top. Today there is a trail to the top and once I took a ranger lead hike to the top. The 'trail' consist of a 4 or 5 foot trail with a 1000' sheer drop-off. At the time, there were rusted handrails to grab to steady yourself. In the group, I was the third person going up, behind the ranger and a 10 year old kid. They sped along the trail and were way ahead of me and the rest of the group was way behind me. You go along the trail and see that it appears to be the end, only to discover that you are only half way there. The trail widens at that point and the ranger waited until all the group got there. The ranger said that he called that place 'Separation Point' because this where most people turned back. Well I continued to the top. Now I am not particularly fond of heights and especially going up perilously narrow trials with a sheer drop-off. So I was understandable proud of myself when I got to the top. The views of the Canyon from Angel's landing are spectacular. The terror of the hike was getting off the rock. Going down, you had to climb down several 20' drop-offs on the trail and, having a heavy backpack loaded with camera equipment, the 'easiest' way to step down was to go backwards. The terror was not knowing whether your leg was reaching for the solid trail underneath or reaching toward the 1000' foot drop-off and a fatal 1000' fall. Once I got to where the trail widened and you didn't need the handrails, I was shaking and could not get to the bottom fast enough. I tell people that the Angel's Landing hike is a once in a lifetime experience, which it is. I just leave out the part that I know that it was a once in the lifetime experience for me, knowing there is absolutely no way I will ever take that hike again.
Click on the thumbnail picture to see a full sized version of the photograph. You can scroll through the pictures by clicking on the left or right sides of the picture. Clicking on the center of the enlarged picture will return you to the thumbnails.