Zion and Bryce in (Mostly) Pictures

We spent nearly a week at Zion National Park after our brief stint in Yuma, which was a nice amount of time to explore different areas of the park.

The deep and winding canyon​ is an amazing landscape and, although I tried, it’s difficult to really capture the scale of the valleys in photos. We also stopped at Bryce Canyon National Park and hiked down into the canyon to get a closer look at the hoodoos which make this place so unique. Rather than bore with a description of each walk, hike, climb, etc, I’ll just leave a collection of pictures to peruse.

A view up the canyon from the lookout of the Watchman Trail at Zion National Park.

The stripes of rock layers on the canyon walls always make for a nice view at Zion National Park.

The final approach to the summit of the Angel’s Landing hike at Zion National Park. Look closely along the ridge and you can see a trail of hikers. This part of the hike is no joke, with 800-1000 foot drop-offs on either side. There are chains to hold on to but people still occasionally die because of falling (which I presume is due to a combination of the trail being too crowded, people being overly confident in their capabilities, and not being smart about trail etiquette). 

One of the canyon views looking north from the Angel’s Landing hike. The area of rock in the foreground being lit by the sun is one of the places Alastair went climbing.

Enjoying a successful ascent up to the Angel’s Landing lookout.

The Upper Emerald Pools at Zion National Park, fed by a tiny trickle of water from high above. The scale of this area is definitely not portrayed in the photo.

Waking behind the waterfalls which feed the Lower Emerald Pools at Zion National Park.

A 16-mile hike with about 3000 feet of elevation gain brought us to Zion’s Cable Mountain. This was our favorite hike at the park and provided great views of the canyon, including looking down on Angel’s Landing to the left.

Enjoying lunch atop Cable Mountain at Zion National Park.

In the early 1900s a cable system was built to transport lumber from the top of the canyon rim down to the canyon floor. Instead of taking two days to move the lumber downhill by wagon, it would now take only two minutes! This lumber was then used for constructing buildings and cabins in the park which still stand today. The cable system was no longer used after 1930 due to dwindling lumber supplies but part of the structure remains at the top of what is now called Cable Mountain.

A view from Zion’s valley floor, looking up toward Cable Mountain in the background.

Alastair did some fun climbing.

And I did some belaying.

Thoroughly enjoying the sunshine and views at Zion.

Flowers provide occasional pops of color throughout the park. Some areas are quite lush and make you forget you’re in the desert.

A panoramic view from one of our climbing areas near Zion’s tunnel entrance.

A natural arch in the canyon wall near Zion’s tunnel entrance.

A section of hoodoos at Bryce Canyon National Park. I’ve never seen hoodoos before and was totally amazed and entertained by this unique landscape.

Hiking among the hoodoos at Bryce Canyon.

A collection of hoodoos at Bryce Canyon.