Escaped

... for one quick weekend.

      I imagine when God sculpted the earth, He dipped His finger into a pot of gold and with a grin poked it into the part of the globe that is Utah to create...

...ZION!

Where all of God's creative forces came together in one riotous, colorful, crazy spot of play-land!

And we're just lucky enough to live within a four hour drive from it.  So on the last day of January, Brent and I packed up the car and took off to escape our winter and go where it was a few degrees warmer (but only a few) and a tiny bit drier (but only a tiny bit) to enjoy this breathtaking piece of geography in southern Utah:

FRIDAY evening we were greeted with:

COLOR

for winter weary eyes.

(Brent caught me, getting ready to take the next photo)

We were greeted with stone castles conjuring thoughts of a Tolkien landscape....

...and strange birds parading as wild turkeys through the red clay and fresh snow.

(photo by Brent)

...And after the sun took refuge behind the rock cliffs, and darkness descended in the valley of the Gods, I saw the silhouette of what appeared to be a fox gamboling along one of the cement paths at the Lodge.   Turned out it was an animal I had never heard of before - Ringtail Cat.  Which I did not get a photo of, but we were fortunate enough to see several of the following evening (but still did not get a photo except in my brain.)

But here's a photo I copied from Wikipedia:


About the size and coloring of a fox, but part of the raccoon family.   Looks like a cross between a fox, raccoon, and cat.   It was fun to see something so new to me!

We had dinner at the Lodge Friday evening - not so impressed with the food, but it was nice to have a quiet dinner in the Park.  In fact, it felt like we were sharing this nature with nobody but nature itself - so quiet with only a few other guests wandering the lighted paths.

After dinner, melted snow hit the ground - looked and sounded like rain, but it was definitely melted snow.  We listened to it splashing through half the night, and

Saturday Morning we woke up to this view from our room:

The trees were frosted with melted snow (another view from our room) in the shadow of the sheer cliffs looming above the Lodge:

After breakfast in the Lodge, we drove up through the tunnel to the east entrance.  Yep, that melted snow in the valley below was definitely just melted snow, because up higher it there was an inch or two of fresh snow clinging to plants that see little snow in their lifetime.  


 Obligatory snow photos:

(photo by Brent)

(photo by Brent)

Coming back down, we stopped so I could take a picture of this.  The opening above is one of the very large "windows" for the mile-long tunnel that gets traffic through the canyon walls to the upper terrain of the east side.  You could park about three or four cars in that area - which they used to do to allow people to stop and look out, but I guess the traffic jams were too much of an issue so no more looking out. 

Saturday Afternoon - River walk 
By now it was early afternoon and the sun was finally (kind of) shining into Zion.   Except in the shade.  The storms and clouds had moved on.  The sky was bluer than I ever remember seeing it and the temperature was slightly above freezing - which was actually unseasonably cool for this part of Utah. It did make the idea of walking for two hours much more desirable, however.  In fact, the River Walk was easy in the cool weather, compared to trying to do it in the 100+ degrees that the valley floor captures during the summer.

And I took my usual way-too-many photos, most of which I've already deleted.  But here are some of the keepers Brent and I both took along the path that leads to the Narrows along the Virgin River:

(photo by Brent)

(photo by Brent)

(photo by Brent)

Watercress - I think of my Mom every time I see watercress growing in the wild

To get an idea of the size of these stone mountains, see the 30 ft. tall snow-encased pine trees growing in the crevice at the base of the Great White Throne above.

Weeping Rock

We were getting hungry by now, and decided to head into Springdale to get a late lunch, early dinner.  But we stopped at Weeping Rock because it was finally catching a bit of sun.  At the parking lot there was a small herd of deer foraging for whatever grasses they could find.   We heard a strange sound, ma-a-a-a-a, ma-a-a-a-a, coming from the thicket and it turned out to be this little fawn calling for it's ma-a-a-a, I guess.  I've never heard a deer before.  In fact, I really didn't know they made any sound, but found out it is similar to the call a sheep makes.

(photo by Brent)

(photo by Brent)

Behind the little waterfall (sometimes intense, sometimes nearly dry - but always water coming from rock) the drops sparkle in the sun.


Saturday Evening - dinner in Springdale
Like I said, we were hungry.  But we discovered to our dismay that the tried-and-true restaurants we've always enjoyed just happened to be closed this weekend.  So we tried Blondie's Diner and discovered some great home cooking including one of the best slices of apple pie I've ever had.  Brent agreed.  We'll go back again.



Returning to the Lodge, we caught this one last photo. 

Saturday was busier than we expected, but still nothing like the summer crowds.  We decided we'll definitely return in winter again.  It was perfect!  No shuttle bus requirements (they don't run in the winter) so we got to go at our own pace in our own car.  Liveable temperatures.  Quiet nights.  A great time to visit

ZION NATIONAL PARK!

(But, shhh.  We don't want everyone to know this little secret.)