Zion National Park, Utah

We arrived later in the afternoon and decided to familiarize ourselves with the park as a whole and simply rode the shuttle to the end and back.  Our first glimpse of Zion was awe inspiring.  We couldn't stop our eyes from looking upward.  It's quite majestic and it took our breath away.

These are pictures from our first couple of days in Zion.  

Lucky enough to spot a herd of big horn sheep.  Pulled the truck over and grabbed a ton of great shots.  Here's a few. 

The whole time I'm taking their pictures and walking toward them, I'm talking soft and sweet to them, telling them how beautiful and wonderful they are.  The guy above was kind of curious about me and really watching me.  After we got in our truck and took off down the road, he was right there (shown above) on this rock.  I think he wanted to get another look at me.  This shot was taken from inside the truck with my window down.  He just stood there, looking at me.  I think he was really saying goodbye and hated to see me leave.  ;)

Sunset

The one above is my first sunset shot of this view.  I got this same view in multiple colors of sunsets verses sunrises.  The sunrise is my favorite time of day for this shot.  It's glorious!

The Virgin River

Here we are!

Wild columbine flowers are everywhere.

More columbine.

I captured some very beautiful shots of this view.  Another favorite.

Can you see the rock climbers?

Can you see them yet?  They're just a speck compared to the massive and sheer rock face.

 There they are.  We count three.

Have you guessed?  Yep!  Another favorite.  It's so very beautiful in Zion.  We loved every minute and didn't want it to end.

We were hiking up a trail and saw cacti everywhere getting ready to bloom with their little buds on the tips but I think this might be the first bloom for the season out of all the cacti.  It was off the main trail and I had to hike down a bit in order to get it.  My eye caught just a hint of the pink from the flower, it was so bright. 

This is the Lower Emerald Pool.  It was crowded.  This is only one view.  Behind me and to the left of me, people were all over the rocks.  Sitting in the shade, taking sips of water and eating lunch.

This is the Upper Emerald Pool.

Weeping Rock.

Horse back riding in Zion.  We want to do this next time.

After a short 1/2 day hike, we stopped at The Lodge for lunch and an ice-cream cone.  Oh, and if you ever get to go there for dinner at Red Rock Grill, make sure you try the trout dish.  It's fantastic!