I-15 Road Trip 1

This is the Mormon Temple in Saint George, UT (I caught site of it as we were heading north towards Salt Lake City

As you can see the roads are windy and hilly through the mountains

As we began to climb the hills we started to see the snow from the previous 2 nights storms

We started at 2,840 ft. in St. George

Then began to climb up and down through Cedar City which is 5,840 ft.

There were several farming communities along the way

In the far background you can see the white peaks of mountains

Continuing to climb through the city of Beaver at 5,898 ft.

Then down a bit (less snow)

The snow needless to say made it a very picturesque trip

I'm just glad that it had stopped and that the roads were nice and dry

The higher we went up the more snow was piled up along the road

More to come, see I-15 Road Trip 2

Zion Critters

As we were climbing up Weeping Rock Trail we came across this pretty deer just resting in the brush. Even the noise of the hikers going up the trail didn't phase him. Even the noise from one jerk who kept yelling:   ECHO  ECHO ECHO.

There were actually 3 deer hiding in this thicket of brush along the trail but they weren't that easy to photograph but this one was looking straight at me

Here are two others, can you see them?

The deer were still resting when we came back down the trail

Look at what we found at the end of the tunnel when we pulled over to get out and look around

Aren't they wonderful to see?  This one looks like he coaxing the other one to follow him

This one was looking at us as if to say  "What are you looking at?"

Still hesitant to follow the other one, eventually he did and up the other side of the hill they went

Then, we looked down and saw this character digging away at something in the brush

TA DA, all of a sudden some of his friends came around the side of the big rock 

Then, a couple of these guys decided to have some sort of discussion upon which they didn't all agree and started butting heads together

They crossed the ditch and started up the rocky hillside

It appears that there were 2 against 1 here

They continued for a bit and then headed up the hil.l

It was sure a nice surprise to see some wildlife out here in the wilderness other than the 2 legged kind

Zion National Park 2

This is a free shuttle that you take which goes into the area where motorized vehicles are not allowed. A special pass is required for those staying at the Zion Lodge, otherwise only bicycles and foot traffic are allowed. The shuttle stops at numerous locations where you can get on and off from location to location, etc. A really nice way to travel and see the surrounding beauty. They even have racks to hold bicycles for those that have them.

We left the park at the Springville entrance (foot traffic) to get something to eat and found this art piece outside the entrance.  This is some sort of symbol made with hearts locked together. There is a metal inscription across the top of the sculpture but we don't remember what it said and couldn't read it here. Can you?? It's something about hearts and love

Back inside the park after lunch

This is the Virgin River which runs through the park

The hole in the wall is one of several air holes for the 1-mile tunnel which we are about to go through.

The tunnel is 11 feet 4 inches high on the edges and the center is 13 feet 1 inch high. Needless to say our RV would NOT be able to pass through even in the center because we are a good 13 feet 6 inches high. Thats why we tow our Jeep so we can tour around.

In the 1920s this was considered a dead end of the park until they decided to build a tunnel. It was completed in 1930 and was built on the cliff face of the mountain and links Zion to Bryce and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. There are often short delays and lines of traffic as the rangers hold traffic so that tour buses and RVs can pass through the center of the tunnel.

There are openings in the tunnel not only for light but fresh air, etc. No stopping is allowed  nor are pedestrians or bicycles allowed in the tunnel

The end of the tunnel as we decided to stop and turn around and go back. I am sure glad we did because my Zion Critters blog will show you what we saw. Here the traffic is waiting for us to pass through before they let this group go in

Zion National Park 1

On our way to Zion we passed through a couple of towns, one called Hurricane, La Verkin and Springdale, in the background is Hurricane

The scenery going to the park

The peaks and spirals are really beautiful to look at

The entrance to the park

The rock formations are soooooo beautiful I don't know how to describe them except I hope you enjoy seeing some of these

It's fascinting to see these trees growing out of the rock mountain laced with snow

The pictures don't do these justice, the colors are really beautiful

Yes, snow is still up in these mountains

Our trip up the Weeping Rock Trail to see the weeping rock, it was quite a steep incline but I made it up. I did have to hang on to Bill coming down. It was a dirt path but fairly steep

Information about the weeping rock

The Weeping Rock wall

Even standing under the cliff face we were getting sprinkled with tears from the weeping rock

If you ever get a chance to come to southern Utah you MUST GO TO THE NATIONAL PARKS!

They are truly Mother Natures best work