September 10, 2015 Zion National Park, Utah

Wow!

This is Zion NP - We drove through Zion on our way to Bryce yesterday.  When you drive through you must pass through a tunnel that is over one mile long.  The tunnel was built in 1930.  The tunnel is so narrow that high profile vehicles, such as RV's, require that a park employee man the entrance and exits and control the flow of traffic in one direction.  That way the high profile vehicles can drive right now the middle of the tunnel which is the highest point.    We did not drive the RV through and I would not vote to do that, personally.  The road is a lot of switchback curves and narrow and climbs from the bottom of the canyon up to the top.   Beautiful drive and I would highly recommend it to anyone, just not in an RV.   Along the way we came across this beauty who was just grazing on the side of the road. 

So yesterday we formulated a plan.  Get up at 5AM, be on the road at 6AM and be at the park by 7AM.  We decided to use the Zion Shuttle System today.    We arrived before 7 and the gate to the park was open but no one was working it.   That means if you arrive to the park early enough you don't pay to get in and it is expensive to get in, $30.00 a vehicle.  That is good for 7 days but woozers, that's pricey.   Fortunately Gary had purchased his Senior National Park Pass for $10.00 and we just flash our card and drive on through.   Best money we've spent in a long time!

We got a super close parking spot at the Visitor's Center and jumped on the shuttle that was waiting.  The shuttle makes 8 stops through the park and it is not a route that you can drive through, so it was all new to us.    We stayed on the shuttle to the very last stop, then planned to work our way back to the Visitor's Center.   It was cool and breezy on the canyon floor, just a very few people and what an awesome experience.  We were in the middle of this incredible canyon and felt like we were the only people there.   We walked along the river and just started taking pics.    We would then hop on the shuttle and make the next stop. The shuttle runs between every 7 and 15 minutes.      One of the shuttle stops was at the Zion Lodge and we decided to have breakfast.   It is a beautiful old lodge and we had a yummy breakfast.

We were back at the Visitor's Center and headed back to the RV by noon.  Just perfect because it was starting to get very warm and very busy.   One of our shuttle drivers told us that last weekend, Labor Day, they estimated they had 42,000 visitors.   Glad we missed that.

Our ride for the day

 

Our home here in Hurricane Utah