Rocks, water, and a few tidbits of nature

Although I have given a pretty good overview of the major formations and scenery, there were some small gems.  The bright sun made contrast a problem, but sunset photos brought out the colors.
Reflections are fun, too.

There were water features at various points in Zion.  Despite being in the desert, there were springs in some of the rocks. This made for some cool places (literally) to hike, and interesting plant life.  

This is looking up from the Narrows.

While at Zion, it was the full moon.  It rose behind a rock called "The Watchman".  

One feature of the desert that we heard about was a flower that only opened at night, and a moth that feed from it only once before laying its eggs and dying.  Here is a description of the flower:

Datura is a member of the Potato (Solanaceae) Family, also called the Deadly Nightshade Family. There are several species of the Datura genus, including D. wrightii, commonly referred to as the Southwestern Thorn Apple. D. stramonium is usually called Jimson Weed; D. metaloides is colloquially named Sacred Datura.  

We had Sacred Datira growing in our Zion campsite - and sure enough, it bloomed at night & a moth came to it. It is called the Hawk Moth.  It is the size of an adult's palm.  At first we thought it was bats.  The photo isn't great, but I got one!

For more rock and water photos, see the last link below!

Hikes - a few major ones

Some of the hikes were well-known but a few were "best kept secrets" of some of the travelers.  The photos in the Hiking in Formations link below are in the order of this post narrative.  Scrolling over the photo gives a slight description to help you know the location.

The first full day at Zion, we walked up "the Narrows".  We kind of regret not going all the way up to the narrowest section where the rock is spectacular.  But we had no idea how much farther it was or how hot it would be back at the campsite.  So after having lunch at a wide point next to the river, in the cool shade, we headed back.  We had fun with other hikers.  The farther in we went, the fewer big families or groups were wading along, too.

The most famous hike we took was the Zion National Park trail to Angel's Landing.  Not wanting to become angels ourselves quite yet, we opted for the opposite direction at the Scouts' Landing.  We found a sandy plateau with bonsai pine trees that felt like being at the beach.  We met a few hikers but basically had the place to ourselves.  It had spectacular views in three directions, so we were happy.  Meanwhile back at the main trail, hordes of folks were scrambling, slipping and clutching at air to get past each other.  The fun part of the trail was Walter's Wiggles.  A brick and stone section that zig-zagged up the face of the rock.  This is a photo from some commercial outfit.

The one below is Joan on the wiggles.

The hottest hike was in Bryce Canyon. That was because we made the mistake of starting at 11 AM. That would be a lesson quickly learned for the rest of the Utah section of the trip.  Navaho Loop was another, but a lot shorter, wiggle experience.  Down in the canyon floor it was not as hot as up top. The climb out, though, was a killer.  Less than 2 miles felt like 5.  The photo of the hot chipmunk (see the Heat set of photos at bottom of page) was taken there.

We made the adjustment and next day started the hike around the Rim at 9 AM!  It was a cool and fairly flat hike - and, we used the shuttle to save gas and the earth.  Although hiking down into the canyon gave you a terrific perspective for the size of the formations, and a feeling of humility, the Rim trail gave you incredible vistas to contemplate.

After Bryce, we headed to Kodachrome Basin.  We did some short forays around rock formations, including a natural bridge.  After an afternoon thunderstorm had passed, we set up camp.  In the evening we did the hike to "Angel's Palace".  It was less dramatic that we expected, but interesting rock formations just the same.

At Capital Reef we only did short hikes, one in a small slot canyon.  It was on to Goblin Valley to see those formations, and hike in a REAL slot canyon, in the evening.  At times, we had to go sideways. At one point our way was blocked by a large, hanging, balanced boulder.  We were not sure how long it had been there & were a bit spooked about crawling under it.  But we persevered and were rewarded with even more dramatic rock formations farther on.  We took headlamps, but were out before we needed them.

We headed up a dreary dry valley to the Park City area, then veered NE to Wyoming.  We stayed several nights in the Tetons, did a short hike at String Lake, and then tromped around Geysers and Mud Pots in Yellowstone.  We waited too long for a campsite, so ended up in an RV park outside the boundary.  It had been a magical time but we decided it would be wonderful to be home early.