We drove about 3 hours from Bryce to Zion National Park after I watched a solo sunrise at Sunrise Point. The Park Service really nails their location names. The relative coolness of Bryce was replaced by the scorching heat of the Utah emptiness. No towns, no life, just heat along the drive. Luckily, the Wagon had some sweet country jams for us to rock out to as we saturated the car's interior with perspiration.
We entered through the North entrance (again a creative name) of Zion and ended up in traffic at the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway Tunnel. The canyon views were impressive and the beehive shaped mountains were a stunning curiosity. We took a campsite at South Campground (more artful naming) and I found a swimming hole in the Virgin River for us to cool off.
After dinner, we took the Zion Shuttle to Zion Lodge through Zion Canyon (Zion...Zion...Zion ..blah) and hiked to Lower Emerald Pool. The pool, which sat below a hanging waterfall, was most pretty and likened itself to a desert oasis nestled in a pocket of the canyon. We wanted to hike further, but the encroaching darkness made us turn back (only after I ran a half mile up the trail to quickly check things out and nearly take a few rocks to the face).
As we lay in the tent soaking in the enormous heat, we tried desperately to fall asleep before the inbreds in the RV across the road started their shenanigans. Well, Liv made it, but I got the pleasure of listening to "Pa! Damnit, cook me up some mo' o' dems hot doggies a'for I com out ther". It's a good day when you cap it with hot doggies at midnight.
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