When we finally arrived at Zion, it was nothing like what we had expected. While Utah is basically a rocky desert, Zion is an oasis with various shades of blue and green. Cliffs layered in red, orange and yellow are surrounded by trees, shrubs and rivers of gushing water. The entrance fee is $30/ per car like most national parks,  but you are only allowed to drive down one road that crosses the park east-west. Visitors are recommended to take a bus that takes you to the north of the park, with stations at some of Zion’s most well-known attractions.

It rained all afternoon when we drove through Nevada and Arizona, but the sun started to peek through the clouds just as we entered the park, highlighting parts of the rocky mountains. Here are some photos:

The color contrast is so refreshing after driving in primarily orange soils for such a long time. Since we were planning to spend the next day in Zion as well, we opted to just drive through the park, without taking the tour bus.

The following photos are not taken in the famous Angel’s Landing, but on the Canyon Overlook trail — a much shorter and manageable trail on the east side of the park where you are allowed access in your own car. The trail starts right after the tunnel, as shown in the first photo below.

The hike is a simple 1 mile walk that should take about 20-30 minutes depending on your speed and the weather conditions. The trail follows the edge of cliffs, and is made of rocks, soil and even a little bridge (that is actually kind of scary). Due to a large amount of rainfall in the area on the days before our visit, little puddles had accumulated and parts of the trail had turned into mud. On the bright side, we got to see streams of running water as well as some waterfalls.

The trail ends at a cliff with a 90 degrees drop. The elevation is around 7000 ft., which makes it one of the most scenic points in the park. It started raining just as we reached the overlook, so my photos turned out to be dull and hazy. However, a little Photoshop magic helped me recreate the views to the best of my memories.

Absolutely stunningly unreal. We followed the trail back shortly after sunset and drove back to Hurricane, where we stayed the night (due of cheaper hotel prices).

For the rest of the night, we sat on a little hill with beers in our hands just staring at a sky full of stars. I don’t think I had ever seen more stars before that I did that night, and I was even lucky enough to catch a few shooting stars. It’s really hard to not feel insignificant and humbled against a sky that is brighter than the ground. I was not equipped to shoot the night skies but I had to try — and here are the results.

I’ve always found peace in the stars. What about you?

Stay tuned to read more on Zion in my next post!

xx

– Vivian